Cate Blanchett ditches Oscars for orchids as she tries to save seeds
Blanchett is assisting a conservation project housing more than 2 billion seeds in Sussex, England.
Cate Blanchett would be considered by many to be Hollywood royalty, and now she's teaming up with UK royalty to protect seeds as part of a conservation project she says she "stumbled" upon somewhat recently.
Taking some time from portraying a range of characters, Blanchett now hopes to help protect billions of seeds held at Kew's Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst botanic garden in Sussex. Blanchett lives locally to the garden, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
"Really, I stumbled upon Wakehurst. I was just in awe of the landscape and I always feel regenerated by being in the natural world," she told the BBC. "And then I discovered the seed bank, and I literally had my mind blown by the work that goes on here... and I thought, anything I can do to be connected to it - I found it so inspiring."
The conservation project was started in 2000 by the then Prince of Wales and now King Charles III. He's teaming up with Blanchett for a new podcast about seeds and their importance called Unearthed: The Need For Seeds with Cate Blanchett.
