Hugo Weaving

I get Hugo Weaving confused with Guy Pearce.

Weaving is the guy originally from Africa. Maybe? He played the villain in The Matrix. I think both he and Pearce were in that transvestites-in-the-outback movie.

I might have this all wrong.

I guess I'll start my research.

Lord Wiki says baby Hugo was born on 4 April 1960. Would that make him a Taurus? No, wait. He'd be an Aries.

The birthday website says his numerology number is 6. That's the family-oriented one.

He has the same birthday as Heath Ledger, Anthony Perkins, Robert Downey, Jr. and Craig. T Nelson as well.

I think all those men are very good actors. Maybe it's a good day for actors to be born.

I was right. Weaving was born in Africa. Nigeria.

I just asked Jack where Nigeria is. He said it's south of the top. East. I have to go and check to see if he's right.

He was right. I didn't find it at first and told him he was wrong. He got up, pointed to Nigeria, and told me he was right. Then he gave me his interpretation of Africa; dividing it into a top, middle, and south. Nigeria is in the bottom of the top.

Ah! But it's in the west...not the east. Jack just told me he gets confused between his west and east. That's okay. So do I.

I'm still impressed, though. It's probably good enough that he knows Nigeria is in Africa...period.

How would our world change if we knew for sure there was life after death, and it was easy for our dearly-departed to talk to us via the Internet?   

The Dead are Online  a novel by Dina Roberts 

Mommy and Daddy Weaving were British. Daddy Weaving was a Seismologist. That's pretty awesome. Mommy Weaving was a tour guide. That's awesome too.

When Weaving was a teen, the family moved to England...Bristol. I had a college friend from there.

When Weaving was about sixteen, his family moved to Australia. There he went to Knox Grammar School in Sydney. This is the school that Hugh Jackman went to. Jackman is eight years younger than Weaving, so I guess they didn't attend the school at the same time.

In 1981, Weaving graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Arts. That link is highlighted on my computer, so someone I wrote about recently went there. I'm pretty sure it was Blanchett and not Jackman.

Again. I'm going to skip all the career stuff. I'll get that via IMDb.

Lord Wiki has a little more personal stuff.

Weaving has Epilepsy. That's interesting. I don't think I know of any other celebrities that have it. I have to look that up.

Lord Wiki says that Abbott from Abbott and Costello had it. Danny Glover has it. There's Neil Young. Adam Horovitz (from Beastie Boys)....

There's a bunch of other names I don't recognize. Lord Wiki also has a list of people in history who are (or were) suspected of having epilepsy.

Weaving is married. He has two kids. He also has a niece that is an actress. Samara Weaving. Samara. That's the name of the scary Ring girl!!!!

Weaving is an ambassador for an animal rights organization called Voiceless.

They fight against factory farming. GOOD!

They say this about factory farms. These industries engage in legalised cruelty in the name of higher profit and cheaper meat and eggs.

It's so sad that such cruelty is actually legal. When will that change? Soon, I hope.

Voiceless is also against animals used for entertainment: zoo, circuses, TV stars, etc. I'm not sure I'm totally against that. I think there are definite negatives. But I think more energy needs to go towards the factory farm stuff.

I do like their website in the fact that they emphasis REDUCING the consumption of meat, dairy, and eggs. They do suggest a vegetarian or vegan diet but talk about how any amount of reduction is a positive step.

I'm actually not seeing Weaving on the website. It would be funny if, after writing all of the above, he's not even involved.

All right. I'm done with Lord Wiki.

It's time to go to IMDb.

His filmography is frighteningly long. I might be here all day and night. I'll have to skip some stuff like usual.

His first role seems to have come in 1981. He was in an Aussie movie called ...Maybe This Time. I'm guessing the role wasn't too big. His character's name was Student 2. Who played Student 1?

Tim Burns. Mr. Burns has disappeared from the world of film and television. IMDb doesn't have anything listed for him since 1992.

In 1983, Weaving starred in a movie. This was called The City's Edge. It's about a man in a Sydney boardinghouse.

In 1986, he was in a historical romance called For Love Alone. Naomi Watts was in it too. Did I mention this movie when I wrote about her? The movie is about a young woman who falls in love with a teacher that preaches socialism. Sam Neill was in the movie too. I wonder if it was he or Weaving that played the teacher.

The trivia page for the movie says it was Watt's first movie. So I'm guessing I would have mentioned it.

In 1987, Weaving was in a miniseries called Melba. I'm guessing this was about the opera singer.

I'm skipping a few things.... Sorry.

In 1988, Weaving was in one of those very scary caught-with-drugs-in-Asia movies. This time the drug was Heroin. The country was Malaysia.

Wow. Then a year later, he was in ANOTHER one of these movies. This is that movie with Nicole Kidman. Bangkok Hilton. Weaving played her lawyer.

In 1990, Weaving starred with Rosanna Arquette in Wendy Cracked a Walnut. It's a romantic comedy about a woman with an imaginary boyfriend. Weaving is the imaginary boyfriend.

The trivia page says this is the first feature film made by the ABC. Interesting.

I wonder if Arquette played an American or Australian. For a moment, I thought she had done a Thaao Penghlis on me. But no. Lord Wiki confirmed that she is indeed American.

Here is the trailer for the movie. Arquette doesn't quite speak in it, so I don't know which accent she's using.

In 1991, Weaving starred with Russell Crowe in Proof. That's funny. Last night, Tim was watching another Russell Crowe movie....PROOF of Life.

The trivia page says that since Crowe and Weaving play best mates, they tried to be best mates in real life. They tried to find things they have in common. The only thing they had was that they're both fans of Doctor Who. That's silly. They have much more than that in common. They both have a penis. They both have snot in their nose. They both have toes as well.

Weaving won an AFI award for this film. Go Hugo Weaving!

Here's a scene from the movie. I think the joke is that Weaving's character is blind. Crowe takes him out driving. They crash. Then they pretend the accident made him blind. This way they get sympathy rather than a scolding.

I'm skipping more stuff....

In 1993 we have a Ned Kelly story called Reckless Kelly. It starred Yahoo Serious. I guess it's Ned Kelly in modern Australia. I don't know.

Here's the trailer. It looks very silly. The announcer of the preview is American. I guess it was the trailer they showed in America. I wonder how many Americans know who Ned Kelly is. I had never heard of him until fairly recently.

I'm skipping stuff again.

In 1994, we have the movie I heard of. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. I've seen parts of it. I liked what I saw.

My memory served me right. Guy Pearce is in it too.

Weaving was nominated for an AFI award. The movie itself won a GLADD award. They give awards to media that have fair and accurate portrayals of homosexuals. They recently gave an award to Prop 8: the Musical. Good! I loved that. Shrimp eating homophobics should be VERY ashamed of themselves.

Here's a scene from Priscilla. It's a great cultural encounter type scene. Here's the trailer.

I love that Pet Shop Boys song.

Weaving did a voice in Babe. He played Rex. Who was Rex? Trying to figure that out caused my Firefox to just crash. Yeah, excuse me for trying!

Well, I tried again, and this time I succeeded. Rex is the sheepdog.

Here's a trailer for the movie. Maybe they'll show Rex. What's that music from? Maybe Edward Scissorhands? The dog they show seems to have a woman's voice. The cat sounds familiar...a little bit like that one actress. Crap. I forgot her name. Ah! Jennifer Tilly.

I'm wrong, though. It looks like Russi Taylor does the voice. And she now does the voice of Martin Prince on The Simpsons. She also is the current voice for Minnie Mouse. That's some exciting trivia I can share with Jack and Tim.

IMDb is causing me some grief right now. I think they're the ones that are freezing my Firefox.

Okay. I'm skipping stuff again.

I'm landing in 1997. Weaving was in a movie with Naveen Andrews...that sexy Indian guy from Lost. Here's a scene from True Love and Chaos. Noah Taylor is in the movie too. I should probably write about him someday.

Noah Taylor reminds me a little bit of Spike Jonz when he was in Galaxy Quest. Wait! I just checked. It's NOT Spike Jonz. Why the hell did I think it was Spike Jonze? He was in Three Kings. It did come out the same year as Galaxy Quest. I'm not sure how I'd get those two movies confused.

I find Hugo Weaving to be VERY sexy. I didn't just notice that right now. I've been thinking it for an hour or so.

In 1998, Weaving won another AFI award. This was for The Interview. It's a crime thriller; the type of movie my parents love. Aaron Jeffery from McLeod's Daughters was in it too.

The Matrix came out in 1999. That's the year I got married. It's also the same year that Galaxy Quest and Three Kings came out. It's also the year Stephen King had his injuries, and we worried about the Y2K bug.

Weaving was the bad guy in The Matrix.

The trivia page says the Wachowski brothers approached Weaving because they liked his work in Proof.

The movie won the Saturn Award for that year. Weaving was nominated for a Blockbuster Entertainment award for best villain. Who won? I don't know. I can't easily find that information.

Here is a scene from the movie. That's some good fighting.

The movie was filmed mostly in Sydney. IMDb lists the various locations.

Also in 1999, Weaving did a romantic comedy. He worked again with Naomi Watts and Aaron Jeffery. The movie was called Strange Planet. It starts and ends on New Years. Cute.

In 2000, Weaving starred in The Magic Pudding. He played Bill Barnacle. I've already forgotten who that is. Is it the koala? I pretty much remember only the damn pudding.

I'm gonna have to get my copy of the book out.

The koala is Bunyip Bluegum. In the movie, he was played by Geoffrey Rush.

Bill is the little old man.

John Cleese is the pudding. How cute.

Here's a little interview about the pudding.

I find myself quite attracted to this Weaving guy. I love watching him and Sam Neill sing together.

I wouldn't mind seeing that movie one day.

In 2001, Weaving was in Lord of the Rings. Was everyone in that movie?

Weaving played Elrond. Lord Wiki says this is a half-elf.

The trivia page for the movie says that David Bowie wanted that part. I wonder why Weaving got it instead.

Lord Wiki has a photo of Weaving as Elrond. He looks a bit like Bowie in Labyrinth.

Here is a scene from Lord of the Rings. It might feature Elrond. Yeah. He's there. According to the comments on YouTube, this is a very emotional and romantic scene.

In 2002 and 2003, Weaving was busy doing sequels to both The Matrix and Lord of the Rings. I was busy too....not making movies but mothering a toddler.

In 2004, Weaving reunited with one of his Lord of the Rings co-stars (Cate Blanchett), and his co-star in The Magic Pudding (Sam Neill). This movie was Little Fish--the drug story. Weaving won an AFI award for best actor. He's won quite a few of these. He's not just sexy. He's talented.

In 2005, we have V for Vendetta. I kind of remember that. I didn't see it, but I bet Tim did. Oh. No. He just told me he didn't.

The movie was written by the same guys who wrote The Matrix.

Here is the trailer.

I think Weaving is the guy in the mask. Here he is doing a speech.

It looks like a good movie.

The man with the cigarette at 1:56 reminds me of Brad Pitt.

Does Weaving ever take off his mask in the movie?

In 2006, Weaving was in Happy Feet with Hugh Jackman.

In 2007, he did one of the voices in Transformers. Tim DID see that movie. I didn't.

Weaving will soon be in The Wolfman. I didn't realize they made a wolfman movie. Anthony Hopkins is going to be in it too. Cool!

They're making more Lord of the Ring movies....The Hobbit. Weaving is rumored to be in that. I think we can probably believe those rumors.

Now I'm going to read the IMDb trivia page.

He is the middle child. I am too. We have something in common.

IMDb says his dad was in the computer industry. That differs from what Lord Wiki said. Maybe he did seismology work with computers? Maybe he measured the effects of earthquakes on computers. OR he might have used computers to measure earthquakes. I know! I bet Daddy Weaving used computers to measure the effect of earthquakes on other computers.

Weaving does a lot of theater work.

He is not married....just partnered. He's against marriage. I'm not a big fan of it myself. I personally feel we should all get divorced in protest of gay discrimination. Tim didn't like the idea, though. I guess there'd be some type of legal and tax complications.

Weaving's kids are pretty old now. One is about twenty, and the other is about sixteen.

He once had a seizure at the Sydney Opera House. It's believed the strobe lights did that.

He fractured his hip doing The Matrix. I wonder if it hurts him when it rains.

Because of his Epilepsy, Weaving doesn't drive. He's afraid.

I don't have Epilepsy, and I'm scared to drive. I hate it. And no one can tell me that I have an irrational fear. People die in car accidents; QUITE often, thank you very much.

He's a pesco-vegetarian. That means he eats fish but no other meat. I actually considered becoming that. Here's what happened: In 2005, I read a nutrition book by William Sears. He's the attachment parenting guru that I took a lot of advice from. He's very pro-healthy eating. His book pushed a vegetarian diet, but also pushed eating fish. I've never liked fish, but I decided to give it a try.

My dad was receiving this award. I went to the ceremony. They served salmon and steak. I bravely tried a piece of Salmon. I did NOT like it. I decided for this instance, I'd be ignoring the advice of the almighty Dr. Sears. I also took some bites of the steak. It was way too rare for me. And it was at that moment, I took the big plunge. That steak was the last time I ever ate meat. Well, there was the time recently that I MIGHT have accidentally eaten a piece of chicken..... But besides that, I've been meat-free for almost four years.

All right. I'm done with IMDb. I shall look at other websites now. Oddly, it seems he never did an interview with Andrew Denton. That surprises me.

Here's a video interview done at the AFI awards. It's regarding Little Fish.

It's not that interesting....so far. I find the interviewers to be a little bit annoying.

Here's another interview. This one is about V for Vendetta. I like this interviewer a little better--probably because he asks the question that was on my mind. Since Weaving's character wore a mask, why did Weaving have to be in it all the time. Or was he not in it all the time?

Weaving looks a bit strange with a beard. He looks like that actor in Little House on the Prairie. I forgot his name, but he also does the commercials for FTD flowers.


I prefer Weaving when he's not looking like a Little House on the Prairie character.
From what they're saying in this interview, Weaving never showed his face in the movie. It does make me wonder why they'd use a big actor. Why not use another actor, and then dub Weaving's voice?

The movie has a domino scene. It took four days to set them up. Wow.

Weaving is asked what the most powerful moment of his life was. He said it was seeing his children being born. I kind of expected him to say that.

Here's a transcript of another interview. This one was done on a comic book site.

I don't find much stuff interesting here...except he says he has never filmed a movie in Los Angeles. I guess that's not so strange. Many films are not made in Los Angeles these days.

Oh, and he's not a huge comic book fan. I mean he doesn't hate them. He just hasn't ever really been that into it.

Here's an interview about one of the Matrix sequels.

Weaving does not want to see himself cloned. He doesn't want millions of himself. Would anyone want that? That would be freaky.

Here's an interview about The Wolfman. It's on Fangoria's website. I read that magazine sometimes when I was a teenager.

Weaving has been doing a play in Melbourne called God of Carnage. The play is about children who get in a fight, and how both their parents get involved. I can strongly relate to that type of storyline right now.

In Fangoria, Weaving defends the horror genre.

He says, But sadly I think genre pictures tend to be looked down upon or overlooked as serious pieces of art. The western, the musical, action films, horror films, fantasy films; I mean they are the founding and starting point of great American cinema yet even though commercially successful and a lot times critically well received, they are never given the proper respect they deserve just because they entertain.

He also says, There’s a weird resentment toward escapism in intellectual circles which not only happens in film but theatre, too.

I agree with that. There's those certain snobs who only like movies, books, and TV shows if they're difficult and/or intellectually stimulating. With books, I'll read both serious and entertaining stuff. With movies these days, I want to see only the entertaining ones. I don't want to see depressing thought-provoking political movies. I want to see stuff like Spiderman and Harry Potter. I don't mind doing a little thinking and a little crying, but for the most part....I want to have FUN.

Weavings favorite werewolf movie is American Werewolf in London. That's probably mine too. Well, are there many other werewolf movies? Oh yeah! Teen Wolf with Michael J. Fox. I forgot about that one. That was a good movie as well.

There's also Wolfen and The Howling. I don't think I saw any of those. Wait. Wasn't there a wolf man movie with Jack Nicholson?

Okay. Yeah. It was called Wolf. I think I saw that.

Weaving says horror fans are the most hardcore, fanatical, and lovely. I think he means that as a compliment. Maybe.

Here. I finally found Weaving on the Voiceless charity website. They link to an article about his animal stuff.

He wears leather shoes and owns a cat. That's like me. Well, I have two cats.

His kids became vegetarian. That's what inspired Weaving to give up most types of meat.

Well, I think that's about it for now. See you guys later.