Date and Place of Birth March 7, 1970 Westminster, London, England Birth Name Rachel Hannah Weisz Height 5′ 6″ (1.68 m) Star Sign Pisces Trademarks ☆ Hearty laughter

Quick Menu 001. Biography (below) 002. Career 003. Awards & Nominations 004. Personal Quotes 005. Trivia

Young Rachel Weisz in uniform
(from Hello Mag)

Rachel Hannah Weisz was born on March 7, 1970 in Westminster, London, England, United Kingdom to George Weisz, an inventor, and Edith Teich, a psychoanalyst. Her father is Hungarian and Jewish while her mother is of Italian and Austrian descent. She has a younger sister, Minnie, who is an art curator and photographer. Rachel began modeling at the age of 14, gaining attention when she turned down an offer to star in King David with Richard Gere. She went on to attend Trinity Hall at the University of Cambridge, where she began acting while studying English. Enjoying the art, she formed the theater company “Cambridge Talking Tongues”, which would go on to win the Guardian Award at the Edinburgh Festival in 1991 for an improvised piece written by Rachel herself titled Slight Possession.

Design for Living

In 1992, she made the jump to the screen, portraying Sarah Thompson on the television series The Advocates in three episodes at the beginning of the series’ second season. Rachel continued to book guest roles on television in 1993, including Inspector Morse, Tropical Heat, Scarlet and Black, and He-Play, She-Play. 1994 began with a guest role on the series Screen Two where she portrayed Becca before her first film. White Goods and Seventeen were her first movie roles, made for television. She even starred on stage revival of Noël Coward’s “Design for Living,” winning her the vote for Most Promising Newcomer by the London Critics’ Circle. 1996 brought Rachel her first official film roles, beginning with Stealing Beauty, where she played the role of Miranda Fox in the romantic drama starring Liv Tyler. Next, she starred alongside Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman in Chain Reaction, a sci-fi thriller following researchers part of a green alternative energy project who are on the run when they’re framed for murder and treason.

Swept from the Sea

The next year, arrived the coming-of-age story Going All the Way starring Ben Affleck and Jeremy Davies, where Rachel portrayed Marty Pilcher. It was followed closely by the historic dram Bent, following a gay Jew in 1930s Berlin who is sent to a concentration camp under the Nazi regime. The film was a 1998 nominee at the GLAAD Media Awards for Outstanding Film with a Limited Release.

The Mummy

Rachel’s first starring film role came the same year with Swept from the Sea, a period drama following a Russian emigrant and his servant at the end of the nineteenth century. Rachel portrayed Amy Foster, the Russian’s servant. The film also starred Vincent Perez, Ian McKellen, and Kathy Bates. 1998 brought the BBC television movie My Summer with Des, along with war drama The Land Girls, and the psychological drama I Want You. Sunshine, a romantic epic co-starring Ralph Fiennes and the drama Tube Tales were released in 1999 among the blockbuster that would send Rachel into international stardom. She starred as Evelyn Carnahan in The Mummy, the action adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers, which also starred Brendan Fraser. When it was released in May 1999, the film grossed over $43 million in its opening weekend, leading to a worldwide gross of $417 million. Rachel returned to the stage, playing Catherine in the Donmar Warehouse production of Suddenly Last Summer by Tennessee Williams. She also appeared in Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things, where she would receive a Theatre World Award. CurtainUp called her “a sophisticated, independent artist” with “great stage presence”.

The Mummy Returns

2000 brought the crime drama Beautiful Creatures, where Rachel portrayed Petula alongside Susan Lynch. She also starred in the documentary This Is Not an Exit: The Fictional World of Bret Easton Ellis, a reenactment of the world Bret Easton Ellis creates in his contemporary American Fiction novels. Next, Rachel appeared as Tania Chernova in Enemy at the Gates before returning to the world of The Mummy in The Mummy Returns, which would go on to gross $443 million worldwide at the box office. Rachel would portray the role of Rachel in the romantic comedy About A Boy, starring Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult. She continued to star in The Shape of Things (where she also served as a producer), Confidence, and Runaway Jury in 2003, and Envy in 2004. She starred alongside Keanu Reeves in the supernatural fantasy Constantine as Angela and Isabel Dodson. The film was deemed a box office hit, grossing nearly $231 million worldwide.

The Constant Gardener

Rachel starred opposite Ralph Fiennes in The Constant Gardener as Tessa Quayle. The film follows a widower’s transcontinental quest to find answers about his wife’s death leads him to explosive secrets. 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”. The film was 2006 Golden Globe Nominee for Best Motion Picture – Drama, and earned Rachel a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, as well as the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. She even received the BAFTA Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year in 2006. 2006 gave Rachel the role of Isabel/Issi Creo in the psychological drama The Fountain, which also starred Hugh Jackman, followed by voicing the dragon Saphira in the adaption of the young adult novel Eragon.

The Brothers Bloom

In 2007, Rachel starred alongside Natalie Portman and Jude Law in the romantic drama My Blueberry Nights as Sue Lynne before appearing in Vince Vaughn’s holiday comedy Fred Claus as Wanda. She portrayed Summer Hartley in the popular romantic comedy Definitely, Maybe opposite Ryan Reynolds and Abigail Breslin. The same year, she portrayed the role of Penelope in The Brothers Bloom, a film following the best con men in the world who decide to do one last job with an eccentric heiress. The film also starred Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody.

Agora

Rachel returned to the stage in 2009, playing Blanche DuBois in Rob Ashford’s revival of A Streetcar Named Desire. She earned the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in 2010 for her portrayal. Her performance in the play was praised by critics, the Daily Telegraph noted that she “rises to the challenge magnificently”. Rachel portrayed Hypatia in Agora, a biographical drama set in Roman Egypt when a slave turns the rising tide of Christianity in the hope of pursuing freedom while falling in love with his mistress. Her performance earned her a Goya Award nomination for Best Lead Actress. She next stepped into the role of Abigail Salmon in The Lovely Bones, a fantasy thriller centering around a young girl who had been murdered and watches over her family from purgatory.

The Bourne Legacy

At the beginning of a new decade, Rachel voiced the character of Dr. Thurmond in an episode of The Simpsons in its 22nd season. Her next film role came as Kathryn Bolkovac in The Whistleblower, based on the true story of human trafficking by employees of contractor DynCorp. She would even direct her first short film, titled The Thief that year.

Oz the Great and Powerful

She would star alongside Bill Nighy in the television movie Page Eight as Nancy Pierpan in 2011. She continued with roles in 360, The Deep Blue Sea, and Dream House the same year. Rachel joined the Bourne world in 2012, starring alongside Jeremy Renner in The Bourne Legacy as Dr. Marta Shearing. She would follow that up as playing Evanora in Oz the Great and Powerful, a re-imagining of characters from The Wizard of Oz. Though there was negativity surrounding the film itself, it ended up grossing $493 million worldwide at the box office. Rachel made her Broadway debut in a revival of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal, where she starred alongside Daniel Craig. Rachel served as executive producer for the dark comedy Radiator, which premiered at the 58th London Film Festival.

Denial

In 2015, she starred opposite Colin Farrell in the dark romantic comedy The Lobster, which is set in a dystopian near future where single people are arrested and transferred to a creepy hotel, where they must find a mate in 45 days. She next starred in Youth as Lena Ballinger. The film won the Jury Prize at Cannes. In 2016, she starred in Complete Unknown as Alice Manning opposite Michael Shannon. Next, she played Hannah Roennfeldt in the romantic drama The Light Between Oceans, following a lighthouse keeper and his wife living off the coast of Western Australia as they raise a baby they rescue from a drifting rowing boat. Rachel starred as Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt in Denial, based on the novel by Lipstadt herself.

Disobedience

Rachel starred as the title character in My Cousin Rachel in 2017, a mystery drama following a young Englishman plotting revenge against his late cousin’s wife, believing she’s responsible for his death. Later that year, she starred in Disobedience, a drama following a woman returning to her Orthodox Jewish community that shunned her for being attracted to a female friend. Rachel was nominated for Best Actress at the British Independent Film Awards, American Film Awards, and National Film Awards. She also served as a producer on the film. The Mercy was her next project, starring opposite Colin Firth in the period drama about amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst and his solo attempt to circumnavigate the globe. Rachel portrayed Lady Sarah in the period drama The Favourite alongside Olivia Colman and Emma Stone. She earned the Best Supporting Actress award at the 2019 BAFTAs, British Independent Film Awards, Hollywood Film Awards, the London Critics Circle Film Awards, and the Vancouver Film Critics Circle. She was also part of the musical short Let’s Dance, which starred the likes of Glenn Close, Toni Collette, and Ethan Hawke.

Dead Ringers

In 2021, Rachel joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Melina Vostokoff in Black Widow, which would lead her to voicing her character in an episode of Marvel’s animated series What If…? in 2023. The same year, she starred as identical twins Beverly and Elliot Mantle in the series Dead Ringers, a psychological horror following her characters while they’re on a mission to change the way women give birth. Rachel serves as an executive producer on the series. She earned the Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television and was also nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance.

Rachel and Daniel in Venice

Rachel’s upcoming projects include reprising her role as Melina Vostokoff in Marvel’s Thunderbolts*, set to hit theaters on May 2, 2025. She is also set to star in Seance on a Wet Afternoon, a drama following a medium who convinces her husband to kidnap a child so she can gain fame by “physically” solving the crime. The project in currently in pre-production.

She uses her status to lend a hand to those in need. Rachel has historically worked with the organization Small Steps Project, a humanitarian organization and UK registered charity supporting children and their families who are in need. She has been vocal about working with the Opportunity Network “because it actually works”. The organization helps young adults get into and graduate from college. She also supports the African Rainforest Conservatory, Cancer Research UK, Constant Gardener Trust, the Motiona Picture and Television Fund Foundation, Only Make Believe, the Pediatric Epilepsy Project, and the Worldwide Orphans Foundation.

Rachel is married to actor Daniel Craig, they have a daughter together. She also has a son, Henry, shared with former partner Darren Aronofsky.