Biography:
Rachel Weisz (pronounced "Vice") was born in London, England, March 7, 1971, to Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe; her Viennese mother is a psychoanalyst while her Hungarian father is an inventor credited with inventing life-saving respiratory medical equipment.

While growing up in England, Rachel worked as a model by the age of 15, but a change of heart led to acting. Her parents were adamant about her receiving a college education before pursuing acting (incidentally, her mother originally wanted to act as well), so she studied literature at Cambridge's Trinity Hall.

As a student she was occupied with drama at the same time, by co-founding a theater group known as Talking Tongues, for which she co-wrote, co-directed and co-starred in the productions. Some of the Talking Tongues' works were performed at the Edinburgh Festival, and in 1991, Rachel was awarded with a student drama award for a play she wrote and starred in.

Rachel got her first big break in a theater production of Noel Coward's Design for Living, for which she received the Evening Standard Award for Best Newcomer. She then moved to television, where she starred in the 1993 made-for-TV movie Dirty Something and the BBC miniseries Scarlet & Black; appeared in the series Inspector Morse in 1993; and appeared in the made-for-TV movies White Goods and Seventeen in 1994.

With nothing more than television roles to her name, Rachel was cast as a junior executive in the science-fiction film Death Machine in 1995. But her big breakthrough came in 1996, when she was cast in Bernardo Bertolucci's stunning coming-of-age film, Stealing Beauty. Although the film's star was Liv Tyler, Rachel still managed to steal a bit of the beautiful spotlight as Miranda, a snobbish artist's daughter. Rachel was next cast in a string of smaller movies (not necessarily with smaller actors), such as 1996's Chain Reaction, co-starring Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman; and 1997's Swept from the Sea, Going All the Way (in which she played Ben Affleck's girlfriend and starred with Rose McGowan) and Bent, in which she played a prostitute.

After roles in The Land Girls and I Want You in 1998, Rachel Weisz leapt to blockbuster status and international fame with her lead female role in the unraveled hit of 1999, The Mummy.

Rachel retuned to her roots as an Hungarian Jew in the epic film Sunshine, where she starred opposite Ralph Fiennes in a role which garnered her a Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress (a Canadian Oscar) in 2000. This was in addition to her 2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Best Actress in an Action Movie and Saturn Award for Best Actress, both for The Mummy.

After starring in Beautiful Creatures in 2000, Rachel rang in the New Year by co-starring with Joseph Fiennes (another Fiennes brother) and Jude Law (her Primrose Hill neighbor) in the WWII battle of Stalingrad film, Enemy at the Gates, as Sergeant Tania Chernova.

Although the latter didn't blow up at the box office, the sequel to The Mummy opened with record highs, breaking box-office records. Rachel returned with Brendan Fraser as Evelyn Carnahan/Princess Nefretiri, making audiences scramble to see beautiful Rachel as well as The Rock and Patricia Velasquez.

Despite Rachel's success in film, she still takes to the stage; she starred in an adaptation of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer, for which she earned the 1999 Barclays Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actress, as well as the London production of The Shape of Things, in which she stars as an American sculptress.

Rachel has also graced the cover of several magazines such as Tatler and Bikini, and despite her flair for posing, she declined Hugh Hefner's offer to appear in his renowned magazine.

So the whole male population didn't get to see dear Rachel, but some lucky males have been allegedly romantically linked to her, including her My Summer With Des co-star Neil Morrissey, her I Want You co-star, Alessandro Nivola, her Chain Reaction co-star Keanu Reeves, and American Beauty director, Sam Mendes.

In 2002 Rachel was seen in About A Boy, with Hugh Grant and Toni Collette. Coming up she will play the same role in a film version of The Shape of Things (2003) directed by Neil LaBute with Gretchen Mol and Paul Rudd. She’ll also be in Runaway Jury (2003), Envy (2003), and Marlowe (2003).