In 'vladimir,' Rachel Weisz Navigates Steamy Fantasies And An Unraveling Reality

London — It’s been almost six months since Rachel Weisz wrapped filming connected “Vladimir,” and she’s still unsure really to talk her characteristic connected nan series. The unnamed protagonist, known successful nan scripts arsenic “M,” was truthful complexly drawn that Weisz is now struggling to externalize nan acquisition of playing her.

“This is nan first clip I’ve spoken astir it to anybody,” she says, sitting astatine a array successful Goodfare, a edifice successful London’s Camden, connected a frigid greeting successful early January. “I whitethorn beryllium a small creaky.”

It’s a fewer days aft nan vacation break and Weisz, 55, is preparing to commencement accumulation connected a caller film, “Séance connected a Wet Afternoon.” Despite that, she hasn’t afloat near M behind. As an executive shaper connected nan series, she was progressive successful nan edit, still ongoing astatine nan clip of our interview. Today, aft a meandering backmost and distant astir nan character, she admits, “I suppose I still request to stitchery my ain constituent of position connected her.”

“Vladimir,” an eight-episode constricted bid premiering March 5, is based connected playwright Julia May Jonas’ 2022 novel of nan aforesaid name. Both nan caller and nan bid halfway connected a lit professor (Weisz) who teaches astatine a wide arts college. Her hubby (John Slattery) is nether investigation for misconduct astatine nan schoolhouse arsenic she becomes infatuated pinch a caller workfellow named Vladimir (Leo Woodall). Jonas wrote nan aviator respective years agone without a peculiar character successful mind for nan lead character, who narrates nan caller arsenic if she were delivering an ongoing monologue. Weisz had publication nan book — it was recommended to her by a friend — earlier she was sent nan script.

Rachel Weisz arsenic M, a lit professor who becomes infatuated pinch nan titular character, played by Leo Woodall.

(Netflix)

“It was a damn bully portion of writing, nan caller and nan pilot,” she says. It led to a gathering pinch Jonas. “Ultimately, I deliberation I was really intrigued astir getting into nan tegument of this character,” Weisz adds. “I thought it would beryllium challenging and hopefully fun.”

As M’s life goes farther disconnected nan rails, she becomes much obsessed pinch Vladimir, often indulging successful torrid romanticist fantasies astir him, which nan assemblage sees successful juxtaposition to nan much mundane reality. She yet crosses lines astatine activity and astatine home, each while narrating her unraveling straight to nan viewer.

“The caller is very internal,” Jonas says, speaking later complete Zoom from New York. “So it was about: How do we return that soul sound and construe it to nan screen? One of nan ways was her nonstop address, but we wanted to twist what that instrumentality usually does for an audience. In astir nonstop addresses, nan character tells you nan truth astir what’s really going on.”

But that’s not what ever happens here.

“I wanted to flip that to wherever she’s talking to personification and she’s ever trying to massage nan truth aliases sometimes outright lie,’” Jonas says. “She’s a wholly unreliable narrator.”

Throughout nan series, M confides successful nan camera, an different method that draws its inspiration from Jonas’ theatre background. Weisz remembers doing a Neil LaBute play successful nan ‘90s successful which she collapsed nan 4th wall but had ne'er done truthful onscreen. The character says she did person an assemblage successful mind erstwhile speaking to nan camera, but it would beryllium “reductive” to overexplain it.

“There was personification I was imagining,” she says. “On set, we called it my typical friend. The different actors had to dress it didn’t happen. It wasn’t truthful overmuch choreographed arsenic it was breaking retired of nan segment and chatting to my typical friend and past going backmost into nan scene.”

It yet became 2nd quality for her and nan cast, she says.

“It was really absorbing watching Rachel and each nan creators progressive navigate that,” Woodall adds, speaking separately connected Zoom from London. “She did a really singular occupation astatine staying wrong a segment while besides having to pivot and present a speech and past travel consecutive backmost into nan scene. It was a caller situation for me, but I thought it was going to beryllium much difficult than it really was.”

“There was personification I was imagining,” says Rachel Weisz astir breaking nan 4th wall pinch her characteristic connected “Vladimir.” “On set, we called it my typical friend.”

(Sophia Spring / For The Times)

The episodes are snappy, astatine astir 30 minutes each, and nan reside of “Vladimir” often leans much funny than serious. Weisz tends to gravitate toward play — her past bid was a remake of David Cronenberg’s “Dead Ringers” — but she has flexed her comedic muscles successful nan past, notably successful Yorgos Lanthimos’ satirical movie “The Favourite.” She doesn’t spot herself arsenic a peculiar funny character contempt nan galore laugh-inducing moments successful “Vladimir.”

“For me, everything was intensely serious,” she says. “It was astir committing to her reality and what she cares astir and what matters to her and really she’s trying to person herself that everything’s conscionable fine.”

She pauses. “I wouldn’t cognize really to beryllium funny,” she affirms. “It’s not my wheelhouse. I was alert that location was a batch that was ridiculous, but life is often truthful ridiculous, isn’t it? Things are going very incorrect successful her life pinch her hubby and everything. It gets harder and harder for her to toed that statement arsenic she tries to dress it’s not going wrong.”

Weisz mostly relied connected her “imagination and Julia’s words” to represent nan character. She’s known a batch of professors complete nan years, particularly erstwhile she lived successful New York City, which helped. She understood that contempt nan character’s misbehavior successful nan bid — for illustration breaking into her boss’ agency — she’s decently bully astatine her job. “Times are changing and her hubby is successful this heavy situation and her estimation is connected nan line,” Weisz says. “But I deliberation she thinks she’s a beloved coach and an esteemed professor.”

To play M, Weisz had to beryllium wholly connected her side. She knows it’s mostly important to beryllium capable to take sides nan personification you’re playing, but she besides says nan characteristic felt “psychologically true.”

“It’s very difficult to do thing if it doesn’t consciousness for illustration that,” she says. “The penning is nan opening of my occupation and this was truthful good written. But I wouldn’t beryllium capable to play personification unless I could wholly beryllium successful their constituent of view.”

Jonas says what makes M compelling is that it’s difficult to put a explanation connected her aliases cognize what to expect.

“Vladimir” is an adjustment of Julia May Jonas’ novel. The writer says M is difficult to pin down.

(Sophia Spring/For The Times)

“Is she right? Is she wrong? Is she psycho? Is she sane? Is she brilliant? Is she each of those things? Or nary of them? You can’t pin her down,” Jonas explains. “And that’s what makes her truthful breathtaking to watch. You’re not rather judge what nan prime is that she’s going to make adjacent different than being profoundly smart and good read.”

“Vladimir” began shooting successful July 2025 successful Toronto, which stood successful for an undefined wide arts assemblage town. It was deliberately changeable while Weisz’s young girl pinch hubby Daniel Craig was retired of schoolhouse for nan summer. Although nan character felt tethered to nan characteristic while connected set, she could easy dissociate astatine nan extremity of nan day. She’s many times keen to explain that she’s thing for illustration M moreover arsenic she defends her, arsenic if she’s slow realizing conscionable really unhinged nan characteristic comes disconnected successful nan series.

“I profoundly empathize pinch her and understand her,” Weisz says. “But I near her erstwhile I sewage home. She’s for illustration a projection of what a spectator mightiness want to unrecorded out.”

Jonas adds, “It’s allegorical successful nature. What if I could conscionable return this man and concatenation him up? It’s making that literal for america to watch. It’s astir that female id heavy wrong of us.”

Both Woodall and Jonas were struck by Weisz’s intuitive attack to nan character. Woodall and Weisz didn’t talk M’s narration pinch Vladimir during filming.

“She loves arsenic overmuch spontaneity arsenic possible, and she loves to not really cognize up of clip what nan actor’s going to do,” Woodall says. “For personification who’s arsenic good established arsenic she is and truthful beautiful, it was really nosy to spot her let herself to beryllium nan butt of a joke and look ridiculous. Some of nan scenes that we shot, we would finish, and she would burst retired laughing. She leaned into it and had a batch of nosy pinch it.”

“Rachel is wholly surprising,” Jonas adds. “The first clip I’d spot a segment I’d think, ‘Oh, that’s not really I wrote it astatine all.’ And past I would spot it a 2nd clip and I would recognize what she was doing. That’s what makes her truthful alluring arsenic an actor. She’s funny and absorbing and a small off-key but afloat committed, and you ne'er cognize what she’s going to do next.”

Weisz has ever wanted to beryllium an actor, but she didn’t recognize it could beryllium a profession until college. She’s drawn to penning and to singular voices. “I loved joining hands pinch Julia’s imagination,” she says. “I emotion writers. I’m not 1 because it’s excessively solitary, but they’re my favourite group to beryllium with.”

“She’s funny and absorbing and a small off-key but afloat committed, and you ne'er cognize what she’s going to do next,” says Jonas astir Weisz.

(Sophia Spring / For The Times)

She tends to prime projects based connected nan script, but different she isn’t picky. Weisz has done everything from quirky indie films to prestige play to high-octane action to Marvel. She won nan Oscar for supporting character successful 2006 for “The Constant Gardener” and was nominated again for “The Favourite.”

“In nan opening of my career, I conscionable did immoderate occupation I sewage truthful I could salary nan rent,” she says, shrugging. “I wasn’t picky. Now I’m successful this luxurious position wherever I tin take things. It’s really astir nan characteristic and writing, if it appeals to maine aliases if it seems it would beryllium absorbing to dress that story.”

Since our question and reply successful January, Universal Pictures confirmed nan accumulation of “The Mummy 4,” which will characteristic Weisz and Brendan Fraser reprising their roles arsenic Evelyn and Rick O’Connell (Weisz didn’t look successful nan 3rd installment). Prior to that announcement, though, Weisz is cagey astir nan film. “They’re earnestly talking astir it,” she says. “Brendan’s been very involved. It sounds very interesting.”

Being willing successful a characteristic aliases a communicative is what yet drives Weisz. Her capacity successful “Vladimir” wholly eschewed vanity and alternatively fixates connected what makes this female spell disconnected nan rails. M wants truthful severely to power her ain communicative and is incapable to look nan reality of her life, but she’s besides a talented writer and professor who wants nan champion for her family.

“People are contradictory,” Weisz says. “They tin beryllium superb astatine their jobs and person a very messy individual life. This is personification who is human. I cognize it’s very heightened and ridiculous, and it is successful nan genre of comedy, but it’s very true. Humans tin person these monolithic contradictions.”

Although Weisz instinctively understands M, questions linger. She hasn’t decided whether M is complicit successful her husband’s misbehavior (“That’s a hornet’s nest,” she says) and she’s not judge what happens to nan characteristic successful nan end. Even during nan editing process she’s struggled to spot M from nan outside. “I conscionable spot her,” she says. “I don’t spot maine location astatine all.”

As nan question and reply wraps, Weisz worries I won’t person what I need. Did she opportunity capable astir nan series? Did she overly take sides her character?

“I’m still aligned pinch her constituent of view,” she acknowledges again. “I deliberation she’s — I was going to opportunity I deliberation she’s reasonable, but that mightiness not beryllium rather nan correct word.”

The character laughs. “I americium alert that is not nan correct word.”