Cate's off to the coast

Celebrities as diverse as Sir Paul McCartney, Zoe Ball and Chris Eubank are already enjoying life there - and now the South Coast is to get yet another star resident: Cate Blanchett.

The Australian actress is the latest famous name to quit her London home in favour of a life beside the seaside.

Blanchett told the Evening Standard she plans to sell her home in Islington and move to Brighton, where neighbours will include Ball and husband Norman Cook, Sir Paul and wife Heather Mills, Emma Bunton, and Steve Coogan.

With her husband Andrew Upton and 18-month-old son Dashiell, Blanchett will live in a four-storey townhouse in an exclusive crescent overlooking Brighton's marina. Built in 1820, the house is undergoing a £1million renovation to restore some Regency features. It shares a private park and tunnel to the seafront.

The Melbourne-born actress, who has lived in London for four years, said: "We're moving out of London for good. I suppose it's just the draw of the ocean for me. I'm an Aussie girl and get a bit worn down by enormous cities. Brighton is really quite a large place in Australian terms - like Sydney or Melbourne - and that's big enough for me."

She was speaking at the London premiere of her latest movie, Veronica Guerin, a true-life story in which she plays the Irish journalist assassinated by the Dublin drug gangs she exposes.

Her death in 1996 - after previous attempts on her life - sparked debate over how much reporters should put themselves and their families at risk. But Blanchett said: "I think we live in very cowardly times and anyone who does things that put their life on the line is considered foolhardy. I don't think the same questions would be asked of a man."

The film, directed by Joel Schumacher, received rave reviews in Ireland where it opened on 11 July. Guerin's family said Blanchett's performance was "spooky" in its authenticity. The actress adopts a convincing Irish accent, and to research her role visited the Dublin streets where Guerin got her stories.

Blanchett attended the premiere, at Screen on the Green in Islington, in an olive-green satin Stella McCartney dress, with her husband and co-stars Ciaran Hinds and Gina Constigan. The after-show party was at the nearby Almeida restaurant, and guests included Richard E Grant and Vanessa Feltz.

Guerin is the latest in a series of roles which have raised the 34-year-old's profile in recent years. She plays Galadriel in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, and starred in The Shipping News, Charlotte Gray and The Talented Mr Ripley. "I have so much work on right now," she said. "But I never worry about the future as far as my profession goes.

"It is easy for actresses to worry about that and for the work to dry up for them a lot quicker than for actors. That doesn't concern me one bit. But if it did happen, I guess I could have another baby."

Her next role is as the late Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator. When she took the part, Hepburn was still alive. Blanchett said: "Katharine always said she had perfect timing: she was born at the perfect time, would die at the perfect time - and would pass away before someone played her."