Beauty, energy and an edge of quirkiness -- such were the qualities sought by American director brothers Paul and Chris Weitz (American Pie) for Hugh Grant's hard-won true love in About a Boy, the tender story -- based on British cult novelist Nick Hornby's 1993 book -- of idle bachelor Will Freeman, who finds purpose in his life through his friendship with a 12-year-old boy.

The pivotal role of the single mom who wins Will's heart went to the alluring actress Rachel Weisz, whom Paul Weitz describes as "magnetic on screen. The moment you see her, you understand why Will falls in love."

"I can't possibly comment," says the exotic British beauty, blushing at the compliment. "All I know is, when I read the script, I was like, Wow, I'm very honored. I was just a bit worried about the wrong girl, the wrong girl...the right girl. I didn't really feel like I could be the 'right girl,' because I feel I'm a bit off-center. I don't feel like I fit."

While the 31-year-old Weisz may consider herself a Hollywood outsider ("When you're in London everything feels very far away"), she is all over the American movie map these days. A brief scan of the "new releases" in your local Blockbuster yields her fine-featured visage again and again -- as Victorian librarian Evie Carnahan-O'Connell in The Mummy Returns; as a World War II-era Russian soldier in Enemy at the Gates; and as a bleached-blonde bad girl in Beautiful Creatures.