INTO THE CLASSROOM: ACTRESS RACHEL WEISZ GUEST STARS IN BARNARD WRITING COURSE
Academy Award-winning actress Rachel Weisz made a guest appearance in her friend Barnard Professor Polly Devlin's class on essay-writing on Wednesday, March 22, giving 14 students the chance to sharpen their interviewing skills by posing questions to a Hollywood celebrity.
Weisz, who won a best supporting Oscar as the courageous but doomed activist in The Constant Gardener, revealed that when she prepares for a role, she does "tons of research and interviews and then lets instinct take over" to get into character. "I really think the reason we love to watch actors is because of their personality," said Weisz. "So as much as I can, I think you should just be yourself."  The British-born Weisz, who studied English literature at Cambridge University, also talked about her favorite author, the American novelist Carson McCullers (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter), what she would be doing if not acting (making social documentary films), why the role of the Tessa in Gardener was contrary to her own character ("I'm definitely not brave enough to be Tessa") and why women actors
have it so much harder than men ("I think it's just particularly hard for women because of the looks. I mean we can't make ourselves look really ugly, can we?")
She discussed forming a theatre troupe with four friends at Cambridge because "We wanted to do our own thing, instead of playing Shakespeare or Chekhov. So we wrote our own plays" influenced by travels in Eastern Europe after the fall of communism.
Weisz named directors James L. Brooks (Broadcast News), Alexander Payne (Sideways) and actor Jack Nicholson, when asked which notable directors and actors she would like to work with. She also said that she was completely star struck at the Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles and had to be prodded by her partner, director Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream) to meet Nicholson. "It's just so hard to get beyond that icon-status. I'm always star struck," she said.
Weisz, expecting her first child with Aronofsky, said she fully expects to continue acting after the baby is born. She discussed the just-completed film "Fountain" that Aronofsky directed her in, describing it as "adult fairy tale, love story, and psychedelic science fiction." The story travels across time, from 16th century
Spain to contemporary America and into future deep space, she said.
Rachel Weisz and Professor Polly Devlin |
Professor Devlin's class is a section on essay writing that focuses on journalistic writing. Her students were assigned to write a profile on Weisz, based on their research and their questions in class.
Devlin has published essays, profiles and other writings in newspapers and magazines in the U.S. and U.K. She has been literary judge for the Irish Times and the Booker Prize as well as a roving art critic for the International Herald Tribune. She is a regular panelist on the BBC radio program "Round Britain Quiz."
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