Rachel Weisz isn't your typical actress. While most parents would encourage their daughter to peruse their dreams' Weisz's parents took a different approach and denied her of acting.
They declined her the role of starring alongside Richard Gere in the feature "King David" in 1984, when she was just fourteen year of age.
While most child stars would have rebelled and gone off the rails, Rachel put her head down and focused on her studies going on to graduate from Cambridge University's Trinity Hall, while majoring in English and churning out impressive treatises on great British and American literature.
It was here where she first persuade her acting role and set up with a close friend their own performance group Talking Tongues, which staged both scripted and improvised comedic performances.
She was then accepted to the renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival three times; and their final performance earned them the Guardian Student Drama Award and an invitation to perform the piece, "Slight Possession," at the National Theater on London's West End.
After finishing her English degree she was then guaranteed a place at drama school but just like Rachel's life she took the unexpected option.
She chose against what would have been the safe option and jumped in to the acting world head-first landing small TV roles trying to make a name for herself.
After starring in numerous successful TV programmes alongside Ewan McGregor in the BBC miniseries "Scarlet and Black" which led to Weisz's return to the West End in a revival of Noel Coward's "Design for Living," which earned her a Critic's Circle Award for Best Newcomer.
She then turned her hand to the big screen and took small roles securing her name as an actress that could deliver moving and skilled performances time and time again.
It wasn't until the blockbuster The Mummy back in 1999 that Rachel stepped up as the leading lady and dominated the big screen that she upped her Hollywood profile.
Since then she has gone on to start alongside Hugh Grant in About A Boy and reprised her role In The Mummy Returns.
From there she took up the role of playing Tessa Quayle in The Constant Gardner an edgy contemporary political thriller based on John Le Carre's labyrinthine novel, which saw her nominated and win an Academy Award.
Co-star Ralph Finnes was quoted praising his co star saying "Some actors can get nervous when they are given that much freedom, but she thrived on it. It's in her temperament. She's not fearful, she's willing to throw caution to the wind in order to get to the core of a scene."
After her awarding winning performance Rachel tuned away from the serious role and went more light hearted opting to star in Eragon and rom com Defiantly Maybe alongside Ryan Reynolds
Away from movies her life has turned out for the better she is the face of make up brand Revlon and replaced Kate Moss in a Burberry Campaign.
Her private life has also remained private to a degree after announcing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno that she was in fact five months pregnant and engaged to Darren Aronofsky the press have given her an easy time and let her go about her daily day to day life and keep producing films that she wants to.
After a short break from acting Rachel returns to the big screen this month with style. Playing Abigail Salmon the mother of Susie Salmon who's daughter gets murdered.
A film based on the Alice Sebold novel of the same name the movie and directed by Oscar winning director Peter Jackson.
Being the first actor to be cast in this book adaptation there was no doubt in Jackson's mind that Rachel was the one for the role.
Talking to Movies Online Rachel reflected on her job and the depressing tone that Lovely Bones takes "You imagine beautiful things and you imagine ugly things. That's my job. I just don't think that something is too dark or problematic to go to. I don't know why, but I just don't think that way. I've learned to come out of it".
Adding "I'm a mother in real life, so I can't go home to my kid in a state of despair and tears. You have to learn to juggle that. Bad things happen in stories. . There are also very beautiful, uplifting things about this film.
"I didn't have any hesitation or ramifications. I guess the uplifting theme of the film is that life is a treasure, precious and a miracle. I just wanted to go and hug my son tighter. It's hard to remember that life is a miracle. You can't forget that. "
With The Whistleblower due out this year and her next project Unbound Captives starting shooting it seems Rachel can't shake the acting bug.
Picking consistently good roles, she's secured herself as one of Hollywood's great actress that live up to all the hype surrounding them and never seem to buckle under the pressures that it presents, making sure she keeps her career and private life right on track.
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