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A SHOT AT SECOND-TIME OSCAR GLORY
In the running for an Oscar after a Bafta for The Favourite (2018), Rachel Weisz talks about working on the film and the awards season
Rachel Weisz won the best supporting actress this past Sunday at the Bafta Awards, the British equivalent of the Oscars, for The Favourite (2018). Weisz, who, along with co-stars Emma Stone and Olivia Colman, received Oscar nominations for the film, may have the best shot at winning her wide-open category, and she has become the film’s trending topic online. In an interview, she discusses what that female energy means to her and navigating this awards season. Excerpts:
In Hollywood, a female actor can make multiple movies where she’s the only notable female character. It must be gratifying to make a film like The Favourite, where three women go toe-to-toe.
I don’t believe I’ve been in many films where I’ve been in deep conversations with women. I savoured exploring those relationships. They’re kind, cruel, sadistic, needy, vulnerable, Machiavellian, ridiculous and absurd. They’ve many things going on, which is what makes us human.
Olivia Colman won the best actress award in the Baftas, and in her speech, said the three of you were all leads in The Favourite. Would you concur, or do you consider yourself a supporting actor, as you and Emma have both been campaigned all season?
Olivia told me, “I must say how incredible it is that you and Emma agreed to that,” but I don’t think either of us gave it a second thought. It was decided by specialists, and seemed natural: Narratively, we’re both supporting the queen, so she’s got to be the lead. She is the centre of England and the centre of our lives — even if she desperately needs us to prop her up in the story, which is what my character thinks.
Olivia also memorably referred to you and Emma as “her bitches” while accepting a Golden Globe. You were both beaming.
It’s just heaven, isn’t it? She’s got a potty mouth, and what you saw is the polite version. She’s delicious, and full of love.
What has Yorgos (Lanthimos, The Favourite director) made of this Oscar season, which involves so many months of handshakes, Qand-As, and awards ceremonies?
He seems to me to be very proud and happy, but he’s not a schmoozer in any way. It was the thing that I immediately liked about him when we met. I actually reached out to him after I saw his film Dogtooth (2009), and the person I met then in a pub in north London spoke in exactly the same way as the person who received the Bafta award the other night.
By now, you must have a sixth sense of how to modulate your acting based on where the camera is. But in The Favourite, the camera is frequently put in the most atypical places. How does that affect things?
I did notice Yorgos wasn’t telling us, “You have to stand there,” but then again, he doesn’t tell you he’s going to use a low-angle, fish-eye lens. He doesn’t tell you anything! He doesn’t even talk to you about the scene or your motivation. You can’t ask him a question like, “Why is my character doing this?” because he wouldn’t answer you.
The very first awards ceremony you ever attended was the 2006 Golden Globes, where you won for The Constant Gardener. What do you remember about that night?
That I had big hair. I was pregnant, so I couldn’t have a drink to relax. It’s like a dinner party where there are cameras in your face, and you’re surrounded by people you don’t really know but you recognise. I remember seeing Oprah Winfrey at the next table and thinking, “Oh my goodness!”