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Rachel Weisz wins supporting actress Oscar

Posted on: Sunday, 5 March 2006, 21:49 CST

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."

Source: REUTERS

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