Rachel
Hannah Weisz, born 7 March 1970 is an English film and theatre actress
and fashion model. She started her acting career at Trinity Hall,
Cambridge University, where she co-founded the theatrical group
Cambridge Talking Tongues. The group was awarded the Student Drama Award
for the improvised piece Slight Possession during the Edinburgh
Festival Fringe by The Guardian.
Weisz
started working in television, appearing in Inspector Morse, the
British miniseries The Scarlet and the Black, and the television movie
Advocates II. She made her film debut in the 1994 film Death Machine,
but her breakthrough role came in the 1996 movie Chain Reaction, leading
to a high-profile role as Evelyn Carnahan-O'Connell in the films The
Mummy, in 1999, and The Mummy Returns in 2001. Other notable films
featuring Weisz are Enemy at the Gates, About a Boy, Constantine, The
Fountain and The Constant Gardener, for which she received an Academy
Award, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award for her supporting
role as Tessa Quayle.
Weisz
also works in theatre. Her stage breakthrough was the 1994 revival of
Noel Coward's play Design for Living, which earned her the 'London
Critics' Circle Award for the most promising newcomer. Weisz's
performances also include the 1999 Donmar Warehouse production of
Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer, and their 2009 revival of A
Streetcar Named Desire. Her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in the latter
play earned her the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress of
2009.
Early life and background
Weisz
was born in Westminster, London, England, and grew up in the Hampstead
Garden Suburb. Her mother, Edith Ruth (née Teich), is a teacher turned
psychotherapist who was born in Vienna, Austria. Her father, George
Weisz, was a Hungarian-born inventor and engineer. Her parents fled to
England during the Second World War. Weisz's father is Jewish and her
mother is of Jewish, "Catholic Viennese", and Italian descent. Her
maternal grandfather, Alexander Teich, was a secretary of the World
Union of Jewish Students; whilst one of her maternal great-grandmothers
was from Italy. She has a sister, Minnie, who is a photographer and
curator.
Weisz's
parents valued the arts, and encouraged her and her sister to form
opinions of their own by introducing them to family debates. Weisz left
North London Collegiate School and attended Benenden for one year before
studying her A levels at St Pauls Girls School. Her parents ultimately
divorced. Weisz eventually graduated from St Paul's Girls' School. Weisz
claimed that she was a bad student until an English Literature teacher
inspired her at the age of sixteen.
Weisz
started modeling when she was fourteen. In 1984, she gained public
attention when she turned down an offer to star in King David, along
with Richard Gere. After school, she entered Trinity Hall, Cambridge,
where she graduated with a 2:1 in English. During her university years,
she appeared in various student productions, co-founding a student drama
group called Cambridge Talking Tongues, which went on to win a Guardian
Student Drama Award at the 1991 Edinburgh Fringe Festival for an
improvised piece called Slight Possession. The group existed until 1993.
Once she finished her college education, Weisz was offered a place at
drama school, which she rejected in order to look for work. In those
years, she started taking small television roles. Despite her rising
career, she felt deeply unhappy at times, having days in which she could
not drag herself out of bed because of her unhappiness. This situation
led to her undergoing therapy three times a week for five years.
Career
After
her success in theater as a student, Weisz continued acting in
television roles. She appeared on the 1992 television movie Advocates
II, followed by roles in the Inspector Morse episode "Twilight of the
Gods", and Scarlet and Black alongside Ewan McGregor.
Weisz
started her film career with a minor role in the 1994 film Death
Machine, but her first major role came in the 1996 film Chain Reaction,
which also starred Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman. She next appeared as
Miranda Fox in Stealing Beauty, directed by the Italian Academy
Award-winner Bernardo Bertolucci.
Following
this, Weisz found roles in the 1997 American drama Swept from the Sea,
the 1998 television comedy-drama My Summer with Des, the Michael
Winterbottom's crime movie I Want You, and David Leland's The Land
Girls, based on Angela Huth's book of the same name.
In
1999 Weisz played Greta in the historical film Sunshine. The same year,
her international breakthrough came with the 1999 adventure movie The
Mummy, in which she played the female lead opposite Brendan Fraser. Her
character was the English Egyptologist Evelyn Carnahan, who undertook an
expedition to the fictional ancient Egyptian city of Hamunaptra to
discover an ancient book. Variety criticized the direction of the movie,
writing: "(the actors) have been directed to broad, undisciplined
performances Buffoonery hardly seems like Weisz's natural domain, as the
actress strains for comic effects that she can't achieve".
2004–2009
In
2004, Weisz appeared in the comedy Envy, opposite Ben Stiller, Jack
Black and Christopher Walken. The movie failed at the box office.
Variety magazine opined that Weisz and co-star Amy Poehler "get fewer
choice moments than they deserve." Her next role was alongside Keanu
Reeves in Constantine, based on the comic book Hellblazer. Film Threat
called her portrayal "effective at projecting skepticism and,
eventually, dawning horror".
Her
next appearance, in 2005, was in Fernando Meirelles's The Constant
Gardener, a film adaptation of a John le Carré thriller set in the slums
of Kibera and Loiyangalani, Kenya.Weisz played activist Tessa Quayle.
The movie was critically acclaimed, earning Weisz the Academy Award for
Best Supporting Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting
Actress, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance
by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role. UK newspaper The Guardian noted
that the film "established her in the front rank of British actors",
while BBC wrote: "Weisz is exceptional: film star charisma coupled with
raw emotion in a performance to fall in love with".
In 2006, she starred in Darren Aronofsky's romantic drama The Fountain.
2010–present
Weisz's
latest film, The Whistleblower, debuted at the Toronto Film Festival in
2010. The film was based on the true story of human trafficking by
employees of contractor DynCorp. During its premiere, the intense
depiction of the treatment meted out to victims by the kidnappers made a
woman in the audience faint.Variety magazine wrote performance "Weisz's
performance holds the viewer every step of the way.". That same year,
she guest-starred in the animated series The Simpsons, in the 22nd
season episode "How Munched is That Birdie in the Window?".
Weisz's
upcoming roles include an adaptation of Terence Rattigan's play The
Deep Blue Sea, the horror film Dream House alongside Daniel Craig, and
an upcoming romantic drama written and directed by Terrence Malick,
which would see her starring alongside Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko,
Javier Bardem and Rachel McAdams.
Theatre
On
stage, Weisz's breakthrough role was that of Gilda in Sean Mathias's
1994 revival of Noel Coward's Design for Living at the Gielgud Theatre,
for which she received the London Critics' Circle Award for the most
promising newcomer. Her portrayal was described as "wonderful" by a
contemporary review. In 1999, she played the role of Catherine in the
Donmar Warehouse production of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer,
What's on Stage called her "captivating", stating that she brought "a
degree of credibility to a difficult part". The same year, Weisz
appeared in Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things at the Almeida Theatre,
then temporarily located in London's Kings Cross. CurtainUp called her
"a sophisticated, independent artist" with "great stage presence". In
2009, she appeared Blanche DuBois, in Rob Ashford's revival of the play A
Streetcar Named Desire. Her performance in the play was praised by the
critics, The Daily Telegraph noted that she "rises to the challenge
magnificently".
Personal life
Weisz
began dating American filmmaker and producer Darren Aronofsky in the
summer of 2001. They met backstage at London's Almeida Theatre, where
she was starring in The Shape of Things. Weisz moved to New York City
with Aronofsky the following year; in 2005, they were engaged. Their
son, Henry Chance, was born on 31 May 2006 in New York City. The couple
resided in the East Village in Manhattan. In November 2010, Weisz and
Aronofsky announced that they had been apart for months, but remain
close friends and are committed to raising their son together in New
York. In March 2011, it was reported that Weisz and actor Daniel Craig
had been dating since December 2010. Weisz and Craig married on June 22,
2011 in a private New York ceremony, with only four guests in
attendance, including Weisz's son and Craig's daughter.
In
2009, Weisz express her views on Botox to Harper's Bazaar - "It should
be banned for actors, as steroids are for sportsmen. Acting is all about
expression; why would you want to iron out a frown?.
Weisz
is represented by Creative Artists Agency. In 2001 she was involved in a
traffic accident, while traveling in a cab that was hit by a truck,
Weisz was unharmed. On 7 July 2007, she presented at the American leg of
Live Earth, along with Alec Baldwin and Kevin Bacon.
During
her career she has been featured on the covers of magazines such as
Vogue and Esquire. She serves as a muse to fashion designer Narciso
Rodriguez, and was named L’Oréal's global ambassador in 2010. Weisz has
admitted being an avid Elvis Presley fan, and visited Graceland mansion
in 2001.
Awards and honours
Weisz
gained honours for her work in The Constant Gardener, including the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Golden Globe Award for
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, and the Screen Actors Guild
Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture. She was also
nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Furthermore, the role also led to her receiving the London Critics
Circle Film Award for British Actress of the Year, the British
Independent Film Award for Best Actress, and the San Diego Film Critics
Society Award for Best Supporting Actress. Additionally, she was
nominated for the Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting
Actress.
Theatre
In
1991 Weisz received the Student Drama Award at the Edinburgh Festival
Fringe, for her part in the play Slight Possession. In 1994 she was
awarded with the London Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising
Newcomer, for the play Design for Living. In January 2010, the Critics'
Circle Theatre Awards in London named her Best Actress of 2009, for her
performance as Blanche Dubois in the Donmar revival of A Streetcar Named
Desire. She also won the coveted 2010 Olivier Award for Best Actress
for the same role.
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2004 Envy Debbie Dingman
2005 Constantine Angela Dodson/Isabel Dodson Nominated — Teen Choice: Movie Scream Scene
2005 The Constant Gardener Tessa Quayle Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
British Independent Film Award for Best Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
Iowa Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actress of the Year
San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Utah Film Critics Association Award for Supporting Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
2006 The Fountain Izzi/Isabella I of Castile
2006 Eragon Saphira
2007 Fred Claus Wanda
2007 My Blueberry Nights Sue Lynn
2008 Definitely, Maybe Summer Hartley (Natasha)
2009 The Brothers Bloom Penelope
2009 The Lovely Bones Abigail Salmon
2009 Agora Hypatia Nominated — Goya Award for Best Actress
2010 The Whistleblower Kathryn Bolkovac
2011 Page Eight Nancy
2011 Dream House Libby Attenton Post-production
2011 The Deep Blue Sea Hester Collyer Post-production
2012 Untitled Terrence Malick project Dinah Post-production
2012 360 Rose Post-production
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