Saturday 1 October 2011

Rachel Weisz over her performance in The Whistleblower

Rachel Weisz fell in love with her husband Daniel Craig on the set of "Dream House" and said the dark film was not just a terrifying thriller, as it was grounded in a love story.


"It's very romantic and just unusual," Weisz said of the script in an interview provided by Universal Pictures. "I've never read anything that quite had the same tone of romance and the supernatural and horror and it's a love story as well."


"Dream House" follows a family whose new home becomes their worst nightmare. Will Atenton (Craig) and his wife Libby (Weisz) move their family to New England for a change of pace. But they soon discover a woman and her two daughters were killed in the house, and everyone thinks the father did it. Now the killer is after Atenton's family and he must discover the truth about the murder to protect those he loves.


"I play Libby, Will Atenton's wife. I'm in the suburbs, which is not somewhere I fit into comfortably, but my husband's bought us a big house so I'm happy to be raising the girls there," Weisz said. "I think I'm a bit of a fish out of water but actually, my character never has a scene outside of the house -- I'm in my 'dream house' the whole time."


The movie also stars Naomi Watts as the family's mysterious neighbor, Ann Patterson who knows more than she will admit.


"Ann Patterson, who lives across the street from us is played by Naomi Watts and throughout the film, she knows the secret of Will's identity and the secret of the murders," Weisz continued. "She basically knows the story that the audience won't know, so you need an actress who can portray a lot of reactions and a lot of sensitivity because you will sense from her that there is something troubling her and there is a secret but she won't say what and I think that's something Naomi can portray with great delicacy. She's got a lot of complexity and she's the kind of actress that you can just see things float across her face without having dialogue because she can't say it."


The film was directed by six-time Oscar nominated director Jim Sheridan, who helmed "Brothers," "In America," "In the Name of the Father" and "My Left Foot."


"Jim Sheridan is directing this movie and what he brings to this film that is unique is Jim Sheridan," Weisz said of Sheridan, laughing. "He's the most unique human being I've ever come across in my whole life. He's a story teller."


In June, Weisz, 41, and Craig, 43, tied the knot in a low-key wedding in upstate New York, spokespeople for both stars told OnTheRedCarpet.com at the time. Just four people attended the wedding - Daniel's daughter Ella, 18, Weisz's son Henry, 5, and two friends.


Filming for "Dream House" began in January 2010 and around the end of last year, the two were photographed in public and were said to have spent Christmas together.


In mid-2010, Weisz and boyfriend Darren Aronofsky, Henry's father and the director of the ballet thriller "Black Swan," broke up after nine years together.


But Weisz says she's very much the reluctant movie star.


"I'm a little fearful of the way your life changes when you become too well known," she says.


"I'm also fairly reserved and it's quite embarrassing to deal with that kind of attention. I'd rather float about anonymously. I don't really think of myself as a sex symbol or a celebrity at all."


It's this reluctance at being a celebrity that is behind Weisz keeping her relationship and marriage to 43-year-old James Bond star, Daniel Craig, a closely guarded secret. The couple got together on the set of The Dream House in December last year, a month after it was announced she had split with her partner of 10 years, US director Darren Aronofsky.


They revealed they had been apart for months but were remaining friends for their son, five-year-old Henry Chance.


Meanwhile, Craig was also emerging from a long term relationship - he also announced in November he had split from Satsuki Mitchell, 32, whom he had been engaged to since 2007.


Weisz and Craig had been friends for years, but romance blossomed on the set of the film, which is due for release in December and also stars Naomi Watts.


After a whirlwind courtship they tied the knot in front of just four guests at their low-key ceremony in New York in June.


Weisz doesn't talk openly about their relationship, but she reveals it's only recently (since she has been with Craig) she has felt more at ease with herself.


"For a long time I was quite shy and conflicted about my life, and it's only lately that I've started to feel freer and become more open to enjoying life," she said. "That's made me become more serious about my work."


The role of Bolkovac is definitely serious, but it's something Weisz relished.


What next for Weisz? She has touched on the possibility she may be thinking about having another child with Craig.


In a recent interview with US magazine Lucky she revealed: "Oh, I wouldn't make one just for the sake of giving my son a sibling. But you never know."


Her son Henry plays an important part in her acting decisions. "I have a child now, so you have to be able to go deep into something and then switch off at the end of the day," she said. "It's the only way to remain sane."


She was originally offered the role of Bolkovac when she was pregnant with her son and it was due to him she initially turned it down.


"I was pregnant. Very pregnant. And I read it and thought it was one of the most incredible stories and scripts I had ever read," she said.


"But it was too challenging and traumatic to engage in at that moment. Because of my physical state. I just couldn't get my head around it. But I couldn't forget it. I guess I was just haunted by the story. I contacted them about it again, two years later."


If she does have another baby with her Craig, Weisz could be having to make that decision to hold off on a role again in the very near future.

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