Australian actor Cate Blanchett has joined the ranks of the most awarded female performers at the Golden Globes with her win in the Best Actress in a Drama category for her performance in Todd Field’s TÁR.

Blanchett, 53, joins Meryl Streep, Ingrid Bergman and Jane Fonda as the only three-time winners of the honour bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Blanchett’s previous wins in the category were for Elizabeth in 1999 and for Blue Jasmine in 2014. TÁR was her 12th Golden Globe nomination.

Cate Blanchett as conductor Lydia Tár. Photo supplied by Focus Features

Blanchett’s was a hotly contested category this year. Her fellow nominees were Viola Davis (The Woman King), Ana de Armas (star of Australian director Andrew Dominik’s Netflix feature Blonde), Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans) and Olivia Colman in Empire of Light.

Blanchett wasn’t present to collect the award at the ceremony, which took place in The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on 10 January. British actor Henry Golding, who presented the category, accepted it on her behalf.

TÁR was also nominated in the Best Motion Picture and Best Screenplay categories. James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water was...