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Rachel Weisz is one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed character actors. The Academy Award winner has been a force in the entertainment business for more than two decades. Weisz has been acting professionally since the early ’90s. But it wasn’t until she appeared in the action epic The Mummy that she became a star in American films. While Weisz went on to appear in the film’s blockbuster sequel, The Mummy Returns, she wasn’t in the 2008 franchise finale, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Empire — reportedly, due to the fact that the movie would have required her character to age too drastically.

Rachel Weisz had her breakthrough role as Evelyn Carnahan in ‘The Mummy’

rachel weisz mummy
Rick (played by Brendan Fraser, left) and Evelyn (played by Rachel Weisz) brace themselves for trouble in “The Mummy Returns.” | Keith Hamshere/Universal Studios

Born and raised in London, Weisz started modeling when she was just 14 years old. Her striking looks earned her acclaim. And according to IMDb, by the early ’90s, she was landing acting roles in English productions and films. For several years, Weisz acted in both screen and stage productions. In 1999, her career trajectory would get supercharged when she appeared as Evelyn Carnahan in The Mummy. 

The movie became a big hit. Fans loved not just Weisz’s characterization of Evelyn, but her chemistry with Brendan Fraser as well. Thanks to the overwhelming success of The Mummy, Weisz became a huge star in Hollywood. She landed roles in a succession of big-budget films and cemented her status as a star to be watched. 

Rachel Weisz didn’t return for the third ‘Mummy’ film

The Mummy Returns was released in 2001, two years after the first film became a hit. By this time, Weisz, along with Fraser, were major stars. And fans turned out in droves to watch the two fight the armies of the undead. The Mummy Returns was a huge hit, and producers immediately started planning a third film. However, it would be another seven years before a third film would officially enter production. And while Fraser was on board, Weisz was not.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was released in 2008. It starred Mario Bello as Evelyn, replacing Weisz and acting alongside Fraser’s Rick O’Connell. And as the film’s director, Rob Cohen, tells it, there was one major reason why Weisz didn’t sign on for the third film.

According to BuzzFeed, Cohen would later relate that Weisz was uncomfortable with how drastically the characters aged in the movie. “I got a very angry phone call from her agent, saying she’ll never play the mother of a 21-year-old. I said, ‘OK, good, fine, bye,'” Cohen said. 

‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’ was the franchise’s lowest-grossing film

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According to BuzzFeed, Weisz indirectly disputes Cohen’s account of why she didn’t sign on for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. She said filming it would have required her to live in China for five months during filming, leaving her 2-year-old son behind. Rumors that Weisz was unhappy with the script itself also circulated. However, in the end, fans had to deal with the fact that Weisz had moved on to other projects and seemingly had no plans to reinvolve herself with the franchise that had made her a star.

Interestingly, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was the lowest-grossing film in the trilogy, according to IMDb. It only grossed about $403 million worldwide and received generally negative reviews from critics. Whether Weisz’s absence from the movie ended up cursing the production is debatable. But fans certainly weren’t lining up to see the action flick without the Evelyn they had grown to love.

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