The Aviator (2004)

Cate Blanchett as: Katharine Hepburn

Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Selected Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Beckinsale, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Willem Dafoe, Ian Holm, Matt Ross
Written by: John Logan
Release Year: 2004
Genre: Biopic / Drama
MPAA Rating: PG-13

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Billionaire and aviation tycoon Howard Hughes is a successful public figure: a director of big-budget Hollywood films such as “Hell’s Angels,” a passionate lover of Hollywood leading ladies Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner, and an aviation pioneer who helps build TWA into a major airline. But in private, Hughes remains tormented, suffering from paralyzing phobias and depression. The higher he rises, the farther has to fall.

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Quotes from Cate Blanchett

“When you play someone as terrifyingly well-known as Katharine Hepburn, it’s a team effort.”
On preparing for her role as Katharine Hepburn: “[I read] everything written about her, but mostly watching, absorbing, listening to all the various opinions, the idolatry, the ownership of who she was. A woman who makes an impact, shocks, provokes, and challenges, will always inspire conflicting opinions. I thought the best thing I could do was listen to all of them; the person lies somewhere in there all those things are true and they’re all untrue.” (Vogue, December 2004)
On portraying Katharine Hepburn: “I tried not to look at it like a problem. I tried to look at it as a challenge. But it was more than daunting, it was completely and utterly terrifying. I don’t know that I knew what I had agreed to do. When Martin Scorsese calls you just go into this reverie…I’m such a fan…and so when he asked of course I said yes. Then I realised the consequences but I had agreed to do it. You just have to get on. I find the technical work fascinating. You have to find a balance between paying a homage to her as an actress and being irreverent and serving the script and unlocking the private human being. She was enormously private.” (Phase9, December 2004)
“Kate Hepburn was a deeply private woman, so we were trying to unlock the human being while also watching her body of work and paying nods to certain performances. Marty and I talked a lot about Bringing Up Baby and those screwball comedies that she made with Cary Grant, where the dialogue was really fast paced. The wonderful thing that Marty offers is his love and his knowledge of cinema, so he screened quite a few of her films for me, which meant that I could really study her performances, particularly in a close-up on the big screen, not on a TV screen. Martin Scorsese is an absolute genius, he’s a perfectionist and a gift to the cinema. I just wish he would make more films about women…” (Golden Globes Archive – HFPA, 2004)

Quotes from Others

Martin Scorsese:
— “For the part of Katharine Hepburn, get me the girl who was in Elizabeth (1998). If you can’t get her, get me the girl in Veronica Guerin (2003). If you can’t get her, get me the girl in The Shipping News (2001).”
Leonardo DiCaprio:
— “We went all the way to Australia to find the most iconic American voice of the 20th century. And there was one person who could do that. [Cate Blanchett] is a chameleon in every sense of the word.”

Trivia & Facts

Filmed in USA and Canada.
Cate Blanchett earned her second Academy nomination and won her first, for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, the film also won Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Art Direction, and Best Costume Design at the Oscars, more accolades here.
Cate Blanchett won her second BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Cate Blanchett is the first actor to win an Oscar after portraying an Oscar winner, Katharine Hepburn holds the record for most Oscar win by actor.
Michael Mann was originally going to direct the film, but having directed back-to-back biopics The Insider (1999) and Ali (2001), he decided to produce instead, and offered the script to Martin Scorsese.
Cate Blanchett and Jude Law worked together in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999).
Martin Scorsese designed each year in the film to look just the way a color film from that time period would look. Achieved mainly through digitally enhanced post-production, Scorsese recreated the look of Cinecolor and two-strip Technicolor. Watch in particular for the scene where Howard Hughes meets Errol Flynn in the club. Hughes is served precisely placed peas on a plate, and they appear blue or turquoise – just as they’d have looked in the primitive two-strip Technicolor process. As Hughes ages throughout the film, the color gets more sophisticated and full-bodied.
In preparation for his role as Howard Hughes, Leonardo DiCaprio spent some time with an actual OCD patient named Edward. He advised him on a number of different aspects of the condition, in particular the tendency to repeat sentences over and over as in the scene where Hughes repeatedly asks to see the blueprints for the Hercules.
Gwyneth Paltrow was originally signed on to play Ava Gardner but dropped out. She was replaced at the last minute with Kate Beckinsale.
Freckles were painstakingly painted onto Cate Blanchett’s face, arms, and chest to make her resemble Katharine Hepburn.
Cate Blanchett felt that accurately reproducing Katharine Hepburn’s distinctive upper class New Englander accent was crucial to her portrayal of this Hollywood icon. She did daily voice exercises with the film’s voice coach Tim Monich (with whom Cate had worked previously on The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), and also studied Hepburn’s early films and documentaries about her to learn her mannerisms.
Martin Scorsese did a “Director Cameo” in a tuxedo and slicked hair, pulling a woman from behind Howard Hughes as he walks the red carpet with Katharine Hepburn.
Martin Scorsese requested that Cate Blanchett watch all of the first 15 films of Katharine Hepburn to learn her mannerism and her poise.
Nicole Kidman was also considered for the role of Katharine Hepburn. When the scheduled start date was delayed by several months, Cate Blanchett became available after finishing filming The Missing (2003). Martin Scorsese claims that Cate had always been his first choice.
The budget for the costumes was $2 million.
The film received the most Academy Award nominations for the year 2005, with 11 total.
Cate Blanchett and Leonardo DiCaprio worked together again in Don’t Look Up (2021).
As of 2022, Cate Blanchett holds the record for most Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Bandits (2001), The Aviator (2004), Notes on a Scandal (2006), I’m Not There (2007), and Nightmare Alley (2021).
As of 2022, Cate Blanchett holds the record for most Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Aviator (2004), Babel (2006), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), and Don’t Look Up (2021).
As of 2023, Cate Blanchett holds the record for an actress with the most appearances in a Best Picture-nominated at the Academy Awards: Elizabeth (1998), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Aviator (2004), Babel (2006), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Don’t Look Up (2021), Nightmare Alley (2021), and TÁR (2022).