Death and the Maiden marked a turning point for Weaver – she already had three Oscar nominations to her credit, but in Maiden she displayed a new range and power…
“When I was a less experienced actor, I wanted to know what was going to happen in a scene,” she says, “but during Maiden, I felt way over my head, and it was very exciting not to have any image of how a scene was going to turn out. With these big parts, you kind of surrender and let them take you. And that’s quite addictive – it’s really a high.”
As a result of her more instinctive approach, which she credits to acting coach Jack Waltzer and to her husband’s encouragement, Weaver has, she says, “fallen in love with what I do all over again.”