This witch of Oz has been balancing the commercial and creative in her career for quite some time. Hows she doing?
For a movie star who has made their mark, the "One for Me, One for Them" stratagem is a good way of maintaining ones career path. By taking "one for them," i.e. commercial pictures that pay well even if theyre not hugely artistic, they can give themselves the freedom and clout to take "one for me," i.e. more creatively challenging/daring projects.
This week, with Oz the Great and Powerful dominating the moviehouses, were taking a look at one of its more prolific stars, Rachel Weisz, who has been balancing creative and commercial for quite some time now. Hows she doing?
1996-1997:
Weisz began her career already well into trade-off mode. While at that point any role was appreciated, she spent 1996 straddling the line between commercial and artistic. The former: the Keanu Reeves-starring alternative-energy thriller Chain Reaction. The latter: Bernardo Bertoluccis Stealing Beauty, which got much more notice for Liv Tyler than for Weisz, and the little-seen epic romance Swept From the Sea. Neither one of them shot her into the stratosphere, but she was able to make her mark in both popular and artsy spheres. Advantage: THEM
1999 - 2001:
In 1999, Weisz got her big break on the popular side of things when she was cast as the female lead in The Mummy. Seen by bazillions, The Mummy, and its 2001 sequel, The Mummy Returns gave her a lot of leeway. Leeway to make movies with directors like Itsvan Szabo (Sunshine) and stars like Jude Law and Ed Harris (Enemy at the Gates). Advantage: THEM
2002-2004:
Now that Weisz was something of a name, she could start lending that name to more interesting projects (all due respect, Brendan Fraser). Mostly, that meant playing the girlfriend to main characters, like Hugh Grant in About a Boy, John Cusack in Runaway Jury, Ben Stiller in Envy (curveball! Shes a wife in that movie). Her one truly interesting project saw her reprise her stage role as the lead in Neil LaButes The Shape of Things. While not a huge success, it showed a different side to Weisz, a hint of danger that shed be able to play with going forward. Still, for now, Advantage: THEM
2005:
Kind of a perfect year, especially if youre of a mind to judge comic-book depictions of operatic Biblical conflicts kindly. Weisz started off the year as the female lead in Constantine, a potboiler to be sure, but one that is of higher quality than you might expect given the fact that it features Weisz fighting fallen angels and other such demons. Tilda Swinton plays the archangel Gabriel! What else do you need? Her small film that year, Fernando Meirelless The Constant Gardener, got her sizzling hot reviews that would carry through the end of the year, to the moment she took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. The ultimate Advantage: HER
2006-2007:
As tends to happen, Weiszs post-Oscar choices were more chancy than usual. She worked for future father of her child Darren Aronofsky in The Fountain, playing multiple roles in the time-spanning sci-fi meditation. She also went for something super low-budget on director Wong Kar-Wais English-language debut, My Blueberry Nights, as the boozy, floozy wife of David Strathairn. In between all that auteurist work, she picked up a paycheck as Vince Vaughns girlfriend in Fred Claus. Advantage: HER
2008 - 2010:
Continuing to work with exciting young directors, Weisz took lead roles with Rian Johnson -- whose The Brothers Bloom offered Weisz a chance to show off a kind of screwball comedy shed previously kept hidden -- and Alejandro Amenebar, who cast her as the lead in his Ancient Egypt-set Agora. On the commercial side, she was the most lively presence in the better-than-average romantic comedy Definitely Maybe though Peter Jacksons The Lovely Bones didnt do a lot of good for anybody. Still, it was a coveted project at the time, good or bad. Advantage: HER
2011-2012:
More classic give-and-take, as Weisz continued to expand her range of projects. She co-starred with her future husband Daniel Craig on the horror mediocrity Dream House. Which paid for her more fulfilling work on the international thriller The Whistleblower. She signed on to play damsel in distress (as much of a damsel as a research scientist can be) to Jeremy Renner in the Bourne re-boot. Which paid for The Deep Blue Sea, which won her raves, a Golden Globe nomination, and Best Actress citations from the New York and Toronto film critics. Advantage: HER
2013:
Thus far, Rachels been paying the bills, and spectacularly so given the blockbuster status of Oz the Great and Powerful, wherein Weisz plays Evanora, gifting the film with its most fully-realized portrayal. Even when cashing a check, she manages to bring it. Advantage: THEM
More from Tribeca:
One for Me / One for Them: Nicole Kidman
--
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
22/10/2025
Prime Video Inks Deal To Present NFL Black Friday Game Worldwide By SVG Staff
Wednesday, October 22, 2025 - 10:06 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story ...
22/10/2025
NBA Tip-Off: ESPN Goes 1080p HDR End-to-End, Flipping HDR Switch on REMI and REM...
22/10/2025
FloSports Empowers Division II, III Athletic Departments With Turnkey Production...
22/10/2025
Wall Street Video Summit Debuts, Bringing Together 200 Financial Enterprise Vide...
22/10/2025
Dueling Pianos: International Chopin Piano Competition Is as Competitive as a Ba...
22/10/2025
In 1995, a young Colombian artist released an album that would change Latin pop ...
22/10/2025
Over the past few months, a photovoltaic system has been installed on a three-he...
22/10/2025
The Orion spacecraft for NASA's Artemis II mission is stacked on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kenn...
22/10/2025
L3Harris' Hybrid SATCOM is resilient by design, offering path diversity that eliminates vulnerabilities by routing data across the best available networks i...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. Organizers of NAB Show New York said they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countries along with 260 exhibitor...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...
22/10/2025
Masque Sound, a leading theatrical sound reinforcement, installation and design company, supplied an extensive gear package of professional-grade equipment for ...
22/10/2025
Lightware, a global leader in signal management and AV connectivity solutions, is seeing strong market momentum for the UCX-3x3-TPX-RX20, a compact transmitter-...
22/10/2025
MELVILLE, N.Y. Chyron has released PAINT 10.2, the latest update for its telestration platform, adding support for SMPTE ST 2110 IP workflows, expanding brandin...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON Run3TV today said NBCUniversal is joining as an investor in the ATSC 3.0 Framework Authority, which develops the Run3TV NextGen TV application platfo...
22/10/2025
ATLANTA swXtch.io will feature two new networking solutions extending the company's reach across more cloud and on-prem workflows at NAB Show New York, set ...
22/10/2025
The Warner Bros. Discoverys HBO Max streaming services has increased prices for all its streaming tiers effectively immediately for new customers. Existing cust...
22/10/2025
LOS ANGELES OpenDrives has signed a new distribution partnership deal with Versatile Distribution Services (VDS) to strengthen its channel and streamline how it...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...
22/10/2025
Samora Pinderhughes Brings Immersive Sound to Berklee's Signature Series The artist and composer, who's worked with Herbie Hancock, Robert Glasper, Co...
22/10/2025
BMI Day at Berklee Celebrates Composer Fil Eisler and Awards Scholarship to Stud...
22/10/2025
October 22nd, 2025 TRIBECA ANNOUNCES STAR-STUDDED LINEUP OF MEMBERSHIP EVENTS F...
22/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF cooperate in drone defense Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF partner to deliver a comprehensive drone defense solution combining Rohde & S...
22/10/2025
European Broadcaster Upgrades To Grass Valley's NativeIP LDX 135 Cameras And...
22/10/2025
Everyone Gets a Better Deal on Verizon with New FOX One Perk The $15 FOX One streaming service perk is yet another way Verizon continues to add savings for cu...
22/10/2025
First Look Hidden Assets Series 3
Premieres on 9th November 9:30pm on RT One & RT Player
WATCH HERE Promo Link: Hidden Assets Series 3 | RT
The Crimin...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Although AES Show Is on Its Own, Audio Will Be a Major Part o...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Business of Broadcast and Media,' Future of Content'...
21/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Ethan Folz, Senior Director, Digital Operations and Quality of Ex...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: Livestream Offers Graphic Overlays, Predictive Gaming, Ancil...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: At the Front Bench With Producer Frank DiGraci and Director ...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: NBC Sports, NEP Build Ultra-Flexible Production Plan That Se...
21/10/2025
Indigenous storytelling has been at the heart of the work of the Sundance Instit...
21/10/2025
Top L-R: Mysterious Skin, American Dream Second Row L-R: Little Miss Sunshine, D...
21/10/2025
Last week, Spotify and Columbia Records transformed Pier 4 at the Brooklyn Army ...
21/10/2025
SBS Learn's Dharug Ngurra resource empowers classrooms to meaningfully celeb...
21/10/2025
As global operators simplify and evolve their digital platforms, NPS improvement...
21/10/2025
Critical Design Review completion is a key milestone on the path toward Wideband Global Satellite Communications certification for the network in 2026, opening ...
21/10/2025
New Australian undersea training range to implement and improve warfighting tactics, proficiency and safety; enable joint/allied training that contributes to pr...
21/10/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
21/10/2025
September, the beginning of autumn, brought an expected revival to the TV market, largely due to the new fall TV schedules. The time spent in front of the TV sc...
21/10/2025
Broadcast Booms with 20% Uptick vs. August, Achieving Largest Monthly
Increase ...
21/10/2025
During September, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico settled at 24.5%, a marginal shift of -0.5 share points from the previous month.
Disclaimer: YU...
21/10/2025
RENNES, France BBright and GlobalM have conducted a technical trial validating Ultra HD interoperability across the entire contribution chain in the cloud, achi...
21/10/2025
Kokusai Denki Electric America will mark the U.S. debut of a new 4K camera at the 2025 NAB New York, Oct. 22-23. Now available, the Z-HD6500-S1 UHD/HD productio...
21/10/2025
Triveni Digital, a trusted leader in ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 service delivery, data broadcasting, and quality assurance solutions, will showcase its entire NEXTGEN TV ...
21/10/2025
Radio Azzurra FM, longest-running radio station in the province of Novara, northwest Italy, has invested in an DHD SX2 audio routing and mixing console for inte...
21/10/2025
Globecast, the leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, has announced the appointment of G Morgan as Executive Vice President of...
This witch of Oz has been balancing the commercial and creative in her career for quite some time. Hows she doing? 
