Cate Blanchett receives lifetime honour as G’Day USA goes virtual

Academy Award-winning Australian actor Cate Blanchett has been honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the 18th annual G’Day USA gala in Los Angeles. Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty and Mystery Road actor Aaron Pedersen were also honoured.

But in a digital departure from previous years, where the event was a black-tie, invitation only dinner in Los Angeles featuring a star-studded red carpet, the 2021 “arts gala” was instead staged virtually, with pre-taped acceptance speeches from the night’s honourees.

Cate Blanchett accepting her award at the 2021 G’Day USA AAA arts gala.

Australia’s ambassador to the United States, Arthur Sinodinos, spoke during the opening of the telecast of “the enduring mateship” between Australia and the United States.

“[The US] appreciates the importance of Australia, particularly in the Indo-Pacific,” Mr Sinodinos said. “And arts has been an important part of the relationship for a long time. There are a lot of Americans who appreciate Australian culture.”

Australia’s current film and television production boom, fuelled by interruptions to US production caused by COVID-19, was “good for both economies,” Mr Sinodinos said.

The night’s major award was given to Blanchett to mark a body of unrivalled work in film and on television. It was introduced by George Clooney, Uzo Aduba and Sarah Paulson. “She is easily the best actor of her generation,” Clooney said. “It’s an honour to talk about someone of her calibre.”

David Campbell hosts the 2021 G’Day USA AAA arts gala.

Clooney also paid tribute to Blanchett’s work as an activist. “She’s a consummate professional [who] solves problems on a set all the time,” Clooney said. “And more than that, she solves problems in the rest of the world. It’s what she does in trying to bring justice and hope to all the people who don’t have justice and don’t have hope.”

Blanchett said it was “a privilege and pleasure” to receive the award. “It’s been the great privilege of my life to work inside the industries of these two great countries,” Blanchett said, acknowledging the world of “all of the trail blazers who paved the way for actors like myself.”

The excellence in literature award was presented to Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty by producer Bruna Papandrea and actor Nicole Kidman. “You are a gift to us and a gift to the world,” Kidman said.

Kidman praised Moriarty’s “imagination, brilliance [and] friendship. Her skill is to shed light on bold and often ignored stories [and] to get into the minds and experience of women and men, and to explore marital and family dynamics in all their shades.”

Producer Bruna Papandrea and Nicole Kidman presenting at the 2021 G’Day USA AAA arts gala.

Moriarty said she was thrilled with the HBO adaptation of Big Little Lies “because it brought together both American and Australian talent.”

Wildside and Mystery Road star Actor Aaron Pedersen, who was honoured for excellence in television, is the first Indigenous recipient of a G’Day USA honour. “I know I won’t be the last,” Pedersen said in his acceptance speech.

Pedersen’s award was introduced by actors Jack Thompson and Tasma Walton.

This year’s event was the first time it was jointly staged by G’Day USA and the New York-based American Australian Association (AAA), which was established by Sir Keith Murdoch in 1948.

Ten entertainment reporter Angela Bishop hosting the “virtual red carpet” at the 2021 G’Day USA AAA arts gala.

The founding charter of the AAA is to “deepen and strengthen cooperation and understanding between the institutions and people of the United States and Australia.”

In past year’s the G’Day LA gala was the colourful beachhead of a larger, more serious government enterprise, the G’Day USA trade mission, which promotes Australian food and wine, fashion, film and the arts, defence industry and technological innovation.

It is usually held in conjunction with other events staged by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in San Francisco, Austin and New York.

Funds raised from the event support the AAA arts fund, which provides scholarships and grants to emerging American, Native American, Australian, and Indigenous Australian artists for study and artistic development in each other’s countries.

Singer Delta Goodrem speaking at the 2021 G’Day USA AAA arts gala.

This year’s event showcased the work of AAA arts fund recipients including pianist Vivian Choi, composer Nicholas Marks, filmmaker Ashleigh McArthur, cinematographer Meg White, singer Mi-kaisha, fashion designer Domenic Roylance, artist Catalina Poljski, actor Chenoa Deemal, choreographer Thomas Kelly and singer/songwriter Jess Hitchcock.

In an unusual departure for the event, the Australian and American national anthems were not performed. Nor was the song I Still Call Australia Home, a staple of past events. The show closed with a performance of Down Under by Colin Hay and David Campbell.

Colin Hay and host David Campbell performing at the 2021 G’Day USA AAA arts gala.

The digital telecast was hosted by Today Extra host David Campbell, on behalf of the Australian Consul-General in Los Angeles, Ambassador Jane Duke, and the American Australian Association president, (retired) Ambassador John Berry.

It also featured appearances by Ben Lawson, Jai Courtney, Naomi Watts, Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness, Joel and Nash Edgerton, Elle Macpherson, Danielle Macdonald and Olivia Newton-John.