New York Daily News - November 20, 2006

Hot water

By BRANTLEY BARDIN

In ‘The Fountain,’ Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz

get wet and wild

Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz are both gorgeous and smart, and both have built blue-chip careers in films and theater that zigzag from popcorn epics to character studies to artsy fare - which is where “The Fountain,” opening Wednesday, comes in. It’s one movie that tackles all three styles at once.

The film is a visually trippy, wildly time-skipping experience that juggles a trio of love stories (all starring Jackman and Weisz) over a span of 1,000 years - from a conquistador’s search for the Tree of Life, to a present-day scientist’s search for a cure to save his dying wife, to a 26th century “Space Odyssey”-like quest. Writer-director Darren Aronofsky says his aim for “The Fountain” was “a rumination on the search for what makes us people. It’s about love, our right to die and being in the moment.”

The moment is good for the “Fountain” stars. Weisz, 35, is the London-born Cambridge alum who first gained stateside fame as a brainy damsel in distress in 1999’s “The Mummy,” and after films like “Enemy at the Gates,” “The Shape of Things” and “Runaway Jury,” she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar this year for “The Constant Gardener.”

As for Jackman, the 38-year-old Aussie cut a path to stardom as blade-handed mutant Wolverine beginning with 2000’s “X-Men,” then played a monster hunter in “Van Helsing” and gay icon Peter Allen on Broadway in “The Boy From Oz” (which won him a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical). This year alone, Jackman has appeared in “Scoop” and “The Prestige” and is a voice in the animated flicks “Flushed Away” and “Happy Feet.”

Serious credits aside, when the actors enter a Beverly Hills hotel suite, they leave pretension at the door: Moments after Weisz takes her seat, she must excuse herself - to go to the loo.

Hugh Jackman: Well, I’m glad we got that [Weisz saying she needed to use the ladies' room] on tape!

“The Fountain” is thought-provoking and tricky, and it went through a lot of actors before you both signed on. What drew you to it?

HJ: The moment when I was reading the script and cried when I got to the end - which I’d never done before. I mean, I didn’t fully get it 100% on the first reading, but I felt it here [hitting his heart]. It was here that I got it. It left me with this great feeling of hope and openness. So I met Darren backstage at “The Boy From Oz” and he gave me the part within a week.

Rachel Weisz: Yeah, Darren came home from “Boy From Oz” blown away and said, “I’ve just seen the most astonishing actor I’ve ever seen in my life!” [Weisz and Aronofsky are engaged and have a 5-month-old son.]

HJ: The greatest compliment is that Rachel came to “Oz” at all, because -

RW: - Because, I’m sorry, but I really don’t like musicals. But Darren said, “You’ve got to go!” And I’d never seen that much charisma in one man ever in my life, as Hugh showed onstage. I was just glued to my seat.

HJ: And I just think she has amazing depth and - you should probably go back to the bathroom now, Rachel! - can just do anything. When Darren and I talked about casting, I went home to my wife and said, “The first person I thought of when I read the script was Rachel, and Darren didn’t even mention her - maybe it’s like a no-go zone ’cause they’re dating.” When I said to Darren, “Rachel’s the one,” he sort of looked down and said, “I don’t want it to look like I really wanted my girlfriend to play the part….” It worked out terrifically, but there were a couple of, um, funny moments.

Such as, when you climb into Rachel’s bathtub and make out?

HJ: Right! [laughs] Darren wanted it to be clear they’re about to make love so, basically, I fall into the tub and we’re kissing and kissing….

RW: It’s a hard life.

HJ: And Rachel takes my shirt off and a minute or so later, we’re still kissing, and we heard this voice yell, “Take his pants off, Rachel!” [laughs] Finally, Darren says “Cut!” and says, “Why didn’t you take his pants off?”

RW: I was shy! But people watch the movie and go, “You had great chemistry” - which is true - but we also had a heart connection, you know? Which is something you just can’t make up.

HJ: Absolutely. Also, before we started, Darren said to me, “I’m going to make you go places you’ve never been before,” which really turns me on. And he did.

RW: It’s a very new kind of science-fiction movie. I really think moviegoing audiences are so smart now - they can figure out most movie plots before the end, but this one is like a puzzle.

And you both regularly veer from mainstream fare to arty stuff.

RW: Sometimes you want to see art and sometimes you just want to be entertained. “Just entertainment” is great, too.

HJ: I agree. And a lot of people say to me “Oh, doing ‘X-Men’ must be really boring for you, because you can walk through it,” and I say, “It’s not easy doing those films!”

But I have to say, when I watched “The Fountain,” I thought, “I’m so thrilled to be in that movie. It’s a piece of art.”