39 Facts About Rachel Weisz

1.

Rachel Weisz began acting in stage and television productions in the early 1990s, and made her film debut in Death Machine.

2.

Rachel Weisz won a Critics' Circle Theatre Award for her role in the 1994 revival of Noel Coward's play Design for Living, and went on to appear in the 1999 Donmar Warehouse production of Tennessee Williams' drama Suddenly, Last Summer.

3.

Rachel Weisz has since played Melina Vostokoff in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Black Widow and starred as twin obstetricians in the thriller miniseries Dead Ringers.

4.

Rachel Weisz was engaged to filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, with whom she has a son, from 2005 to 2010.

5.

Rachel Weisz was born on 7 March 1970 in Westminster, London, and grew up in Hampstead Garden Suburb.

6.

Rachel Weisz's father, George Weisz, was a Hungarian Jewish mechanical engineer.

7.

Rachel Weisz's mother, Edith Ruth, was a teacher-turned-psychotherapist originally from Vienna, Austria.

8.

Rachel Weisz's parents emigrated to the United Kingdom as children around 1938, prior to the outbreak of World War II, in order to escape the Nazis.

9.

Rachel Weisz's mother was raised in the Catholic church and formally converted to Judaism upon marrying Rachel Weisz's father.

10.

Rachel Weisz's younger sister Minnie Weisz is a visual artist.

11.

Rachel Weisz's parents valued the arts; they encouraged their children to form opinions of their own by engaging their participation in family debates.

12.

Rachel Weisz left North London Collegiate School and attended Benenden School for one year, completing A-levels at St Paul's Girls School.

13.

Rachel Weisz went to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she read English.

14.

In 1992, Rachel 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.

15.

Rachel Weisz's portrayal was described as "wonderful" by a contemporary review.

16.

Rachel 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 starred Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman.

17.

Rachel Weisz next appeared as Miranda Fox in Stealing Beauty, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, where she was first labelled an "English rose".

18.

In 1999, Rachel Weisz played Greta in the historical film Sunshine.

19.

Rachel Weisz's character, Evelyn Carnahan, is an English Egyptologist, who undertakes an expedition to the fictional ancient Egyptian city of Hamunaptra to discover an ancient book.

20.

Rachel Weisz followed this up with the sequel The Mummy Returns in 2001, which grossed an estimated $433 million worldwide, higher than the original's $260 million.

21.

In 2004, Rachel Weisz appeared in the comedy Envy, opposite Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Christopher Walken.

22.

Rachel Weisz played an activist, Tessa Quayle, married to a British embassy official.

23.

UK newspaper The Guardian noted that the film "established her in the front rank of British actors", while the BBC wrote: "Rachel Weisz is exceptional: film star charisma coupled with raw emotion in a performance to fall in love with".

24.

In 2006, Rachel Weisz starred in Darren Aronofsky's romantic drama The Fountain.

25.

Rachel Weisz starred in the film The Whistleblower, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2010.

26.

Rachel Weisz filmed scenes for To the Wonder, a 2012 romantic drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick, alongside Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Javier Bardem, and Rachel McAdams; her scenes were cut.

27.

Rachel Weisz has starred in the 2012 action thriller film The Bourne Legacy based on the series of books by Robert Ludlum.

28.

In 2013, Rachel Weisz starred on Broadway alongside her husband, Daniel Craig, in a revival of Harold Pinter's Betrayal.

29.

That same year, Rachel Weisz played Evanora in the fantasy film Oz the Great and Powerful.

30.

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.

31.

Rachel Weisz grew up three underground stops away from where the film is set in London.

32.

In 2018, Rachel Weisz played Sarah Churchill in The Favourite, winning the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and receiving her second nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

33.

In July of that year, Rachel Weisz was announced to play Melina Vostokoff in the film, which was released on 9 July 2021.

34.

Rachel Weisz next starred and executive produced Dead Ringers, a remake of the 1988 film of the same name for Amazon Prime Video.

35.

Rachel Weisz is set to portray actress Elizabeth Taylor in the biographical drama A Special Relationship, though the film remains in development.

36.

Rachel Weisz is attached to star alongside Colin Farrell in Love Child, directed by Todd Solondz.

37.

Rachel Weisz is set to star in a film adaptation of Seance on a Wet Afternoon, based on the 1961 suspense novel of the same name by Mark McShane and directed by Tomas Alfredson.

38.

Rachel Weisz moved to New York with Aronofsky the following year; in 2005, they were engaged.

39.

Rachel Weisz served as a muse to fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez, and was named L'Oreal's global ambassador in 2010.