Powerful female stars of Hollywood’s golden age were my childhood heroes, says Weisz
HER portrayal of tough women has won her multiple film awards.
Now Rachel Weisz has revealed the inspiration which fuelled her Hollywood success – the actresses from the golden age of the silver screen such as Bette Davis.
The Oscar winner said she grew up watching the ‘powerful as hell’ stars with her mother.
And she believes girls need similar modern-day role models and stories in which women have ‘possibilities’.
Miss Weisz told Harper’s Bazaar: ‘The Eighties and Nineties were really s*** for women. But I used to watch a lot of black and white movies with my mum – Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, they were very powerful in the narratives.
‘Bette Davis didn’t have superpowers but she’s powerful as hell. I do think it’s important for girls growing up to see stories where women are front and centre, and to see a female politician or a female prime minister.’
Miss Weisz, 50, who had a daughter with husband and James Bond actor Daniel Craig, 52, in 2018, is playing Russian agent Melina Vostokoff in the upcoming Marvel film Black Widow.
The British star, who also has 13year-old son Henry with ex Darren Aronofsky, praised the female superhero characters in movies.
She said: ‘When I watched Wonder Woman, I completely identified with the character, more than I would a male action figure. There’s a little tomboy brunette, and she’s grown up and now she’s saving the world!’
nThe June issue of Harper’s Bazaar is on sale from today.