Rachel on Rachel: Weisz talks about ‘My Cousin Rachel’

Oscar-winning actress Rachel Weisz seems to like ambiguity.

In her latest film, “My Cousin Rachel,” Weisz, 47, plays the widow of a man she may or may not have killed. Is she guilty or not?

Read on to find out what Weisz thinks. Not that she’ll tell you. Question: I looked up some stuff before talking to you, and there was one story about you discussing trying to create an equal playing field for women, and about 16 about you in a gingham dress. How do you make strides?

Answer: Well, what gets the most hits doesn’t mean it’s the most valuable, I guess, on the Internet. I don’t know . ... I just like to tell stories about women that you could describe them with more than one adjective, I guess, where there’s a certain amount of complexity, because all humans are complex. I don’t know how you make strides. The problem isn’t really with film. The problem is with everything . ... Film is just reflecting it. Q: What brought you to this film?

A: I very much wanted to work with the director (Roger Michell). I very much liked the idea that he didn’t want me to tell him whether she was innocent or guilty, or good or bad . ... He still doesn’t know. Q: So you probably won’t tell me.

A: No. No. I like the fact having met people who have seen it now, what I thought was ambiguity, people come away from it saying, “She’s definitely guilty,” or, “She’s completely innocent. Her husband went mad and abused her and hurt her. She’s just vulnerable.” It seems the people who interpret it are absolutely sure the way they see it is true, and that’s fascinating to me. Q: How do you not let that knowledge color your performance and let people know what you think?

A: You can only play the scene moment to moment . ... It’s the director who’s dealing with the ambiguity. I can’t really play that. I can only play the truth, what I think is right. In the context of the story, it will read different ways to different people.