RACHEL WEISZ - WEISZ STARRED IN MUMMY TO FUND 'PASSION PROJECTS'

Actress RACHEL WEISZ agreed to star in critically-mauled blockbuster THE MUMMY because she wanted to help finance the small independent films which really grabbed her interest.

The 34-year-old beauty is desperate to be involved with more art house films, but must accept less challenging roles in mainstream studio films to fund her "passion projects".

She says, "If you do a big movie like The Mummy and it's successful, you can help finance small movies that are more your thing.

"They call them 'passion projects' in America, which sounds odd, but it makes sense. So there is a kind of game there."