Rachel Weisz on The Whistleblower, Her Toronto Two-Fer and the 'Experimental' Terrence Malick

Rachel Weisz delivers an extraordinary performance in this week's The Whistleblower, which features the Oscar-winner as a Nebraska cop whose stint as a UN peacekeeper in Bosnia unravels when she discovers her coalition's complicity in an international sex-slavery ring. Based on true events involving Weisz's character Kathryn Bolkovac, the film charts a downswing of humanity salvaged only by Bolkovac's struggle to expose it and, in turn, Weisz's sensitive handling of a woman coming to terms with a world beyond compassion.

Thematically on-the-nose as Larysa Kondracki's feature directing debut can be at times, Weisz offers a richly dynamic portrait of a woman who, when faced with seemingly no choices in her life, does something radical with the realization of what freedom -- cultural freedom, economic freedom, sexual freedom, and the overlaps therein -- actually means. It's moving stuff and deserves attention in this otherwise parched month of moviegoing -- or any other month, for that matter, particularly during awards season.

Weisz recently spoke with Movieline about The Whistleblower, the myths of activist filmmaking, and the busy fall she has coming up.

When did you first hear of Kathy Bolkovac's story, and what was your reaction?

I heard about it when I read the script. I'd never heard of her until that moment. I think it fits into my... [Pause] You know. It's not a documentary. It's not a biopic. It's a film based on her story and also lots of other research that the Larisa, the writer-director, did. So I think it kind of fits into one of my personal favorite film genres, which is the kind of David-and-Goliath, "ordinary person doing extraordinary things" film. Like Silkwood is one of my personal favorites. More recently, Erin Brockovich is something where people might know what I'm talking about. Serpico is the male version of that. I love that genre of thriller. It's one of my favorites -- where people have these personalities, these characters, and they're just ordinary people. But they see something that's unjust and kind of go after it blindly.

But when you read the script the first time, you weren't prepared to take it on, right?

I read it when I was pregnant. At that moment it was too intense for me to get my head around. But I just never forgot it. I called the producer a couple years later and said, "Remember that script The Whistleblower?" And she said, "Yes." It was somewhere; I don't know what it was doing, but she got it for me.

I presume you met Kathy?

I did. About a week into filming, I met her for the first time.

What was that meeting like? What did you want to take from it?

I'd seen photos of her, and we talked on the phone. We don't really look the same. I wasn't trying to physically emulate her. But I guess the main thing I got from her is how fun she is. She a kind of sexy, ballsy, fun Midwestern mom, you know? And she's quite lighthearted. I guess her spirit -- she's got a very particular kind of spirit. That's really all I could hope to emulate.

That surprises me. In addition to that moral or intellectual headspace you occupy as Kathy, there's a very physical headspace. Her tone, her walk, her posture...

Well, I met cops. I met some cops here in New York -- female cops. I guess that was the challenge: to be a cop from Nebraska. I'm from North London. It's very culturally different! So I had to get her in my walk and center of gravity. It's a very different center of gravity from the one I normally have. I mean, she's tough! You have to be to be a female cop.

There is an activist component to films like this or The Constant Gardener. Does that enter into your decision process when considering roles?

No. Definitely not.

That's just coincidence?

I'm not an activist in any way, shape or form, and I don't think movies are a call to action. I don't see it like that at all. I just think she was a great character, and this was a great story. And it happens to be based on something that's true, which is, like, "Wow. That's even more interesting to me than if it were pure fiction." But... no.

So the idea that this film could effect change in some way -- is that something you're interested in or that you hope for? Or is it just entertainment?

I would never make a claim that a film could effect change. If it does, it's so outside my understanding or my control. I'm hoping to entertain, illuminate, inspire. Personally, I find movies like Erin Brockovich or Silkwood very inspiring. But it hasn't made me go out and take on big corporations. That's not what I do. And I'm sure that if I'd been in Kathy's position, I'd have done nothing. I'm not that person. But I find it really inspiring to see what human beings are capable of.

What can you tell me about The Deep Blue Sea and 360 -- the two films you have coming up at Toronto?

I just heard about 360. That did get in. But Deep Blue Sea is an adaptation of a 1950s Terence Rattigan play; it's a classic play. It was made into a film that I haven't seen, which starred Vivian Leigh. It's a big, meaty British role. It's like the female Haml -- well, I don't know what the equivalent would be. It's a big, meaty British role for the stage, which I'd never actually seen or read before. It's a story about a woman in the '50s who leaves her husband, in this film played by Simon Russell Beale, for a younger man -- and has a very, kind of crazy and tempestuous and codependent love affair. It's about a woman's break for freedom and... [Pause] Yeah, it's like that. And it's directed by Terence Davies. I don't know if he's that well-known in America, but I guess movie buffs would.

Of course! He's Terence Davies.

He's kind of like Terrence Malick -- or how Terrence Malick used to be, a movie every decade or whatever. So it's Terence Davies, and then Tom Hiddleston as my young lover. Great, great actor. But yeah. Low-budget. I'm very proud of it. That will be its world premiere in Toronto.

And the other film is 360. That's Fernando Meirelles, and that's an ensemble piece. Everyone who's on it had about five days shooting. It's based on La Ronde, so it's basically one person meets with someone who sleeps with someone who meets someone... It's about how all these people are connected, and it goes all around the world. My portion was in London; I'm married to Jude Law. I don't know if I can say what the plot bit is. I think it's meant to be secret.

OK, well, we can be surprised. And of course you just worked on Terrence Malick's new one as well. How was that?

Incredible. Unlike any other experience with any other director on any other film -- in a good way. Completely unique and hard to describe, but completely wonderful.

How so?

He just works in a different... I mean, as I'm sure people have told you and as you've read about, he just doesn't work in the normal place of having a script with a narrative -- lines that you say, marks that you hit. Just the way you work with the camera: You keep moving. It was very experimental, I'd say, for the camera and for the actors with him at the helm. It was very experimental.

So you've worked with Davies and Malick. Are there any filmmakers you're eager to collaborate with?

So many.

Let's pick one.

Oh... [Pause] Steven Spielberg.

Really?

I don't know. It just came to me. [Laughs] Why not? He's very good.

Yeah, I've heard of him.

I'd like to work with Walter Salles as well. He's very, very good. Who else? Ridley Scott! I'd love to work with Ridley Scott.

I could have sworn you two worked together on something once.

No, we never have. We kind of nearly did once, but--

For what?

Oh, for... [Pause] Well, someone else did it so I probably shouldn't say! But we should work together.

[Top photo: Getty Images; Deep Blue Sea photo: TIFF]