Rachel Weisz biography 2022
Rachel Weisz biography
Rachel Weisz was born in London, England, on March 7, 1971, to Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe; her Viennese mother is a psychoanalyst, while her Hungarian father is an inventor credited with inventing life-saving respiratory medical equipment.
While growing up in England, Rachel worked as a model at age 15, but a change of heart led to her acting. Her parents were adamant that she get a university education before taking up acting, so she studied literature at Cambridge's Trinity Hall.
The Cambridge student was involved in drama at the same time, founding a theater group known as Talking Tongues, for which she co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in the productions. Some of Talking Tongues' work was performed at the Edinburgh Festival, and in 1991 Rachel was awarded a student drama award for a play she wrote and acted in.
Rachel got her first big break in a theater production of Noel Coward's Design for Living, for which she received the Evening Standard Award for Best Newcomer. She then moved to television, starring in the 1993 made-for-TV film Dirty Something and the BBC series Scarlet & Black; she appeared in the series Inspector Morse in 1993 and appeared in the made-for-TV movies White Goods and Seventeen in 1994
With nothing but TV roles to her name, Rachel was cast as a junior executive in the science-fiction film Death Machine in 1995. But her big break came in 1996 when she was cast in Bernardo Bertolucci's, Steal beauty.
Although the film star was Liv Tyler, Rachel still managed to steal some of the beautiful spotlights as Miranda, the daughter of an artist. Rachel was next cast in smaller films, such as 1996's Chain Reaction, starring Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman; and 1997's Swept from the Sea, Going All the Way (in which she played Ben Affleck's girlfriend and co-starred with Rose McGowan) and Bent, in which she played a prostitute.
After roles in The Land Girls and I Wanted You in 1998, Rachel Weisz leaped to international fame with her female lead in the 1999 breakout hit The Mummy.
Rachel returned to her roots as a Hungarian Jew in the epic film Sunshine, starring opposite Ralph Fiennes in a role that earned her a Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2000. This was in addition to her 2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Best Actress in an Action Motion Picture and Saturn Award for Best Actress, both for The Mummy.
After starring in Beautiful Creatures in 2000, Rachel rang in the new year by starring opposite Joseph Fiennes (Ralph Fiennes' brother) and Jude Law (her Primrose Hill neighbor) in the WWII Battle of Stalingrad film Enemy at the Gates as Sergeant. Tania Chernova.
Although the latter didn't blow up at the box office, the sequel to The Mummy opened at record highs and broke box office records. Rachel returned with Brendan Fraser as Evelyn Carnahan/Princess Nefretiri, leaving audiences scrambling to see beautiful Rachel and The Rock and Patricia Velasquez.
Despite her success in film, she starred in a film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer, for which she received the 1999 Barclays Theater Award for Best Supporting Actress.
And the London production of The Shape of Things, in which she stars as an American sculptor.
Rachel has also graced the cover of several magazines, such as Tatler and Bikini, and despite her flair for posing, she turned down Hugh Hefner's offer to appear in Playboy magazine.
Some lucky men have been romantically linked with her, including her My Summer With Des co-star Neil Morrissey.
Her I Want You co-star, Alessandro Nivola, her Chain Reaction co-star Keanu Reeves and the British director of American Beauty, Sam Mendes.
The Elvis-loving, Los Angeles-hating actress, is set to appear in Marlowe, the Natural Nylon production with Johnny Depp and Natural Nylon co-founder Jude Law. Rachel can be seen in About A Boy with Hugh Grant and Toni Collette.
last updated October 2022
