Rachel Weisz

Talented, witty, attractive, charming, and consistently able to display convincing portrayals in every character she played, Rachel Weisz indeed possesses all the qualities needed to place herself firmly among other influential British thespians to acquire the same respect and laudation they have been showered with. A lovely blend of Jewish, Hungarian, Austrian, and Italian descent who was born into an intellectual family of an inventor and psychoanalyst on March 7, 1971 in London, England, she is the first child of George Weisz and Edith Ruth whose relationship as husband and wife did not go on too well throughout their eldest daughter's early life. Probably tried to keep them bound together or perhaps just wanted to gain their full attention in this dark situation, she frequently did something rebellious which caused her to pass through a series of schools in consequence. Still, her disruptive behavior could not prevent her parents to have a separation when she turned 15.

By the time she finished her high school study at St. Paul's Girls' School in 1989, Rachel already had her mind set to become an actress, a profession Edith had often encouraged the teen to carry out after making her a model at the age of 14. Taking English Literature major at Trinity Hall of Cambridge University, she then began to be involved in various student stage productions, like "The Romans in Britain" and "Removal", even founded a theater group, Talking Tongues, together with her college friends. Through this drama troupe, the hazel-eyed beauty wonderfully received her first accolade when one of their improvised pieces entitled "Slight Possession" unexpectedly won a Guardian Student Drama Award at the Edinburgh Festival in 1991.

Afterwards headed for London to perform the winning play at its National Theatre, the group, particularly Rachel, surprisingly managed to draw the attention of a stage director named Sean Mathias who happened to attend their show there. He thus concluded to cast her alongside Rupert Everett in his 1994 West End revival of Noel Coward's "Design for Living" at the Gielgud Theatre, one year after she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cambridge. Her portrayal of Gilda in this acclaimed play was really a brilliant one, leading her to be honored the title of Most Promising Newcomer at London Critics' Circle Awards in the same year, unmistakably enhanced the growing status she had already acquired when starring in BBC's miniseries, "The Scarlet and the Black" (1993).

Crossed to big screen productions, Rachel smoothly made her way to be included in two movie projects of "Stealing Beauty" and "Chain Reaction" which both saw their release in 1996. Although the latter encountered a fair commercial success worldwide, it was the former one that really brought her to international notice, thanks to her fantastic enactment in this excellent work of Bernardo Bertolucci. Earned huge praise from either critics or audience, "Beauty" certainly provided her greater access to enter Hollywood film industry, giving her enough buzz to earn a female leading role in "Swept from the Sea" (1997) which Ian McKellen and Kathy Bates also starred in. However, it was her next picture, "The Mummy" (1999), that truly propelled her to the widespread recognition plus to the forefront of the Hollywood scene as the adventurous flick fabulously scored more than $415 million all over the globe.

Undeniably became the new center of spotlight, Rachel instead chose to return to her first love, the theater, spending the following years to participate in the adaptations of Tennessee Williams' "Suddenly Last Summer" and Neil LaBute's "The Shape of Things" before reunited with the "Mummy" cast and production crew to film its sequel, "The Mummy Returns" (2001). Soared as one of the most sought female stars by the turn of the new millennium, she later found herself being involved in a series of high-profiles film features, including those of "Enemy of the Gates" (2001), "About a Boy" (2002), and "Runaway Jury" (2003). Marked the year 2005 with an appearance opposite Keanu Reeves in Francis Lawrence's rendition of Hellblazer comic book, "Constantine", the fair actress satisfyingly delivered another compelling performance as Ralph Fiennes' murdered wife in "The Constant Gardener" which also came up that year. This flick was proven great in movie industry and brought her a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture and the 2006 SAG Award for Best Supporting Actress category.

Through this first-class enactment, Rachel eventually encountered the highlight of her career when AMPAS granted her an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role at the 2006 event held on March 5. Unquestionably lauded as an A-list actress afterwards, she continued exhibiting her fine acting skills in "The Fountain" alongside Hugh Jackman and Ellen Burstyn while lending voice for 20th Century Fox's fantasy tale "Eragon" during the year followed by comic holiday flick "Fred Claus" in 2007. More performing offers continuously came next and so, brought her to sign on in a pile of high-profile big screen features for two years ahead. Among the pack were "My Blueberry Nights" (2008), "The Brothers Bloom" (2008), "The Lovely Bones" (2009), and "Dirt Music" (2009).

Peeking into her love life, Rachel first dated actor Ben Miller for two years up to the year 1993 before turned to Alessandro Nivola in the middle of 1990s, then Neil Morrissey by 1998. Also known as the former girlfriend of celebrated film director Sam Mendes, she eventually engaged to another filmmaker, Darren Aronofsky, and happily welcomed the arrival of their first child Henry Chance on May 31, 2006 in New York City.