Golden Globe nominee Rachel Weisz praises 'Magic Mike' actress Cody Horn: 'She wasn't acting. She was real.'

Early this morning, Rachel Weisz scored a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress for her work in the little-seen British indie The Deep Blue Sea, which earned strong critical reviews, but not much box office, back in March. “It hadn’t been part of the conversation leading up to this,” a surprised Weisz told EW about her nomination, “so it really came out of nowhere.”

Despite the attention, the English actress wasn’t determined to keep the focus on herself. She readily heaped praise on a few of her colleagues when asked to pick her favorite actress performances of the year.

Weisz’s first choice was a popular one this awards season. “I really loved Helen Hunt in The Sessions,” she said. “I thought [she] was really, really impressive.” Certainly no one’s going to argue with her on that one, but it was Weisz’s second answer that may have some people raising an eyebrow. “I really loved Cody Horn in Magic Mike,” she said. “I know it’s tonally different. It’s not like a serious drama… but I don’t know, I loved her performance.”

“It’s funny, I called my best friend in England,” Weisz continued. “I was like, ‘Have you seen that?’ [and] she was blown away.” Weisz says she loved that Horn delivered a truly down-to-earth performance. “She wasn’t acting,” she says. “She was real. She was totally real.”

Critics were divided on Horn’s performance when Magic Mike opened in June. Many were quite impressed with her style. “She manages to hold the screen both on her own and when facing off against Tatum” raved one. “Newcomer Cody Horn [is] refreshingly sober, naturalistic,” wrote another. Yet there were many that weren’t impressed at all, saying things like, “She’s a bland performer and the weak link here” or “She is terrible enough to do major damage on the film’s pacing and energy.”

Regardless of that, where do you stand on the all important issue of Cody Horn’s performance? Are you with Rachel Weisz on this one? Should she be getting more recognition for her role as the non-male, non-naked character in Magic Mike? Sound off in the comments below!

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