Renee Zellweger

Renee Zellweger biography

Ren?e Kathleen Zellweger was born on April 25, 1969, in Katy, Texas, USA to parents Emil Zellweiger, a Swiss-born engineer who married Ren?e's mother Kjellfrid Zellweiger, a Norwegian-born former nurse and midwife in 1963. Ren?e also has a brother named Drew Zellweiger, a marketing executive born on February 15, 1967. Ren?e got interested in acting in high school while working on the drama club. She also took an acting class at the University of Texas, where she began looking towards acting as a career. After graduation, she wanted to continue acting, but Hollywood is a tough town to break into. So Ren?e decided to stay in Texas, and auditioned for roles around Houston where she managed to grab roles in such films as Reality Bites (1994) and Empire Records (1995). She then took a role in the sequel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, where she met Matthew McConaughey, another Hollywood up-and-comer. He was working on a project at the time that Renee was interested in, auditioned for and won the role in the film Love and a .45 (1994), which earned her enough critical praise that she decided to move to Los Angeles. Another role in Whole Wide World, The (1996) followed which led to her big break. Cameron Crowe was busy casting his next film, Jerry Maguire (1996), starring Tom Cruise. Crowe was considering such actresses as Cameron Diaz, Bridget Fonda, Winona Ryder, and Marisa Tomei, when he heard of Zellweger's performance in Whole Wide World, The (1996). He auditioned Zellweger and was sure he'd found his Dorothy Boyd. Ren?e followed her huge success with a few small independent films and after receiving further critical praise, she felt confident enough to reenter the world of big-budget Hollywood films. She starred opposite Meryl Streep in the tear-jerker One True Thing (1998). She also took a role in Me, Myself & Irene (2000), opposite Jim Carrey. And soon after began dating Carrey. The two denied their relationship at first, but finally gave in and admitted their love; but today they are no longer together. Also in 2000 she starred in the title role in Nurse Betty (2000), where she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical. In 2001, she received even more critical and commercial success in the yet again title role in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001).

Trivia

Swiss father, Norwegian mother.

Quote

On Los Angeles "It opens your eyes in this town, it's amazing. It's taught me who I don't want to be."
Regarding the lifestyle of the people of Romania, she says, "I learned how little in the way of material goods we really need, and how beautiful a simple life can be. In Romania people work with their hands every day, and you'll see an 80- year-old woman still chopping wood because she's been looking after herself all her life, and she still has the strength to do it."

"It saddens me every day when people come up and say, 'OK, how did you lose that weight?' I can't speak about it because I am not an authority on weight loss. I am just not. I am not challenged with a medical situation that's weight-related and that I need to pay attention to."
[on the weight she lost after 'Bridget Jones's Diary']"It was very exciting for me to fill out Bridget's dresses. It felt really great. I didn't feel any different. I didn't feel uncomfortable, and I didn't feel as if it changed my life. I got such positive responses from the fellows in my life while I looked like Bridget Jones. I had a lot of friends who said I should think about keeping some of the weight on. I have to say I agreed, because there were certain things about it I liked very much. But, of course, I'm a girl, and I thought, 'Ugh, no.' Like anybody, I want to look my best."

"I see the Oscar [for best supporting actress in Cold Mountain] in my bedroom, and it's like I bought it in a souvenir shop on Hollywood Boulevard."

"My life has far exceeded what I might ever have dreamed of because I would never have been so bold as to dream that these things might happen to me."

"I wanted to be self-sufficient, I wanted to take care of myself, and I wanted to learn. I wanted to travel, I wanted to see the world and have my eyes opened. I wanted to be consistently challenged and I knew I needed to be creative in some way. When I got my job in a bar and I could pay for my tuition and go on auditions and sometimes get jobs that I loved and pay my rent, I knew that I would be all right. That's when my dreams came true, long before the telephone rang and someone said, 'Come and meet Tom Cruise.' "
"It's great to be a brunet. I can sneak around downtown Los Angeles and nobody knows it's me. I went to Starbucks to get my coffee in the morning, and they said, 'What's your name?' I said, 'Oh, Renee.' Nobody even looked at me twice. My friends even walk past me. It's fantastic because I feel so free again. That's why I think the old adage that blonds have more fun is a presumption!" [on dying her hair brown]"I think we can all relate to Bridget standing in a hallway wanting to know, 'Do you love me or not?' She just blurts it out and maybe that makes her seem like she's not strong. I think she's very brave because she's speaking her mind. Ultimately, she knows that even if she doesn't get the right answer from this man, she will still get up and move forward. That's strength to me."

"What I admire most about Bridget is her ever-present optimism in the face of adversity. I love how she has romantic troubles, but she gets back up and even laughs at herself. Me? I do my best. I keep on trying, anyway."
Emotionally gaining the weight didn't affect me. In fact, I was afraid that I didn't gain enough weight. We were working six days a week, so my fear was that I'd lose a few pounds from the work, and the fluctuations in my weight would show on the screen. But they weren't noticeable. [on her weight gain in 'Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason']"People did suggest to me, 'Oh, it might not be necessary to gain that much weight or as much as you did last time.' I thought the weight was essential in repeating the journey. If you're not going to be who she is, then what is the point?"
Salary Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004) $11,000,000 Cold Mountain (2003) $15,000,000 Down with Love (2003) $6,000,000 Chicago (2002) $10,000,000 Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) $3,750,000