Why Did Rachel Weisz Quit the Mummy 3? The Actress’ Controversial Exit, Explained

Returning to your favorite movies from the '90s is always a bit of a trepidation: there's a risk that the former hit has aged like milk, the jokes have gone stale, and the visual effects have lost their former chic.

Surprisingly, 1999's The Mummy was and remains the perfect movie that has everything: adventurers, humor, romance, and, of course, a mummy.

The Mummy's Greatest Asset is Its Brilliant Cast

The Mummy would have lost much of its charm if studio executives had made at least one casting error: John Hannah turned out to be a brilliant comedic actor, and Arnold Vosloo gave the sinister Imhotep a necessary edge.

But the main success of the casting director is rightly considered to be the chemistry between Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. If you take a closer look at the couple, it turns out that it is not only about the natural chemistry between them, but also about how the characters are written.

Evelyn is the daughter of an archaeologist and is neither a helpless damsel in distress nor Lara Croft. The enthusiastic librarian is more of a geek-girl who feels at home among hieroglyphs and is terribly clumsy in everyday life. Rick uses not so much his muscles (although he has those, too) as a sense of humor and dexterity.

It was the fact that the Mummy franchise rested on two pillars – Weisz and Fraser – that horrified fans when it was announced that Rachel would not appear in the third installment, called Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

The Mummy 3 Director & Actress Name Different Reasons for Evelyn's Recasting

Rob Cohen, director of the third Mummy movie, told his side of the story. In his opinion, the actress did not want to play too adult a character – according to the plot, Evelyn and Rick have an adult son in the third movie. Cohen said:

“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.’”

Later, however, the actress herself explained her refusal to participate in the film.

According to Weisz, the reason was a scheduling conflict – filming Tomb of the Dragon Emperor required her to be in China for five months, and contracts already signed for other films did not allow her to devote as much time to The Mummy.

Source: Digital Spy