Rachel Weisz says Terrence Malick cut her performance from ‘To the Wonder’

Rachel Weisz appears to be the latest victim of director Terrence Malick’s editing room shenanigans.

Notorious for significantly cutting down or completely removing actors’ performances from his films during post-production, the “Tree of Life” helmer allegedly left the Oscar-winning actress on the cutting room floor during the editing process for his upcoming drama “To the Wonder.”

“It seems that [my] part has been cut,” said Weisz in a recent interview with Italian outlet La Stampa (as translated by The Film Stage). “I had the experience of working with him [Malick] but I will not have the pleasure of seeing my work.”

“To the Wonder,” which premieres at the Venice Film Festival next week (full competition lineup here), is described as “a romantic drama centered on a man who reconnects with a woman from his hometown after his marriage to a European woman falls apart.” The film stars Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem, Olga Kurylenko and – at least up until recently – Weisz. Though the actress’ role was reportedly not a major one, it’s unlikely she ever expected her entire performance was in danger of being excised.

Malick has famously raised the ire of a host of other actors during his long career, with Adrien Brody, for one, publicly voicing his displeasure upon first screening “The Thin Red Line” only to learn that his once-central role had been relegated to “supporting” status (though at least his performance wasn’t disposed of completely, as were those of his co-stars Gary Oldman, Viggo Mortenson, Mickey Rourke, Martin Sheen and Billy Bob Thornton). Christopher Plummer, too, logged his annoyance after learning that his role in “The New World” had been radically pared down for the final cut.

Malick is currently in production on “Knight of Cups” starring Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Isabel Lucas, Antonio Banderas, Imogen Poots, Freida Pinto, and Joel Kinnaman. He then begins shooting yet another feature – an untitled project formerly known as “Lawless” – in the fall with Portman, Blanchett, Christian Bale, Rooney Mara and Ryan Gosling.

What do you think about Malick’s penchant for downsizing his actors’ performances? Sound off in the comments.

×