The Brit actress returns for another bout of mummy-bashing
Rachel Weisz made her film debut just five years ago, lying topless next
to a pool in Bernardo Bertolucci's
Stealing Beauty. She's been working virtually non-stop ever since. Stealing
scenes from her higher profile
co-stars, whether resting the severed head of Ewan McGregor in her lap
in the BBC mini-series Scarlet & Black or
stalking Ralph Fiennes as his lusty sister-in-law in Sunshine. She has
also twice "done" the Hollywood thing.
The studios first beckoned after Stealing Beauty; the result was a starring
role opposite Keanu Reeves. Sadly
for Weisz, the movie, Chain Reaction, turned out to be a turkey. So the
Cambridge grad headed back for native
soil and rebuilt her reputation in a string of UK indies like Amy Foster,
Michael Winterbottom's I Want You and
The Land Girls, before Hollywood came calling again.
This time, Weisz hit the jackpot with The Mummy, and her role as nerdy,
curvy Egyptologist Evelyn. Despite the
opportunities that rolled in on the back of the '99 blockbuster, however,
Weisz has kept her feet - and career-
firmly panted in British soil. She recently starred in Beautiful Creatures
and played a Russian soldier in Enemy at
the Gates. The 30-year-old actress is back doing battle with the undead
in The Mummy Returns.
How did you end up getting hired for the original Mummy?
I went to the Sundance Film Festival, where Land Girls was premiered, then
went on to Los Angeles, did rounds
of meetings, and went home. But they wanted me back for 24 hours to audition
with Brendan for The Mummy. I
traveled over one day, auditioned the next and left the same afternoon
for the return trip - more than 12,000
miles. But it was worth it.
Did The Mummy's unexpected success have a big impact on your life?
It gave me my first big box office film and that always means something.
But I haven't been back to Hollywood
since it came out. I did a play and a couple of other small-budget films
and honestly didn't think about it. Then
there was Enemy at the Gates, which is doing well, but again I didn't really
have time to test the impact. But I
do intend to visit Los Angeles when The Mummy Returns is out, so we'll
see what happens.
What's your attitude to fame?
I honestly don't think about celebrity. I think of acting as some sort
of vocation - which I know sounds
pretentious - and I'm quite surprised I'm even getting paid for enjoying
myself. The pay really is indecently
large - even for small-budget films. You can get a lot of money from making
films and it's a luxury to then be
able to play at the Donmar. It also helped when I bought my first place
in London about three years ago. I've
had some financial advice from my dad. He's always going on about writing
my will, and says I should look after
my financial affairs.
Can we expect to see any big changes in Evelyn in The Mummy Returns?
It's the first time I've actually aged up in a film and the first time
I've played a mum. But there's no mumsy
stuff when it comes to the action. And there isn't much of a librarian
left in my character. I spent four months
training in martial arts. I got to kick more butt this time.
Was there any rivalry between yourself and girl fight partner, Patricia
Velasquez?
We were training together, so we got on really well. Neither of us had
any idea what we would be doing - or how
hard it would be - so we just bonded. Patricia is a very beautiful former
model and has a million friends in
London. She knows more people in Britain than I do. She didn't need looking
after at all. But our routine during
filming was really tough: up at 5:30 every morning, work all day, to bed
at 10. It can ruin a girl's social life.
How did you find working with Brendan Fraser a second time?
Brendan is quite mysterious. He's very gentle for a big action man and
almost courtly in his manners. He always
speaks softly. He's like someone from another age - he's not quite modern.
Having worked with him on two
films, I just can't imagine him ever falling out with anybody.
What's the result of working non-stop for a year?
Total exhaustion. I did Beautiful Creatures first, then Enemy at the Gates
in Berlin and finally The Mummy
Returns, with hardly any rest in between. I went on a road trip from New
Orleans to New York with a girlfriend.
We went to Elvis Presley's home - Graceland. I had a brilliant time. But
I was reminded why I'm an actor on this
trip. The whole South of America in a different world; Louisiana, in particular,
is incredibly racist. We were
hanging out with some black friends - two musicians and a doctor - and
had linked arms in the street. The white
men were giving us some really odd looks and there was tension in the air.
A friend said that about 10 years
ago they would probably have beaten us up.
Are you critical of your judgment when it comes to picking movies?
I'm quite philosophical. I was so proud of Amy Foster, for example, but
that was trashed by the British critics. It
made me step back and think: "Gosh, my taste is really at odds with the
world." Now, I go along, do my best,
and realize that I can't do anything about what people think."