Late Night with Conan O’Brien - 02/22/2005

August 2nd, 2007 | by mima |

Conan: Our next guest has appeared in the films The Mummy, The Mummy Returns and Enemy At The Gates. Currently you can see her with Keanu Reeves in Constantine, please welcome the lovely Rachel Weisz.

(Rach enters as audience applauds)

Conan: Thanks so much for coming.

Rachel: Well thank you for having me.

Conan: Your hair, is so short, is this for a role?

Rachel: Yeah, its all gone for a role, chopped it off.

Conan: Yeah, it’s very nice, very cool.

Rachel: Short

Conan: Yeah, very nice. Now I want to ask you a little bit about your personal life, that’s part of my job

Rachel: Okay, go ahead.

Conan: Now I know your not married, you’ve been on the dating scene, you know fairly recently, or not so recently. But you’ve been out there and you find that the US concept of dating is different than the British version. Is that true?

Rachel: Its very true. To begin with, in Britain, we don’t date. It doesn’t exist, the word, the concept.

Conan: What do you mean? There’s no such thing as I want to take you out for a date?

Rachel: No, we would never say that. A man might say to a woman or a woman might say to a man because its 2005

Conan: Right

Rachel: because we can ask men out too, um, ”Would you like to go out for dinner?”

Conan: Right

Rachel: Or go to the movies, but we would never say ”date” and so it would be very mysterious. It could be ” does this guy just want to be my friend?” or is he interested in being romantically involved. And you’d never quite know it’s just very mysterious.

Conan: So you could be married to someone for years (Rachel laughs) and never really understand what’s happening. I love that idea, yea.

Rachel: No, there comes a moment where they have the ”discussion”

Conan: Where someone can say we’ve been out to have uh,

Rachel: 5 meals

Conan: 5 meals

Rachel: 3 movies.

Conan: And I have considered this to be a romantic situation.

Rachel: Yeah

Conan: But that would be very awkward for the other person I think, wouldn’t it?

Rachel: Well it depends on how they feel, it might be a relief. They might say, ”I’m very glad you brought this up, I also feel this way about you and I’m glad that we’re now” we call it going out. You’re going out with somebody. (Laughs)

Conan: Right, right, so, it just seems very strange. But you could go out with somebody on the first date, and then so, nothing’s going to happen.

Rachel: Nothings going to happen, but then what seems strange to me, is that in America, it seems to me that you can date lots of people, all at the same time.

Conan: Oh yeah

Rachel: Yeah (audience laughs)

Conan: That’s the whole idea (laughs)

Rachel: (laughing)

Conan: USA! USA! Now uh ‘ (Audience cheers) No, but uh, one of our countries great inventions I believe.

Rachel: Its very interesting concept, because in England, it would be called ”two timing”.

Conan: Yeah, but here, you’ve screwed yourselves over because your saying you go out on these dates where you just like have, you know, I don’t know, like bangers and mash or whatever, and you, and there’s no talk of it being sexual at all, but then your not allowed to go and see anybody else either so.

Rachel: Well you don’t have to talk about it being sexual, you can just be sexual.

Conan: That is a HUGE risk. (Rachel and audience laugh) That’s a huge risk if your chatting with someone and they think just, you know like ”oh its my accountant, we’re just having a discussion” and he’s just like aarrhh (Conan makes funny face and grabs at air representing man after woman) you know, that’s, that’s scary I would think.

Rachel: Well you know, I think the mystery adds to the kind of ‘

Conan: Right

Rachel: Eroticism for English, uh, going out with each other system.

Conan: Sure, yeah it’s working for you guys.

Rachel: Yeah.

Conan: What kind of guys, if I’m not being, what kind of guy’s do you like? What’s your type? Do you have a type?

Rachel: Well I have been with one uh, guy for nearly 4 years

Conan: Right

Rachel: And I would say if he had a type, it would be um, a geek.

Conan: He’s a geek? (Audience laughs) Does he like it when you say, ”Oh, I like geeks like this guy” I mean does he look at you angrily over his comic book *says in funny voice* ”That wasn’t kind!”

Rachel: No, what he says over his comic book is, I’m not a geek, and I’m a nuvo dork.

Conan: Nuvo dork!

Rachel: Yes, Yes.

Conan: See, I wish there were cool distinctions like this ‘

Rachel: Yes.

Conan: When I was a geek.

Rachel: Yeah (laughs)

Conan: Before I became a jock. (Rach laughs harder) Ah, any who, so Nuvo Dork, that’s nice.

Rachel: He’s a nuvo dork. I like guys who aren’t ashamed to bring out their goofiness and silliness in front of large groups of people.

Conan: Right, right.

Rachel: So, I think ‘

Conan: I think it shows great ‘

Rachel: Strength of character..

Conan: Strength masculinity

Rachel: Absolutely! I think that what most people think of as ”Cool” like, men you know who sit around being ”cool” I don’t think that’s cool.

Conan: Right. I don’t think that’s cool.

Rachel: It’s not cool at all.

Conan: Its cool to act like a fool and a geek!

Rachel: I agree!

Conan: I agree too!

Rachel: It’s the new cool. It’s my cool.

Conan: I’m going to start doing that soon! I’m going to start acting foolish in front of people! (Laughs) So uh, well that’s nice. That’s good, I think that’s good for uh, there’s probably some nerds watching at home right now who think, ”that’s great, Rachel Weisz thinks..”

Rachel: He’s also a red head.

Conan: What do you mean also a red head? (Rachel and audience laugh)

Rachel: Oops!

Conan: We’re talking about dorks and geeks!

Rachel: I’m sorry!

Conan: You should say (makes funny face) ”And one thing he has in common with you, is your hair!”

Rachel: That’s the only thing ‘

Conan: (laughing) And he’s also a red head.

Rachel: Yes, sorry, excuse me, excuse me.

Conan: Well this segment’s over!

Rachel: His hair and his type..

Conan: Right

Rachel: You share ‘

Conan: Right

Rachel: But he’s not a jock like you.

Conan: (laughs) We’re going to edit this and only use that part. (Rach laughs) And repeat it ‘ yeah. Alright, I wanted to ask you quickly, and this is something the movie uh, Constantine, uh is, is out right now, and this is, this is kind of a different movie, there hasn’t been a movie quite like this ‘ do you want to describe it for us?

Conan: Cause its sort of, well you go ahead ‘ its using religious themes, but in sort of almost a private detective thriller way isn’t that right?

Rachel: Yes, it kind of has a noir tone, um and it is a thriller, but it’s also supernatural. But it is housed within these great big religious themes and ideas about Heaven and Hell and purgatory..

Conan: Right

Rachel: And um, yeah, its very exciting, and I think it is, it is unusual.

Conan: But you watch the movie and you think like, well this is sort of like the classic detective genre, but using these, which is I think a good idea, using these spiritual ‘

Rachel: Exactly

Conan: Theological ideas. We have a clip here, is there something you can tell us about it that sets it up?

Rachel: Um, well Keanu and I in this uh, noir, detective kind of way, are trying to investigate the uh, the demons that are trying to break through into Earth, and then suddenly, I get pulled through a building. (Laughs)

Conan: That old chestnut. Right.

Rachel: That old chestnut.

Conan: That again! All right, lets take a look at this clip from Constantine.

Rachel: By a demon.

(Shows the clip of Rachel getting pulled through the buildings, and audience applauds)

Conan: That’s good! Keanu reacts so quickly too! That’s ‘ not me, you know? I like how quickly Keanu Reeves reacts in that scene. Your pulled through a wall and he’s like, ”I better go after her!”

Rachel: Yeah, yeah, he’s not surprised in the least.

Conan: (mocking Keanu and his voice) I’d just be like, ”She was pulled through a wall! ‘ WOW!” and then hours later, ”Shouldn’t you go get Rachel Weisz?” (Mocks Keanu again) ”She was pulled through a wall!” (Conan laughs) That’s why I’m not in those films. (Rachel laughs) Constantine is in theaters now! Rachel Weisz, thanks so much for being here.

Rachel: Thank you Conan.

Credit: Nefertirievy