Rachel Weisz wins supporting actress Oscar

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – British actress Rachel Weisz won
the Oscar for best supporting actress on Sunday for her
performance as a determined social activist in “The Constant
Gardener.”

Weisz, 34, plays a British diplomat’s wife who is murdered
in Africa while investigating the shady dealings of an
international pharmaceutical company. It was Weisz’s first
Oscar nomination, and it followed her Golden Globe and Screen
Actors Guild wins for the same role.

Weisz paid tribute to novelist John le Carre, on whose
thriller the film was based, for writing “this unflinching,
angry story. He really paid tribute to people who are willing
to risk their own lives to fight injustice. They are greater
men and women than I.”

The dark-haired actress of Hungarian and Austrian parentage
has said she hopes the awards will bring more attention to the
plight of Africa. A charity set up by the cast and crew of “The
Constant Gardener” has built two schools and a bridge in Kenya.

Born in London, Weisz began acting while studying at
Cambridge University where she formed her own student theater
company. She went on to win a most promising newcomer award in
1994 for her London stage performance in Noel Coward’s “Design
for Living.”

After several small movie roles, she made her Hollywood
breakthrough in action movie “The Mummy” in 1999 and followed
it up with roles in “The Enemy at the Gates,” “About a Boy” and
“Runaway Jury.” In 2005 she was chosen as the face of Revlon.

Weisz is ill at ease with the trappings of fame, saying she
hates parties and shopping and finds Hollywood “really toxic.”
In 2002, she moved to New York and now lives there with
American screenwriter and director Darren Aronofsky, with whom
she is expecting her first child in the spring.

The film, which also stars Ralph Fiennes as her ill-fated
husband, won widespread critical praise and modest support at
the box office. Directed by Brazilian filmmaker Fernando
Meirelles, it was released by Focus Features, the arthouse arm
of NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.

The other nominees were Amy Adams for “Junebug,” Catherine
Keener for “Capote,” Frances McDormand for “North Country” and
Michelle Williams for “Brokeback Mountain.”