Rachel Weisz wins supporting actress Oscar

LOS ANGELES, Mar 6: British actress Rachel Weisz won the Oscar for best supporting actress today for her performance as a determined social activist in ''The Constant Gardener.'' Weisz, 34, plays a British diplomat's wife who is murdered in Africa while investigating the shady dealings of an international pharmaceutical company. It was Weisz's first Oscar nomination, and it followed her Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild wins for the same role.

Weisz paid tribute to novelist John le Carre, on whose thriller the film was based, for writing ''this unflinching, angry story. He really paid tribute to people who are willing to risk their own lives to fight injustice. They are greater men and women than I.'' The film, which also stars Ralph Fiennes as her ill-fated husband, won widespread critical praise and modest support at the box office. Directed by Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles, it was released by Focus Features, the arthouse arm of NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.

The other nominees were Amy Adams for ''Junebug,'' Catherine Keener for ''Capote,'' Frances McDormand for ''North Country'' and Michelle Williams for ''Brokeback Mountain.''

Reuters