Over the past three decades, Rachel Weisz has become one of Hollywood’s most respected and revered actors.
Born in London in 1970, Weisz was a bright and striking child.
By the age of 22, she’d landed her first television role,Britannicareported.
By 29, already co-starred in “The Mummy.”
You may also know her as the wife of James Bond himself actorDaniel Craig.
Curious to learn more about how Weisz went from London schoolgirl to Hollywood A-lister?
Here is the stunning transformation of Rachel Weisz.
Rachel Weisz is the daughter of two Jewish refugees
Rachel Weisz wasbornto parents George and Edith Weisz.
The pair had fled from Europe in the 1930s when fascism was on the rise.
she said toThe Guardianin 2017.
I feel like that little kid is still in her."
And Weisz herself concurs she is still a tomboy at heart.
“I don’t think that ever goes away.
The tomboy doesn’t go away.”
By the age of 14, she had won a modeling competition.
She began performing in school plays but claimed she didn’t initially show much talent.
“I wasn’t the star of the school play,” she toldStylist.
“Rebecca Cragshaw was.
She was the great actress, whereas I was a bit too shy and wooden.
It wasn’t until I was 16 or 17 that I started to be inspired.”
“I wasn’t very good,” she toldThe New York Timesin a 2006 interview.
“I was rebellious.”
In fact, Weisz was so rebellious, she was actually asked to leave two private schools.
“I used to say I was expelled because it sounds raunchier,” Weisz toldVogue.
“Miss Evans was magical,” Weisz said, “very tough, very feminist.
You know, ‘The paintbrush is the phallus attacking the human body’ sort of thing.”
At first, she didn’t seem to be getting anywhere.
“I kept auditioning for parts and not getting them,” she recalled toVogue.
Instead of giving up, Weisz created her own theater company, Talking Tongues.
Of her time with the company, Weisz said, “Oh, they were great times.
Weisz also ended up taking plays to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival three times.
“That was the happiest time of my life creatively,” the actor toldIndex Magazine.
Weisz evenwonthe Guardian Award for one of her shows.
By then, the entertainer had become one of the most up-and-coming actresses of her generation.
For Weisz, “The Mummy” gave her a new kind of financial freedom.
“It meant that I could finance my own pictures,” she proudly told theBBC.
“I did a film called ‘Beautiful Creatures,’ a very low-budget independent film.”
As for fame, Weisz resisted becoming a superstar and settled for honing her skills as a thespian.
“I don’t think I am [a star],” she said.
“I’m an actress.”
Becoming a motherchanged Weisz’s attitude toward her work.
And, as she toldReuters, the transition from full-time actress to mother-and-actress wasn’t always easy.
“You muddle through and figure it out and get exhausted and keep muddling through,” she said.
“I got frustrated it was so boring.
With post-production, there was endless poring over takes and I just didn’t have the staying power.
Plus, I don’t think I’m controlling enough.
As a director you have to really control it it’s your vision.
I would just enjoy the experience so much that I didn’t really care.
Obviously, I’m not a director; or at least not a goal-orientated one.”
What she learned from the experience is that perhaps she’s not a natural director.
As she toldMandatoryyears later, she had no intention of trying directing again.
“I love working with actors but I’m not a director,” she said.
“I’m an actor-producer.”
Just six months after the new couple’s first date, the pair shared aquiet weddingwith only four guests.
After their super secret wedding, the pair remained fiercely private.
Absolutely, honestly no.
That of all things.
We got away with it.
We did it privately.
And I’ve got a lot of people to thank for that.
But that was the point.
We did it for private reasons.
And the whole point is that it was a secret.
A secret is a secret in my mind.”
The play proved to be a huge success thanks to the star couple.
For Weisz, making her Broadway debut was an interesting, eye-opening experience in American theater culture.
However, for Rachel Weisz, getting older is actually something she has enjoyed.
“I loved turning 40, and the idea of turning 50 is fantastic,” she toldVogue.
Even though Weisz has embraced middle age gracefully, she does take care of herself.
“Slightly new-agey, it gets you a little high.”
She also does regular Pilates and other moderate exercises.
As she explained, “If I lifted weights I’d get huge.
I’m naturally very muscly, so I’m kind of into general and moderate.”
It seems that Weisz has always loved getting older.
“I enjoy getting older,” she said at the time.
“I just think that things get easier and you get wiser and more experienced.
In your teens nothing is impossible; in your 20s you realize that not everything is possible.
I think in your 30s you get more confident about who you are and I find that a relief.
The 20s are excruciating; they were for me.”
As she toldThe New York Times, “Women are just really fascinating and different to men.”
It’s about identification, it’s seeing possibilities.
We need more stories about women.
We need more role models."
She is also apparently working on “Lanny.”
“Daniel and I are so happy,” she toldThe New York Times.
Weisz was 48 at the time.
Their daughter, whose name has never been publicly confirmed, was born later that year.
Even though Weisz had a child in 2006, her experience the second time around was a little different.
“I’m just more flexible, I think,” she mused.
“She said taking on the role so soon after giving birth was “daunting.”
“I didn’t have my core, shall we say,” she conceded.
“I was really weak and quite flabby.
It was a good incentive to do some Pilates and dance cardio.”
