Does Jacki Weaver have authority here? Unlike her namesake Jackie Weaver – the council official who became a viral star – no one would ever dare question the credentials of this formidable Aussie actor, twice Oscar nominated and almost 60 years in the business.
Weaver was an established star in Australia, better known for her work in the theatre and on film than on TV (amazingly, she never ventured into soaps) long before she shot to international fame for her performance as a terrifying matriarch in 2010’s film Animal Kingdom.
Two years later, she received her second Oscar nod, this time for playing Robert De Niro’s wife – and Bradley Cooper’s mother – in Silver Linings Playbook.
Next up: another high-profile role, as the mother to Mark Wahlberg’s boxer-turned-priest in Father Stu, this time married to another challenging fella: Mel Gibson.
Weaver had an early role in Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock and was mentored by Michael Powell. Recent movies have included The Five-Year Engagement, Park Chan-wook’s Stoker, Steve McQueen’s Widows, Netflix smash Bird Box, plus Melissa McCarthy vehicle Life of the Party and a couple of James Franco-directed films about film-making, The Disaster Artist and Zeroville.
So post your questions for this star of stage and screen and robust romantic, who wrote in her memoir: “‘Promiscuous’ implies that I’m not choosy. In fact I’m very choosy. I just happen to have had a lot of choices.”
Comments will close at midnight UK time (11pm GMT) on 1 May and Weaver’s responses will be published in Film & Music next Friday.
• Father Stu is released on 13 May.
