(4) Interview with Oscar winner, Rachel Weisz
Peter Jackson cast Saoirse Ronan as the lead character in his film ‘The Lovely Bones’ based on an audition tape she sent in from Ireland. They were so impressed by the tape that they did not even meet her prior to offering her the role.
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Interview with Oscar winner, Rachel Weisz, about her road to success, working with Saoirse Roanan and why the bones are far lovelier than most critics are making out… |
Q: You played Abigail Salmon (Saoirse’s mother) in The Lovely Bones. Have you seen the film yet?
A: Yes and it’s great.
Q: Is it what you expected? Did Peter’s cinematic vision of heaven match up to what you thought it would be?
A: Yes, if anything, it’s more visually stunning than I hoped. It’s beautiful. Peter made it clear that he didn’t want to make a depressing movie. Obviously it’s a dark subject but he didn’t want to make a dark, depressing movie. There’s definitely a lot of hope in the book and there’s hope in the film, too. It has these supernatural elements – if you can call Susie’s heaven supernatural – and there’s a bad guy, played by Stanley, which makes it a good thriller, too. But you know, it wasn’t a dark, serious place to be. We had a lot of fun making this. It wasn’t sombre and depressing at all. Saoirse was probably about 13 when we made this – a young, bubbly girl and an absolute sweetheart. So there was definitely a lot of fun.
Q: Had you read the book before you were offered the part?
A: I read it later. In fact, I read it many, many times and it was kind of my guide in terms of understanding the character. (Laughs). That and the script, of course.
Q: Did you say ‘yes’ straight away?
A: Well, there are certain directors who you just want to work with, it’s an absolute no brainer, and Peter is one of them. As I said, I actually hadn’t read the book at that point – I must have been one of the few people who hadn’t – but really, it wasn’t the kind of decision you have to think about for too long. I jumped at the chance
Q: There’s a lot resting on the performance of Saoirse Ronan in the film. How did she do?
A: Saoirse is great and she’s the real thing. She’s a real actress. You sometimes meet people who are acting because they think it might be fun or they want to be famous or whatever the different reasons are, but Saoirse is simply an actress. She acts because that’s what she is. Her father is an actor and I guess that influenced her. But her parents are lovely and very grounded – the complete opposite of Hollywood stage parents. They are not pushy at all but they know that it’s what she wants to do and so they are supporting her. They’re a beautiful family.
Q: Were you working as a teenager?
A: No. I was in school. I made my first film when I was 23 or 24, I think. I was actually offered a film when I was 14 but I didn’t do it. My parents didn’t let me do it in the end. So maybe I would have had Saoirse’s life but it didn’t happen.
Q: Were you disappointed that you couldn’t do it?
A: I was a child and I find it hard to remember exactly what I felt like. I think I wanted to do it, but not in the kind of clear way that Saoirse has - she’s very clear that that’s what she wants to do.
Q: The story is partly about the terrible repercussions for the family when Susie is murdered, the strain it puts on her parents’ marriage. Was that difficult to play?
A: It was challenging to play. Mark’s character gets obsessed with finding the killer and he becomes kind of irrational and kind of crazy. But in the end he does figure out that it was Mr Harvey. So you could say that his manic craziness has some wisdom in it whereas my character just wants to leave it alone and let it go because nothing is going to bring our daughter back. And I think that even when my character finds out who the murderer is it just doesn’t help. I really don’t care because it won’t bring my daughter back. And that forces them apart and their marriage comes under a lot of strain.
Q: Obvious question, you are a mother, is it a role that you could have played say five years ago, before you had children yourself?
A: I’m not saying that I couldn’t have played this role before I had a child myself – as an actor, that’s part of the job, you have to imagine and to go places and become other people. But of course now that I am a mother it does make the story even more poignant and playing Abigail was certainly informed by that. I mean, imagine losing a child? It’s just terrible.
Q: I remember reading that you said your twenties weren’t particularly enjoyable. How about your thirties?
A: You’re right, I didn’t enjoy my twenties so much. But I love my life now. With work I feel like I’m just getting going and it’s very exciting
* The Lovely Bones is in cinema nationwide
Rachel Weisz won her Oscar for playing a pregnant woman in ‘The Constant Gardener (2005)’ while she was pregnant in real-life with her first child.
