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Renee Zellweger - Biography |
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Zellweger was born in Baytown, Texas
and moved to Katy, Texas, a suburb of Houston, at the age of nine with her
family. Her mother, Kjellfried Irene (née Andreassen), is a Norwegian-born
nurse and midwife who moved to the United States in order to work as a
governess for a Norwegian family in Texas. Her father, Emil Erich
Zellweger, is a Swiss-born mechanical and electrical engineer who worked
in the oil refining business. Zellweger was raised in a family of "lazy
Catholics and Episcopalians". In high school, she was a cheerleader and
gymnast, and participated in the drama club. She graduated from Katy High
School in 1987. After high school, she went to the University of Texas at
Austin to major in English. Though she took a drama class only because she
needed a fine arts credit to complete her degree, it made her appreciate
how much she loved acting. During this time, she supported herself by
taking a series of jobs in Austin, Texas, including working as a waitress
at a topless bar (though working there fully clothed), an experience that
she has said taught her as much as university did
While still in Texas, Zellweger appeared in several films, including
Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. She subsequently moved to Los
Angeles to pursue a career in acting, winning roles in the films Reality
Bites, Empire Records, The Whole Wide World, and 8 Seconds. Zellweger
first became widely known to audiences around the world with her role in
1996's Jerry Maguire, where she played the romantic interest of Tom
Cruise's character. She won the role over Mira Sorvino and Marisa Tomei.
Since then, Zellweger has won acclaim in roles such as One True Thing
opposite William Hurt and Meryl Streep, and in Neil LaBute's Nurse Betty
opposite Morgan Freeman. The role garnered the actress her first of three
Golden Globe Awards, but she was in the bathroom when future co-star Hugh
Grant announced her name. Zellweger later protested: "I had lipstick on my
teeth!"
In 2001, Zellweger gained the prized lead role in the film Bridget Jones's
Diary, amid much controversy since she was neither British nor overweight.
During casting Zellweger was told she was too skinny to play the chubby
Bridget, so she very quickly embarked on gaining the required weight. Her
dramatically personal yo-yoing weight has been the subject of much media
interest. As well as receiving voice coaching to fine-tune her English
accent, part of Zellweger's preparations involved spending three weeks
working undercover in a "job experience placement" for British publishing
firm Picador in Victoria, London. As a result of her considerable efforts
to effect author Helen Fielding's character, Zellweger caught the
attention of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and received
her first Best Actress Academy Award nomination.
In 2002, she starred with Michelle Pfeiffer in White Oleander and in Rob
Marshall's Best Picture winning film Chicago opposite Catherine Zeta
Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, and John C. Reilly. Zellweger earned
her second Academy Award nomination as Best Actress, as well as the Screen
Actors Guild and Golden Globe Award. In 2004, Zellweger finally received
an Academy Award, this time as Best Supporting Actress in Anthony
Minghella's Cold Mountain opposite Jude Law and Nicole Kidman. Zellweger
has since starred in the sequel to Bridget Jones' Diary in Bridget Jones:
The Edge of Reason, lent her voice to the animated feature Shark Tale, and
starred in the 2005 Ron Howard film Cinderella Man opposite Russell Crowe
and Paul Giamatti. On May 24, 2005, Zellweger received her star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her most recent film is Miss Potter, based on the
life story of acclaimed author Beatrix Potter, with Emily Watson and Ewan
McGregor, released in December 2006.
Zellweger and Marc Forster, took part in the 2005 HIV prevention campaign
of the Swiss federal health department. Zellweger was the subject of an
Israeli pop song Renée by Ariel Horowitz, where Horowitz describes his
love to Zellweger, and says that he would like to marry her and bring her
back to Israel with him.
Zellweger dated Kenny Rogers while studying at the University of Texas,
but the couple broke up after graduation. She also dated Josh Pate, whom
she began seeing in November 1996 after the filming of "Deceiver". She
also was rumoured to have dated George Clooney. Her first high-profile
romance was with actor/comedian Jim Carrey. The relationship ended in a
broken engagement in December 2000. Zellweger notably poked fun at the
prior relationship when she ended her opening monologue on Saturday Night
Live by reading an entry from her own "diary", marked "Dear Diary, I can't
believe I am dating Jim Carrey".
For two years, Zellweger dated The White Stripes singer Jack White, who is
six years her junior. However, it was felt that White didn't want to
settle down, and they broke up.
On May 9, 2005, Zellweger married singer Kenny Chesney in a ceremony at
the island of St. John. They had met in January at a tsunami relief
benefit concert. Zellweger missed out on the engagement ring since the
wedding was planned over a short span of time. On September 15, 2005,
after only four months of marriage, they announced their plans for an
annulment. Zellweger cited fraud as the reason in the related papers.
After media scrutiny of her use of the word "fraud", she released the
following statement: "(The term is) simply legal language and not a
reflection of Kenny's character. I would personally be very grateful for
your support in refraining from drawing derogatory, hurtful,
sensationalized or untrue conclusions. We hope to experience this
transition as privately as possible." The annulment was finalized in late
December 2005. When interviewed on Late Show with David Letterman in
December 2006, she was still reluctant to answer questions over the
relationship. Since her marriage annulment, she has been linked to various
personalities, including actor Luke Perry of Beverly Hills, 90210 fame.
Zellweger sold her home in the Hollywood Hills, and after renting for a
while she now again owns a home in Bel Air. She admits that she gets
scared at home alone, and has considered buying a gun for reasons of
personal security. |
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Renee Zellweger - Personal Quotes |
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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
(2001)].
"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
(2003)] 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, Renée.'
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 (2004).
"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?"
"I am very proud to be Norwegian." [1996 interview] |
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Renee Zellweger - Filmography |
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Chilled in Miami (2009)
Appaloosa (2008)
Leatherheads (2008) .... Lexi
Case 39 (2008) .... Emily Jenkins
Bee Movie (2007) (voice) .... Vanessa Bloome
Miss Potter (2006) .... Beatrix Potter
Cinderella Man (2005) .... Mae Braddock
Bridget Jones Interviews Colin Firth (2005) (V) (uncredited) ....
Bridget Jones
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004) .... Bridget Jones
... aka Bridget Jones - L'age 2 raison (France: DVD box title)
... aka Bridget Jones 2 (UK: informal title)
... aka Bridget Jones: L'âge de raison (France)
Shark Tale (2004) (voice) .... Angie
Cold Mountain (2003) .... Ruby Thewes
Down with Love (2003) .... Barbara Novak
... aka Down with Love - Zum Teufel mit der Liebe! (Germany)
Chicago (2002) .... Roxie Hart
... aka Chicago (Germany)
White Oleander (2002) .... Claire Richards
... aka Weißer Oleander (Germany)
"Saturday Night Live" .... Host (1 episode, 2001)
... aka NBC's Saturday Night (USA: first season title)
... aka SNL (USA: informal title)
... aka SNL 25 (USA: alternative title)
... aka Saturday Night (USA: second season title)
... aka Saturday Night Live '80 (USA: sixth season title)
- Renée Zellweger/Eve (2001) TV Episode .... Host
Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) .... Bridget Jones
... aka Bridget Jones (UK: informal title)
... aka Journal de Bridget Jones, Le (France)
"King of the Hill" .... Tammy Duvall (1 episode, 2001)
- Ho, Yeah! (2001) TV Episode (voice) .... Tammy Duvall
Me, Myself & Irene (2000) .... Irene P. Waters
Nurse Betty (2000) .... Betty Sizemore
... aka Nurse Betty - Gefährliche Träume (Germany)
The Bachelor (1999) .... Anne Arden
One True Thing (1998) .... Ellen Gulden
A Price Above Rubies (1998) .... Sonia Horowitz
Deceiver (1997) .... Elizabeth
... aka Liar (UK)
Jerry Maguire (1996) (as Renee Zellweger) .... Dorothy Boyd
The Whole Wide World (1996) .... Novalyne Price
The Low Life (1995) .... Poet
Empire Records (1995) (as Renee Zellweger) .... Gina
... aka Empire
... aka Rock & Fun
The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1994) (as Renee
Zellweger) .... Jenny
... aka Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (USA: reissue
title)
Love and a .45 (1994) .... Starlene Cheatham
"Rebel Highway" .... Susan (1 episode, 1994)
- Shake, Rattle and Rock! (1994) TV Episode .... Susan
Shake, Rattle and Rock! (1994) (TV) .... Susan
8 Seconds (1994) .... Buckle Bunny
... aka The Lane Frost Story
Reality Bites (1994) (as Renee Zellweger) .... Tami
Dazed and Confused (1993)
My Boyfriend's Back (1993) (unconfirmed)
Murder in the Heartland (1993) (TV) (uncredited) .... Barbara
A Taste for Killing (1992) (TV) (as Renee Zellwegger) .... Mary Lou |
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Renee Zellweger - Related Links |
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Wikipedia: Renee Zellweger
YouTube: Renee Zellweger
Renee Zellweger at Babemania.com
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