Aurora Starchild
Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz have been together for 13 years. The English couple first met in 1994 but didn’t start dating until they were cast as each other’s spouses in the 2010 thriller Dream House. They secretly dated and secretly married before the public knew they were an item. Here’s how the James Bond actor and The Mummy actress transitioned from co-stars to soulmates.
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Daniel Craig’s Career Began with Theatre
Daniel Craig was born on March 2, 1968, in Chester, Cheshire, England. His parents divorced when he was 4, and he and his older sister were raised primarily by their mother. At the age of 16, Craig was accepted into London’s National Youth Theatre. From there, he was accepted into the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he learned classical and formal acting from Royal Shakespeare Theatre alumni.
He began his acting career in the early 1990s, appearing in British television shows and films such as Anglo Saxon Attitudes and The Power of One. The latter proved his intense focus in serious dramas, which would ultimately become one of his best acting qualities. He played Schiller in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles in 1993 and Master Kane in A Kid in King Arthur’s Court in 1995. In 1998, Craig played John Ballard in the biographical period drama Elizabeth alongside Cate Blanchett. He also played George Dyer in Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider came in 2001 and then Layer Cake in 2004.
James Bond Blasted Daniel Craig to Stardom
But it was the James Bond franchise that truly made Craig a superstar.
Craig was cast as James Bond in the 2006 film Casino Royale, which rebooted the franchise and marked his breakthrough role. He went on to star in four more James Bond films: Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015), and No Time to Die (2021). He initially agreed to four films but did the fifth because he made an agreement that his Bond character would die.
Daniel has received widespread critical acclaim for his performances and has received 73 nominations and 22 awards. His work also spans beyond film and TV as he has starred in numerous on- and off-Broadway productions, including Betrayal, alongside Rachel Weisz, and A Steady Rain, with Hugh Jackman.
Craig’s Previous Relationships and a Scandalous Affair May Have Shaped His Desire for Future Privacy
Daniel Craig was briefly married to Scottish actress Fiona Loudon from 1992 to 1994. Craig and Loudon had a daughter, Ella, before splitting up.
In 2005, Daniel Craig found himself caught up in a very publicized affair after a hacker found sexy text messages between him and Layer Cake co-star Sienna Miller. At the time, Miller was dating Jude Law. Meanwhile, Daniel Craig was dating actress Satsuki Mitchell and had just split up with his long-term girlfriend Heike Makatsch. The tabloid drama no doubt played a role in the way Daniel Craig would later treat his partners — in and out of the spotlight.
Like Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz’s Career Also Was Rooted in Theatre
Rachel Weisz was born March 7, 1970, in Westminster, England, making her almost exactly 2 years younger than Daniel Craig. She has a younger sister, Minnie. According to an archived Vogue article, Weisz had already begun her modeling career by age 14. Rachel attended the North London Collegiate School as a child but left because of disruptive behavior. She told the Sunday Times that she was “asked to leave” but that her mom doesn’t like her to say she was “expelled.”
“I didn’t try to burn down the school or anything like that; it was just anti-authority issues,” she told The Sunday Times (via Stylist UK). “I didn’t think the teachers had the right to tell me what to do…I would just disobey, talk in the classroom, get very bad grades..”
However, Weisz later learned how to focus and eventually attended Trinity Hall, a college that is part of the prestigious Cambridge University. At Cambridge, Weisz studied English while performing in theatre productions, eventually winning the Guardian Student Drama Award in 1991. The award gained her an invitation to study theatre at the National Theatre. However, Weisz had already started landing roles in film and TV, and she decided to focus on her career instead.
Weisz’s On-Screen Breakout Roles Came Fast
Rachel Weisz’s first on-screen roles were for TV shows, beginning with The Advocates in 1992. She was cast alongside Liv Tyler in the 1996 film Stealing Beauty. Her breakout role came in 2005 with her performance in the film The Constant Gardener. That role won her an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. She also appeared in other notable films such as The Mummy franchise alongside Brendan Fraser, The Favourite, and The Deep Blue Sea. She expanded into the Marvel Universe with the role of Melina in Black Widow in 2021.
Rachel Weisz dated acclaimed film director Darren Aronofsky for 9 years. They were engaged to be married and had a son, Henry, together, before they split in 2010. That was the same year that Weisz re-met Craig.
How Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz Met
Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz first met in the 90’s when they were cast in Les Grandes Horizontales at the National Theatre Studio in London. However, both of them were in relationships at the time. Weisz was with Aronofsky and Craig was married to Loudon.
Years later, while co-starring in Dream House, they fell in love. The film’s producer, Ehren Kruger, joked to MTV News that “there is method acting and I guess there is matrimonial method acting.” However, he said that it wasn’t apparent that the two were actually in love while filming. “They were playing the roles as professional, and it went from there,” said Kruger.
Craig and Weisz Have Kept Their Relationship — and Marriage — Very Secret
Rumors first spread that Craig and Weisz were dating in December 2010. However, it was all conjecture. They tied the knot the following June, but in total secrecy. Only four guests attended their private ceremony, including both of their children.
That very James Bondesque element of secrecy has been a hallmark standard of the couple’s relationship to present day. Weisz once explained to More Magazine (via People) that speaking to publications about the details of their relationship would “be a betrayal.”
“He’s just too famous,” she said. “You have to protect your marriage… When you’re young, you tell your girlfriends everything. One of the great pleasures of not being an adolescent is that you don’t have to share everything. When you’re married, that door closes. The audience goes, and you’re in your own life.”
Craig and Weisz Had a Child in 2018 but Haven’t Revealed Their Name
In April 2018, Weisz told The New York Times that they were expecting a child together. “I’ll be showing soon,” she said. “Daniel and I are so happy. We’re going to have a little human. We can’t wait to meet him or her. It’s all such a mystery.”
Craig and Weisz had their baby in September. But the child’s name has never been revealed to the public. Photographs of the little one always blur their face as well. However, Craig’s daughter, Ella, may have accidentally slipped the child’s name in an Instagram post in 2020. Rumor has it that her name is Grace, but that has not been confirmed.
Both Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz have repeatedly acknowledged that they’re happily married. They also will say that a key to their happy marriage is privacy. Speaking with GQ, he said they kept their marriage secret for reasons that he didn’t want to elaborate on.
“Because we didn’t want it f***ed up, because that would be sharing a secret,” said the Bond actor. “And the whole point is that it was a secret. A secret is a secret in my mind.”
When asked how married life was, he responded similarly.
“Ultimately, if I start making comments of any sort… Look. I’m in love. I’m very happy. And that is as far as I’m prepared to go. Life is long, life goes wrong, and I don’t want to say something now that might be thrown back later.”
Fair enough and well put. The public will have to simply be content with adoring this beautiful couple from a distance.
