Rachel Weisz

Weisz was born on 7 March 1970 in Westminster, London, and grew up in Hampstead Garden Suburb. Her parents immigrated to the United Kingdom as children around 1938, prior to the outbreak of World War II, in order to escape the Nazis. Her father, George Weisz, was a Hungarian Jewish mechanical engineer and inventor known for pioneering a type of ventilator. Her mother, Edith Ruth ( Teich), was a teacher, and later a psychotherapist, originally from Vienna, Austria. Her maternal grandfather's ancestry was Austrian Jewish; her maternal grandmother was Catholic and of Italian ancestry. The scholar and social activist James Parkes helped her mother's family to leave Austria for England. Weisz's mother was raised in the Catholic church and formally converted to Judaism upon marrying Weisz's father. Weisz's maternal grandfather was Alexander Teich, a Jewish activist who had been a secretary of the World Union of Jewish Students. Her younger sister Minnie Weisz is a visual artist. Weisz's parents valued the arts; they encouraged their children to form opinions of their own by engaging their participation in family debates. Weisz left North London Collegiate School and attended Benenden School for one year, completing her A-levels at St Paul's Girls School. Known for being an "English rose", In 1984, she gained public attention when she turned down an offer to star in King David with Richard Gere. Weisz went to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she read English, matriculating in 1988. She graduated with upper second-class honours. During her university years she was a contemporary of Sacha Baron Cohen, Alexander Armstrong, Emily Maitlis, Sue Perkins, Mel Giedroyc, Richard Osman and Ben Miller (whom she briefly dated), and appeared in various student dramatic productions, co-founding a student drama group called Cambridge Talking Tongues. The group won a Guardian Student Drama Award at the 1991 Edinburgh Festival Fringe for an improvised piece written by Weisz herself called Slight Possession, directed by David Farr. Weisz then trained under master clown Philippe Gaulier at École Philippe Gaulier. ==Career==

1990s In 1992, Weisz appeared in the television film Advocates II, followed by roles in the Inspector Morse episode "Twilight of the Gods", and the BBC's steamy period drama Scarlet and Black, alongside Ewan McGregor. Weisz's breakthrough role on the stage was that of Gilda in Sean Mathias's 1994 revival of Noël 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. Weisz started her film career with a minor role in the 1994 film Death Machine; The film received mostly negative reviews–it holds a 16% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was a minor financial success. She next appeared as Miranda Fox in Stealing Beauty, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, where she was first labelled an "English rose". the 1998 British television comedy-drama My Summer with Des, Michael Winterbottom's crime film 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 film The Mummy, in which she played the female lead opposite Brendan Fraser. Her character, Evelyn Carnahan, is an English Egyptologist, who undertakes an expedition to the fictional ancient Egyptian city of Hamunaptra to discover an ancient book. Variety criticised the direction of the film, 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". She followed this up with the sequel The Mummy Returns in 2001, which grossed an estimated $433 million worldwide, (equivalent to $ million in dollars) higher than the original's $260 million (equal to $ million in dollars). Also 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 King's Cross, for which she received a Theatre World Award. CurtainUp called her "a sophisticated, independent artist" with "great stage presence". 2000s In 2000, she portrayed Petula in the film Beautiful Creatures, followed by her portrayal of Tania Chernova in 2001's Enemy at the Gates, and the 2002 comedy-drama About a Boy, with Hugh Grant, based on Nick Hornby's 1998 novel. In 2003, she played Marlee in the adaptation of John Grisham's legal thriller novel The Runaway Jury; and starred in the film adaptation of the romantic comedy-drama play The Shape of Things. In 2004, Weisz appeared in the comedy Envy. The film failed at the box office. Variety 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 scepticism 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 an activist, Tessa Quayle, married to a British embassy official. The film 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 the BBC wrote: "Weisz is exceptional: film star charisma coupled with raw emotion in a performance to fall in love with". In 2006, she received the BAFTA Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year. In 2006, Weisz starred in American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky's romantic drama The Fountain. The San Francisco Chronicle found her portrayal of Queen Isabel "less convincing" than other roles. That same year, she provided the voice for Saphira the dragon in the fantasy film Eragon; and rejected an offer to star in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor due to script issues. The part eventually went to Maria Bello. Her subsequent films include the 2007 Wong Kar-wai drama My Blueberry Nights, In 2009, she played the lead role of Hypatia of Alexandria in the historical drama film Agora, a Spanish production directed by Alejandro Amenábar. The New York Times called her portrayal "adept", noting that she imparted "a sympathetic presence". That same year, she appeared as Blanche DuBois, in Rob Ashford's revival of the play A Streetcar Named Desire. Her performance in the play was praised by critics, the Daily Telegraph noted that she "rises to the challenge magnificently". 2010s Weisz starred in the film The Whistleblower, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2010. The film was based on the true story of human trafficking by employees of contractor DynCorp. During its première, the intense depiction of the treatment meted out to victims by the kidnappers made a woman in the audience faint. Variety wrote "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 2011 roles included an adaptation of Terence Rattigan's play The Deep Blue Sea, Fernando Meirelles' drama 360, the BBC espionage thriller Page Eight, and the thriller film Dream House. She filmed scenes for To the Wonder, a 2012 romantic drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick; her scenes were cut. She has starred in the 2012 action thriller film The Bourne Legacy based on the series of books by Robert Ludlum. In 2013, Weisz starred on Broadway alongside her husband, Daniel Craig, in a revival of Harold Pinter's Betrayal. It opened 27 October 2013, and closed 5 January 2014. Box office receipts of $17.5 million made it the second highest grossing Broadway play of 2013. That year, Weisz played Evanora in the fantasy film Oz the Great and Powerful. In 2015, she appeared in drama film Youth and in science fiction film The Lobster. Lobster won the Cannes Jury Prize. In 2016, she appeared in the drama film The Light Between Oceans, and portrayed Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt in Denial, a film based on Lipstadt's book, and directed by Mick Jackson. In 2017, Weisz starred in My Cousin Rachel, a drama based on Daphne du Maurier's novel, and in 2018 co-starred in a British biographical film about sailor Donald Crowhurst, The Mercy, directed by James Marsh. Weisz's production company, LC6 Productions, released its first feature film, Disobedience, in 2017, starring Weisz and Rachel McAdams. Weisz grew up three London Underground stops away from the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood where the film is set. Raised within Judaism, Weisz never fully connected to her ancestral religion. She claims she was "really disobedient" herself and has never felt she fits in anywhere. In 2018, Weisz played the cutthroat advisor Lady Sarah Churchill in The Favourite, winning the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award, Golden Globe Award, the Critics' Choice Award, and the Academy Award. 2020s In April 2019, Weisz entered talks to join Scarlett Johansson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Black Widow. In July of that year, Weisz was announced to play Melina Vostokoff in the film, which was released on 9 July 2021. In 2023, Weisz starred in and executive produced the Prime Video miniseries remake ‘’Dead Ringers’’, earning a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film. She later starred as the lead in the 2026 Netflix limited series ‘’Vladimir’’, an adaptation of Julia May Jonas’s novel. Weisz has been cast in Tomas Alfredson’s upcoming drama ‘’Séance on a Wet Afternoon’’ opposite Matthew Macfadyen and Joe Alwyn. She has also been announced to reprise her role as Evelyn O’Connell in the fourth installment of the ‘’The Mummy’’ franchise, reuniting with Brendan Fraser and John Hannah; the film is being written and directed by Radio Silence and is scheduled for release in 2028. ==Personal life==

In 2001, Weisz began dating filmmaker and producer Darren Aronofsky. 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 was born in May 2006 in New York City. The couple resided in the East Village in Manhattan. Mohel Philip Sherman performed their son's brit milah (bris). In November 2010, Weisz and Aronofsky announced that they had been apart for months but remained close friends and were committed to bringing up their son together in New York. Weisz and the English actor Daniel Craig were friends for many years and worked together on the 2011 film Dream House. They began dating in December 2010 and married on 22 June 2011 in a private New York ceremony, with four guests in attendance, including Weisz's son and Craig's daughter. On 1 September 2018, it was reported that they had their first child together, a daughter. Weisz has been featured on the covers of magazines such as Vogue. She served as a muse to the fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez, and was named L'Oréal's global ambassador in 2010. Weisz learned karate for her role in The Brothers Bloom. A British citizen by birth, Weisz became a naturalised American citizen in 2011. ==Acting credits==

Film Television Theatre ==Awards and nominations==