Renée Kathleen Zellweger was born on April 25, 1969,[3] inKaty, Texas.[4][5] Her father, Emil Erich Zellweger, is from the Swiss town ofAu, St. Gallen.[6] He was a mechanical and electrical engineer who worked in the oil-refining business. Her mother, Kjellfrid,[7] is Norwegian ofKven[8] andSámi descent.[9] Kjellfrid grew up inEkkerøy near the townVadsø in the northern part ofNorway.[10] She was a nurse andmidwife who moved to the United States to work as agoverness for a Norwegian family in Texas.[11][12][13] Referring to her religious background, Zellweger has described herself as being raised in a family of "lazy Catholics and Episcopalians".[13]
Zellweger attendedKaty High School, where she was a cheerleader and was active in athletics,[14] participating in soccer andpowderpuff football.[13] In 1986, her academic paper, "TheKarankawas and Their Roots", won third place in the first-everHouston Post High School Natural Science Essay Contest.[15] After high school, she enrolled at theUniversity of Texas at Austin, where she graduated in 1992 with aBachelor of Arts in English Literature.[16] While at the university, she took a drama course as an elective, which sparked her interest in acting.[11]
In her junior year, her father lost his job and was unable to support her at college, so she took a job as acocktail waitress inAustin, Texas.[11][17] She said of the job, "I learned a lot. As much as I did in my classes that that club[which?] paid for... I learned not to judge people, [and] that things are not black and white."[11] She began getting small parts as an actor, and earned herScreen Actors Guild card for doing aCoors Light commercial.[18] Also while in college, she did "a bit part ... as a local hire" in the Austin-filmed horror-comedy filmMy Boyfriend's Back, playing "the girl in the beauty shop, maybe two lines. But the beauty shop [scene] got cut."[18] Her first job after graduation was working in a beef commercial, while simultaneously auditioning for roles aroundHouston, Texas.[11]
In her next film, the crime comedyLove 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 ofAustin 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 toJuliette Lewis' Mallory Knox (ofNatural Born Killers) to be as fresh as it should be".[26] The part earned her anIndependent 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 thecoming-of-age dramaEmpire 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 inJerry 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 theScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.[11]
In the religious dramaA 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 dramaOne True Thing, oppositeWilliam Hurt andMeryl Streep. She played a woman, based on authorAnna 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 oppositeChris O'Donnell in the romantic comedyThe Bachelor (1999),[40][41] Zellweger starred in theFarrelly brothers comedyMe, Myself & Irene (2000), withJim 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 comedyNurse Betty (2000), directed byNeil LaBute and starringMorgan 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] andVariety 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 firstGolden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, but she was in the bathroom when future co-starHugh 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 was cast in the lead role ofBridget Jones, oppositeHugh Grant andColin Firth, in the British romantic comedyBridget Jones's Diary, based on the1996 novel of the same name byHelen 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 firmPicador inVictoria, London.[11][51] Her portrayal of Jones ledStephen Holden ofThe 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 secondGolden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and her firstAcademy Award andBAFTA Award nominations for Best Leading Actress.[11]Bridget Jones's Diary was a major commercial success, earning US$281 million worldwide.[52]
Zellweger portrayed authorBeatrix Potter in the biographical comedyMiss Potter, withEmily Watson andEwan McGregor. She also served as an executive producer as she wanted to get more involved in the production.[76] William Arnold ofSeattle 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 theGolden 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 comedyBee Movie and was awarded theWomen in Film Crystal award.[78]
2008–2014: Career fluctuations and hiatus
WithGeorge Clooney in his directorial venture, the period comedyLeatherheads (2008), about the early years of professionalAmerican football, Zellweger portrayed aChicago 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 websiteBox Office Mojo.[81][82]MTV.com praised the actress for "displaying an unexpected gift for drawling sarcasm",[83] but Kevin Williamson for websiteJam! criticized her role, remarking that she, "as the kind of lippy heroine epitomized byRosalind Russell, is miscast in a role that demands snark, not sleepy-eyed sweetness".[84] In the westernAppaloosa (2008), Zellweger played a beguiling widow oppositeEd Harris andViggo Mortensen. The film grossed US$20 million at the North American box office.[85][86][87] Zellweger produced the made-for-television featureLiving Proof, starringHarry Connick Jr., about the true story ofDenny Slamon. It was co-produced byCraig Zadan andNeil Meron, and premiered in October 2008 onLifetime Television.[88]
Her next film was the 2009 comedyNew in Town, in which she played a Miami high-powered consultant adjusting to her new life in a small Minnesota town. The movie rated poorly with reviewers and made a lackluster US$16 million in its domestic theatrical run.[89][90]Peter Bradshaw ofThe Guardian stated that her "rabbity, dimply pout – surely the strangest facial expression in Hollywood – simpers and twitches out of the screen in this moderate girly flick that adheres with almost religious fanaticism to the feelgoodromcom handbook".[91] In 2009, she also provided her voice for a supporting character in DreamWorks' animated filmMonsters vs. Aliens,[92] and starred as the mother of actorGeorge Hamilton in the comedyMy One and Only,[93] which despite being distributed for a limited release to certain parts of the United States only.[94] Bill Gray, ofEntertainment Weekly felt that she played her part "to her strengths",[95] and reviewerMick LaSalle found her performance to be a "standout".[96]
Zellweger took on the role of a social worker assigned to a mysterious girl inCase 39, a supernatural thriller she had filmed in 2006. The title had a lengthy post-production and was not released in theaters in the United States until 2010.[97][98] It was universally panned by critics and only earned US$5.3 million in its opening weekend,[99][100] leadingIndiewire to write that Zellweger "faces an [u]ncertain [f]uture" as she was in "an unforgiving industry that doles out few juicy roles for women over 40."[101] The road dramaMy Own Love Song, in which she played a former singer suffering fromparalysis, was screened at the 2010Tribeca Film Festival,[102] and released for DVD.[103][104][105][106]
AfterMy Own Love Song was released, Zellweger took a four-year hiatus from screen acting,[103] as she found the time to "go away and grow up a bit". Reflecting on this period of time in a July 2016 interview withBritishVogue, she explained: "I was fatigued and wasn't taking the time I needed to recover between projects, and it caught up with me [...] I got sick of the sound of my own voice".[107][108] In 2013, Zellweger co-created and executive producedCinnamon Girl, an original drama series set in the Hollywood movie and music scenes of the late 1960s and early 1970s, but theLifetime network passed on the pilot.[109] That same year, she was considered for a supporting role in the filmAugust: Osage County alongsideAndrea Riseborough but the role ultimately went toJuliette Lewis.
Following a four-year hiatus from acting, Zellweger took on the pivotal role of Loretta Lassiter, an abused, yet devious wife. She plays the mother of a teenage son who is accused of murdering his wealthy father in a courtroom crime drama,The Whole Truth, directed byCourtney Hunt and withKeanu Reeves ostensibly playing her son's defense lawyer.Principal photography of the film, which is set inNew Orleans, commenced in July 2014. The film was released following extensive post production, in theUS during 2016.[110][111]
Zellweger made her trilogy comeback, oppositeColin Firth andPatrick Dempsey in the romantic comedyBridget Jones's Baby (2016), the thirdBridget Jones franchise, portraying Jones as single and in her forties discovering that she is pregnant and must figure out who the father is. The film was met with a positive response by critics and grossed US$211.9 million worldwide.[112][113]Village Voice found the movie to be "the warmest and most satisfying of the series" and concluded that Zellweger's "wise, light-hearted performance anchors this happy reunion, a surprising and refreshing gift from a creative well that seemed to have run dry".[114]
InSame Kind of Different as Me (2017), a film adaptation of theautobiographical book by the same name, Zellweger starred withDjimon Hounsou,Olivia Holt andJon Voight, as the wife of an art dealer whose struggling relationship is changed for the better by a homeless man.[115][116] The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a moderate commercial success.The Wrap, nevertheless, remarked: "Zellweger, in fact, delivers a gentle, thoughtful, yet headstrong performance as the wife who digs in her heels to get human decency out of the people she cares for the most".[117] She played the friend of a New York City singer who gets a life-changing medical diagnosis in the independent dramaHere and Now (2018), oppositeSarah Jessica Parker.[118][119] Dana Schwartz ofEntertainment Weekly praised the appearance of Zellweger, describing the film as "heightened by the magnetic Renée Zellweger, barely concealing her suburban rage behind a cheerfully swirled glass of wine."[119]
Zellweger obtained her first major television role when she was cast as Anne Montgomery, a mysteriousventure capitalist, in theNetflix thriller miniseriesWhat/If (2019).[120] Although the show received mixed reviews from critics, Zellweger's performance was praised, with Haider Rifaat ofThe Express Tribune writing, "Not to forgo the incredible acting prowess of Zellweger, who impeccably embraces the character of Anne. Subtle gestures, symbolic interaction and character development are some commendable aspects that intensify the actors' performances."[121]
Her next role was that ofJudy Garland in 2019's biographical dramaJudy. Based on theWest End andBroadway playEnd of the Rainbow, the film chronicles the last years of Garland's life, shortly before her death in 1969. Zellweger performed her own vocals in the film and her songs had to be performed in front of a live audience.Judy premiered to positive reviews at theTelluride Film Festival, and certain critics considered it to be the finest performance of her career.[122] It also screened at theToronto International Film Festival on 10 September 2019.[123] Zoe Gahan ofVanity Fair found her "witty, sharp and devastating in the title role" and added that "it is hard to tell where Garland stops and Zellweger starts".[124]Peter Travers ofRolling Stone opined, "Zellweger performs miracles playing Judy Garland: singing her heart out, baring her bruised soul and acting with a ferocity that ultimately rises to a state of grace."[125] For her portrayal of Garland, Zellweger won numerous awards and accolades, including theGolden Globe Award,Screen Actors Guild Award,BAFTA Award andAcademy Award. Zellweger's win made her just the seventh actress to win an Oscar in both acting categories and the fourth to win Best Actress after Best Supporting Actress. The film'ssoundtrack additionally earned her aGrammy Award nomination forBest Traditional Pop Vocal Album.[126]
Two and a half years later, in 2022, Zellweger took on her first starring role in network television in theNBC crime drama miniseriesThe Thing About Pam.[127] She starred asPam Hupp, who was involved in the 2011 murder of Betsy Faria. The part required her to wear face and body prosthetics, which took 80 minutes to apply.[128][129] The series and her performance received mixed reviews from critics.[130]IndieWire's Ben Travers called her performance "exaggerated", whileJohn Doyle ofThe Globe and Mail said that she "brings an equal amount of vinegary exuberance to the work".[131][132]
Zellweger has appeared on the covers and photo shoots of several magazines throughout her career; she appeared on the September 1997 cover ofVanity Fair,[134] and in subsequent years, the list has grown to includeVogue,Detour,Allure andHarper's Bazaar.[134] Zellweger often draws attention for her style at award ceremonies and red carpet events,[135] specifically for her frequent use of dresses designed byCarolina Herrera,[136][137][138][139] a close friend who has worked with the actress for over fifteen years after they met at a Costume Institute gala.[140] She is also a frequent attendee atNew York Fashion Week, among other fashion events.[141][142][143]
In April 1997,Vanity Fair named her part of "Hollywood's Next Wave of Stars".[144] She was placed onE!'s "Top 20 Entertainers of 2001" list and was chosen byPeople magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world in 2003.[145] She also ranked number 72 in the "Top 100 Celebrities" list made byForbes in 2006,[146] and the following year, she was placed at 20 among "the 20 richest women in entertainment", by the magazine.[147]
Following her performance onJerry Maguire, Israeli singer songwriterAriel Horowitz wrote, composed and performed a song called "Renee" in 2001, after watching the film. Horowitz said he was stunned by her performance.[148] The song tells the fantasy in which he meets Zellweger, they fall in love and return to live in Israel, and she becomes a local movie star.[148][149] The song was one of the most popular songs in Israel in 2002.[150]
After Zellweger attended the 21st annualElle Women in Hollywood Awards in October 2014, there was media and social commentary that she was hardly recognizable, which prompted speculation that she had undergone cosmetic surgery.[151][152] Zellweger responded, "Perhaps I look different. Who doesn't as they get older?! Ha. But I am different. I'm happy."[153]
Zellweger is one of the patrons for gender equality foundation The GREAT Initiative; in 2011 she visited Liberia with the charity.[168][169] In April 2011, she collaborated withTommy Hilfiger to design a handbag to raise money and awareness for the Breast Health Institute.[170] "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.[171]
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