Renée Zellweger
Renée Kathleen Zellweger (/rəˈneɪ ˈzɛlwɛɡər/; born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards, she was one of the world's highest-paid actresses by 2007.
Renée Zellweger
Actress
1992–present
Born and raised in Texas, Zellweger studied English literature at the University of Texas at Austin. Initially aspiring for a career in journalism, she was drawn to acting following her brief work on stage while in college. Following minor roles in Dazed and Confused (1993) and Reality Bites (1994), her first starring role came with the slasher film The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1995). She rose to prominence with starring roles in the romantic comedy Jerry Maguire (1996), the drama One True Thing (1998), and the black comedy Nurse Betty (2000), winning a Golden Globe Award for the last of these.[1]
For portraying Bridget Jones in the romantic comedy Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) and Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago (2002), Zellweger gained consecutive nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing a loquacious farmer in the war film Cold Mountain (2003). She reprised her role as Jones in the sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004), and, following a career downturn and hiatus, in Bridget Jones's Baby (2016). In 2019, Zellweger starred in her first major television role in the Netflix series What/If, and portrayed Judy Garland in the biopic Judy, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress.[2] She has since starred as Pam Hupp in the NBC crime miniseries The Thing About Pam (2022).
Career
1992–1995: Early roles
While still in Texas, Zellweger appeared in several independent and low-budget films. One was A Taste for Killing (1992),[16] followed by a role in the ABC miniseries Murder in the Heartland (1993).[16] Also in 1993, she had an uncredited role in Dazed and Confused.[19] In 1994, she appeared in Reality Bites,[20] the directorial debut of Ben Stiller,[21] and in the biographical film 8 Seconds, directed by John G. Avildsen.[22] Her first main role in a movie came with the 1995 horror film The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, alongside Matthew McConaughey, playing a teenager who leaves a prom early with three friends who get into a car accident, which leads to their meeting a murderous family, led by the iconic Leatherface.[11] While the film went unnoticed,[23] Joe Leydon for Variety magazine lauded Zellweger, calling her "the most formidable scream queen since Jamie Lee Curtis went legit."[24]
In her next film, the crime comedy Love and a .45 (1994), Zellweger played a woman who plans a robbery with her boyfriend. Although the film received a limited release in theaters,[25] Marc Savlov of Austin Chronicle applauded the main cast saying they were "all excellent in their roles" and noted that "Zellweger's character – all squeals and caged sexuality – seems a bit too close to Juliette Lewis' Mallory Knox (of Natural Born Killers) to be as fresh as it should be".[26] The part earned her an Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance. She subsequently relocated to Los Angeles, a move she had postponed several times because she believed she lacked the talent and experience to be a competitive actor in that city. She would next appear in the coming-of-age drama Empire Records (1995).[11] Rotten Tomatoes' consensus was: "Despite a terrific soundtrack and a strong early performance from Renee Zellweger, Empire Records is mostly a silly and predictable teen dramedy."[27]
1996–2000: Breakthrough
Zellweger came to wider recognition through her role in Jerry Maguire (1996), playing a single mother and the romantic interest of a glossy sports agent (Tom Cruise). The film grossed over US$273 million worldwide.[28][29] It was Cruise who chose her to play his love interest and later credited her with "revealing the core humanity of the movie".[30] Roger Ebert, acknowledging Zellweger's and Cruise's chemistry, wrote: "The film is often a delight, especially when Cruise and Zellweger are together on the screen. He plays Maguire with the earnestness of a man who wants to find greatness and happiness in an occupation where only success really counts. She plays a woman who believes in this guy she loves, and reminds us that true love is about idealism."[31] For her performance, Zellweger was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.[11]
In the religious drama A Price Above Rubies (1998), Zellweger starred as a young woman who finds it difficult to conform to the restrictions imposed on her by the community.[32] The film flopped at the box office,[33][34] but Zellweger was applauded by some critics such as Ebert, who wrote that she gave a "ferociously strong performance".[35] That same year, she also starred in the drama One True Thing, opposite William Hurt and Meryl Streep. She played a woman, based on author Anna Quindlen, forced to put her life on hold in order to care for her mother, who is dying of cancer. One True Thing took in a modest US$23 million in the US,[36] but had a favorable critical response;[37][38] Variety magazine's Todd McCarthy stated about Zellweger, "Projecting gravity and impatience that she hasn't shown before, Zellweger is outstanding as the smart young woman who resents the interruption to her life's momentum but ends up growing in ways she never would have expected."[39]
After playing the female lead opposite Chris O'Donnell in the little-seen romantic comedy The Bachelor (1999),[40][41] Zellweger starred in the Farrelly brothers comedy Me, Myself & Irene (2000), with Jim Carrey,[42] as a woman on the run for what she believes is a false accusation set up by her mob-connected ex-boyfriend. It was a commercial success,[43] grossing US$149 million worldwide.[44]
In the black comedy Nurse Betty (2000), directed by Neil LaBute and starring Morgan Freeman,[11] Zellweger played a Kansas waitress who suffers a nervous breakdown after witnessing her husband's murder.[45][46] San Francisco Chronicle found the actress to be "a performer who emanates kindness and a pure heart",[47] and Variety remarked: "Few actresses can convey the kind of honesty and humanity that Zellweger does here — it's hard to imagine the film without her dominant, thoroughly credible performance".[48] She won her first Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, but she was in the bathroom when future co-star Hugh Grant announced her name.[11] She later protested: "I had lipstick on my teeth!"[49]
2001–2007: Bridget Jones and worldwide recognition
In 2001, Zellweger gained the prized lead role of Bridget Jones, opposite Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, in the British romantic comedy Bridget Jones's Diary, based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Helen Fielding. The casting of Zellweger came amid much controversy since she was neither British nor plump, and did not smoke.[11] During casting, Zellweger was told she was too thin to play the cherubic, chain-smoking Bridget, so she quickly embarked on gaining the required weight (20 pounds) and learning to speak in an English accent while she smoked herbal cigarettes.[50] In addition to receiving dialect coaching to fine-tune her accent, part of Zellweger's preparations involved spending three weeks working undercover in a "work experience placement" for British publishing firm Picador in Victoria, London.[11][51] Her portrayal of Jones led Stephen Holden of The New York Times to comment, "Ms. Zellweger accomplishes the small miracle of making Bridget both entirely endearing and utterly real."[50] The role earned her a second Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and her first Academy Award and BAFTA Award nominations for Best Leading Actress.[11] Bridget Jones's Diary was a major commercial success, earning US$281 million worldwide.[52]
Zellweger took on the role of a former actress serving as a foster mother, alongside Michelle Pfeiffer, in the drama White Oleander (2002), for which she received a Satellite Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress – Drama.[53] She also portrayed Roxie Hart in the 2002 musical film Chicago, directed by Rob Marshall and co-starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, and John C. Reilly. The film won Best Picture at the 75th Academy Awards.[54][55] Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Tim Robey labeled Chicago the "best screen musical [since 1972's Cabaret]",[56] and the San Francisco Chronicle commented, "Zellweger is a joy to watch, with marvelous comic timing and, in her stage numbers, a commanding presence".[57] She earned her second Academy Award and BAFTA Award nominations for Best Leading Actress, winning her second Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.
In 2003, following the success of Chicago, Zellweger starred with Ewan McGregor in the little-seen[58] romantic comedy Down with Love, as a woman advocating female independence in the 1950s and early 1960s,[59][60] and appeared in Anthony Minghella's war drama Cold Mountain, opposite Nicole Kidman and Jude Law, playing a woman who helps a farmer following her father's death. The film garnered several award nominations and wins for its actors; Zellweger won the award for Best Supporting Actress at the 76th Academy Awards, the 61st Golden Globe Awards, the 10th Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the 57th British Academy Film Awards.[61][62][63][64][65]
In 2004, Zellweger provided her voice for the DreamWorks Animation film Shark Tale,[66][67] and reprised her title role in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, which made US$262 million around the globe[68] and earned her a fourth Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy nomination.[69] In 2005, she played the wife of world heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock in Ron Howard's drama Cinderella Man, opposite Russell Crowe and Paul Giamatti.[70][71] In his review for the film, David Ansen of Newsweek, wrote that the actress "has an uncanny ability to make us swallow even the most movie-ish moments".[72][73] On May 24, 2005, Zellweger received a landmark star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to the motion picture industry.[74][75]
Zellweger portrayed author Beatrix Potter in the biographical comedy Miss Potter, with Emily Watson and Ewan McGregor. She also served as an executive producer as she wanted to get more involved in the production.[76] William Arnold of Seattle Post-Intelligencer concluded that Zellweger "strikes just the right chord of inspiration, eccentricity and uncompromising artistic drive."[77] For her portrayal, she earned her sixth nomination for the Golden Globe Award (and her fifth one in the category of Best Actress – Musical or Comedy).[1] In 2007, Zellweger lent her voice to the animated family comedy Bee Movie and was awarded the Women in Film Crystal award.[78]
2008–2014: Career fluctuations and hiatus
With George Clooney in his directorial venture, the period comedy Leatherheads (2008), about the early years of professional American football, Zellweger portrayed a Chicago Tribune newspaper reporter.[79][80] The film received largely mixed reviews and made US$13.5 million in its opening weekend, described as "disappointing" by website Box Office Mojo.[81][82] MTV.com praised the actress for "displaying an unexpected gift for drawling sarcasm",[83] but Kevin Williamson for website Jam! criticized her role, remarking that she, "as the kind of lippy heroine epitomized by Rosalind Russell, is miscast in a role that demands snark, not sleepy-eyed sweetness".[84] In the western Appaloosa (2008), Zellweger played a beguiling widow opposite Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen. The film grossed US$20 million at the North American box office.[85][86][87] Zellweger produced the made-for-television feature Living Proof, starring Harry Connick Jr., about the true story of Denny Slamon. It was co-produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, and premiered in October 2008 on Lifetime Television.[88]
Personal life
From 1999 to 2000, Zellweger was engaged to Jim Carrey.[151] In 2003, she had a brief relationship with musician Jack White.[152] In May 2005, Zellweger married singer Kenny Chesney.[153] Four months later, Zellweger obtained an annulment.[154]
In 2009, she started dating Bradley Cooper, after having met on the set of Case 39 which was filmed in 2006.[155] They separated in 2011.[156][157]
She was previously in a relationship with musician Doyle Bramhall II.[158][159][160] In June 2021, she started dating English television presenter Ant Anstead whom she met filming Celebrity IOU: Joyride.[161][162][163]
Activism
Zellweger took part in the 2005 HIV prevention campaign of the Swiss federal health department.[164]
Zellweger is one of the patrons for gender equality foundation The GREAT Initiative; in 2011 she visited Liberia with the charity.[165][166] In April 2011, she collaborated with Tommy Hilfiger to design a handbag to raise money and awareness for the Breast Health Institute.[167] "Because of the experiences of close friends and family members who have had to endure and battle the challenges of breast cancer, I am a passionate supporter of breast health education and charitable causes", Zellweger stated about joining the campaign.[168]