Cate Blanchett answered that question in an interview in Total Film magazine. Here’s what she said (and it can relate to an artist):
“So much is to do with timing, if you arrive with a film that an audience is ready to embrace, and if it’s marketed well and it’s the right month and there is a zeitgeist to it, then that’s luck. Luck affords you an opportunity but I think the testament of who you are is what you do with that opportunity.”