Rachel Weisz is “scared” about playing Jackie Kennedy in an upcoming movie. The British actress will portray the former US First Lady in biopic Jackie – directed by her partner Darren Aronofsky – and she admits she is nervous about taking on the role. She said: “It’s extremely exciting and scary at the same time. She’s American royalty. So there’s some fear.” However, she says the chance to don some of the stylish designer clothes she was well known for is a fun prospect. She revealed to People: “I haven’t really got deep into it yet, but of course she’s one of the 20th century’s greatest and fabulous fashion icons. I’m thrilled.”

Source: Contactmusic

Back in September we heard about an intriguing project that Jennifer’s Body director Karyn Kusama has had her eye on for some time. The pitch doesn’t have a title, but it is described as a “[David] Cronenberg-inspired body horror” tale focusing on gender issues and the intent is for the movie to star Rachel Weisz. MTV spoke with Kusama shortly afterwards, and she spoke a little more about the plans. She’s been trying to secure funding for it for almost a decade now, but the idea is for Weisz to play “two characters, or essentially two halves of the same character, but she is both male and female.” We recently spoke with the actress, who will star in Agora this summer, and she gave us an update on where things are at for the project. “It’s something we’ve talked about doing but there are no immediate plans for it. Sometimes it takes awhile for these things to get off the ground,” she explained. Eight years definitely qualifies as “awhile.” It could have something to do with the subject matter, Weisz playing a dual-gendered role. “[It's called] ‘The Invisible X,’” she said. “It’s actually about a man who turns into a woman. Its an amazing script.” She went on to say that the movie does indeed have the “tone” of a Cronenberg film, and that Kusama is currently working on a rewrite. The big roadblock up until now has just been getting funding for the indie. “These independent films can take a long time to get together,” Weisz explained. “Its almost impossible to make things now that aren’t genre pictures.”

Source: MTV Movies Blog

Rachel Weisz became an actress to find out more about people. The Agora star – who studied English at the prestigious Cambridge University – admits one of her favourite things about her profession is the research she carries out into her characters. She said: “I liked acting because I love to ask people questions. “I like knowing about people and trying to imagine myself in other people’s shoes and other people’s skins. I do that all the time.” Rachel, 40, also spoke about her marriage to The Wrestler director Darren Aronofsky – with who she has three-year-old son Henry – insisting the 41-year-old filmmaker is nothing like people expect from the subject matter of his movies. She explained: “Seeing his films, you’d think he is this weird, dark, intense guy. But I don’t live with a dark person. He’s really good at life, very good at going to the park and having a good time. “He’s also very organised. He doesn’t live in chaos. His parents are teachers and they have an easy sense of order and discipline.”

Source: Contactmusic

Rachel Weisz has admitted she knew nothing about Greek scholar Hypatia, whom she portrays in Agora. The Mummy star told the Daily Mirror: “I must confess I’d never heard of Hypatia – I now know that she was heroine for the romantic poets in the 18th century, but I didn’t know anything about her.” But she said yes to the part because it “seemed too unusual, unique, wonderful and bold to say no to”. Rachel – who has three-year-old son Henry with her fiance, Oscar-winning director Darren Aronofsky – brought the family to Malta as she filmed Agora. “Henry wasn’t even in pre-school at that point, so he came with me,” she continued. “We rented a little apartment overlooking the sea and Darren worked on his film The Wrestler. We were a family and we went to work every morning. He went off to edit Mickey Rourke and I went off to battle religious intolerance in the fourth century.” She added: “Then we had dinner and put Henry to bed. It was kind of bonkers – but how dreamy!”

Source: The Press Association

Rachel Weisz didn’t know the back story to Agora. The British actress plays the lead character Hypatia in the film and admits the true-life tale of the female philosophy professor in 4th Century Egypt was not she was familiar with. She said: “The thing I couldn’t believe is that this is a true story. Everything that happens in the film is true – apart from her having the slave and the slave being in love with her, that’s a little Hollywood invention – but the fact that no has made a film about her is pretty extraordinary. “I’d never heard of her even. And she’s a remarkable, remarkable woman.” The 40-year-old star also thinks many people still continue to prejudice her for not being the kind of woman who wanted to settle down and have children. She told BBC News: “I think no would look at Leonardo Da Vinci and say, ‘Oh isn’t it sad that he didn’t have kids or a wife’ Everyone understands that he is busy. But when it comes to a woman – and I was the same I thought, ‘Ah, wouldn’t it be nice if she could be a mum and have a partner and get married’ – but I realised if it was man no one would really think that.”

Source: Contactmusic

Rachel Weisz leads an “ordinary life”. The Oscar-winning actress, who has three-year-old son Henry with director fiancee Darren Aronofsky, admits her home life is ordinary despite being in a showbiz relationship. She said: “Of course, it’s not ordinary to get dressed in frocks to walk down red carpets and travel all over the world and stay in five-star hotels. “I’m not working in a factory. But I drop Henry off at school, I pick him up. I try my hardest to keep everyone together. “I am interested in playing extra-ordinary women, but I have an ordinary life.” The 40-year-old Brit also admits she loves acting because there is always a new project for her to get involved in. She told Culture magazine: “That’s the great thing about acting. I can never imagine being satiated. It’s just like some math problem to figure out. I’m just getting started.”

Source: Contactmusic

Rachel Weisz has claimed that director Alejandro Amenabar rejected her idea to show the “deviancy” of her character in Agora. The Constant Gardner actress plays real-life fourth-century Egyptian philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria in the Spanish historical drama. Weisz told The Sunday Times: “There’s a style of acting that can come with period films where everybody just freezes up. “But they were drinking and f**king and doing maths or whatever else they were doing. They were just people.” She added: “I actually told Alejandro they should shoot a scene where she was looking at the stars and masturbating. “I suggested a PG version, where her hand just went out of frame, and you’re watching her come, looking at the stars. “He wouldn’t go for it. I begged him. I wanted to know about that stuff. What’s up? What’s her sexuality? Where’s her deviancy?”

Source: Digital Spy