Actress Cate Blanchett (The Aviator) is hailed by many as the up-and-coming Meryl Streep. And for good reason: she has effectively played a wide range of characters from Queen Elizabeth to my personal favorite, an eccentric dual-part in Coffee and Cigarettes. In prime self-deprecating glory, she played herself and also a cousin who was resentful of her fame and fortune.

According to MovieHole, she has landed another interesting project to help her stretch her acting muscles. She’ll star in Cancer Vixen: A True Story, based on the graphic memoir by Marisa Acocella Marchetto.

The autobiographical Vixen is about a cartoon fashionista for Glamour and the New Yorker, who hits troubled waters in her life. She falls in love with a celebrity restaurateur and begins planning their wedding, when she gets the bad news that she has breast cancer (and after her health insurance has lapsed, no less). With a little help from her friends, she wears fancy shoes to chemo sessions and fights to get married on time.

You gotta love people who laugh in the face of Cancer. If only we could all be so strong at a time of utter crisis.