Rachel Hannah Weisz (born 7 March 1970) is an English film and theatre actress and fashion model. She started her acting career in the constituent University of Cambridge college, Trinity Hall, where she co-founded the theatrical group Cambridge Talking Tongues. The group was awarded the Student Drama Award for the improvised piece Slight Possession during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe by The Guardian. Weisz started working in television, appearing in Inspector Morse, the British miniseries The Scarlet and the Black, and the television movie Advocates II. She made her film debut in the 1994 film Death Machine, but her breakthrough role came in the 1996 movie Chain reaction, leading to a high-profile role as Evelyn Carnahan-O'Connell in the films The Mummy, in 1999, and The Mummy Returns in 2001. Other notable films featuring Weisz are Enemy at the Gates, About a Boy, Constantine, The Fountain and The Constant Gardener, for which she received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role. Weisz also worked on theatre. Her stage breakthrough was the 1994 revival of Noel Coward's play Design for Living, which earned her the 'London Critics' Circle Award for the most promising newcomer. Weisz's performances also include the 1999 Donmar Warehouse production of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer, and the 2006 revival of A Streetcar Named Desire. Her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in the latter play earned her the Critics' Circle Theatre Award.
On stage, Weisz's breakthrough role was that of Gilda in Sean Mathias's 1994 revival of Noel Coward's Design for Living at the Gielgud Theatre, for which she received the London Critics' Circle Award for the most promising newcomer. Her portrayal was described as "wonderful" by a contmporary review. In 1999, she played the role of Catherine in the Donmar Warehouse production of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer, What's on Stage called her "captivating", stating that she brought "a degree of credibility to a difficult part". The same year, Weisz appeared in Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things at the Almeida Theatre, then temporarily located in London's Kings Cross. CurtainUp called her "a sophisticated, independent artist" with "great stage presence".
In 2006, she appeared Blanche DuBois, in Rob Ashford's revival of the play A Streetcar Named Desire. Her performance in the play was praised by the critics, The Daily Telegraph noted that she "rises to the challenge magnificently". Weisz gained honours for her work in The Constant Gardener, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture. She was also nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Furthermore, the role also led to her receiving the London Critics Circle Film Award for British Actress of the Year, the British Independent Film Award for Best Actress, and the San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress. Additionally, she was nominated for the Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress.
In 2006, Weisz was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was also honored at the Los Angeles BAFTA ceremony with the Britannia Award for Artist of the Year. In 1991 Weisz received the Student Drama Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, for her part in the play Slight Possession. In 1994 she was awarded with the London Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Newcomer, for the play Design for Living. In January 2010, the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards in London named her Best Actress of 2009, for her performance as Blanche Dubois in the Donmar revival of A Streetcar Named Desire. She also won the coveted 2010 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the same role. Weisz is represented by Creative Artists Agency. In 2001 she was involved in an traffic accident, while traveling in a cab that was hit by a truck, Weisz was unharmed. On 7 July 2007, she presented at the American leg of Live Earth, along with Alec Baldwin and Kevin Bacon.
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