Rene Russo Net Worth

Biography of Rene Russo

Rene Russo is a famous American model in the past, then an equally successful actress, her filmography includes about thirty bright roles. Having started acting in films at the age of well over thirty, she easily and quickly managed to find her niche in the global film industry and become one of the highest paid Hollywood actresses.

Childhood and youth

Renee was born in sunny California to Nino Russo, a mechanic, and Shirley Balokka, a factory worker. When the girl was two years old, her father left the family, leaving his wife with two small children in her arms (Rene has an older sister, Tony).

Rene saw her father only sixteen years later, when she had already become an adult independent girl. In an interview, she admitted that she grew up in a same-sex family – after her husband left, her mother fell in love with a woman and brought her into the house.

It is hard to imagine that this slender, spectacular beauty once experienced serious health problems that threatened her with disability. At ten years old, Rene was diagnosed with scoliosis, the girl was chained in a special corset, which she did not take off for four years. Because of him, she was very complex and kept away from her peers.

High growth was another reason for the ridicule of classmates – Rene was teased by the “Merry Giantess” and other offensive nicknames, which also had a bad effect on her self-esteem. As a result, at the age of sixteen, the girl, having dropped out of school, left Burroughs High School and got a job: she sold tickets at a cinema and an amusement park, met visitors at a restaurant, and worked on an assembly line.

Modeling career

Once Renee went to a concert of her favorite band, the Rolling Stones, where she was noticed by modeling agent John Crosby. He was struck by the beauty of the girl, her natural grace and regal posture and immediately offered to try his hand at the fashion industry.

After taking a few test shots of Rousseau, he sent them to the leading modeling agencies and soon received a positive response. The most persistent were representatives of the New York agency Ford, who immediately offered an inexperienced model to shoot for a new line of Revlon cosmetics.

Renee was so worried that she almost disrupted the photo shoot, but the pictures came out so successful that they immediately signed a long-term lucrative contract with her. Nina Blanchard, the owner of one of the best Hollywood modeling agencies, and well-known “fashion” photographers Richard Avedon and Francesca Scavallo took care of the girl, and John Crosby became her personal agent.

Soon, photographs of the young beauty appeared on the covers of such prestigious publications as Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Harper’s Bazaar. She participated in shows and photo shoots for leading fashion houses, defiled on the world’s best catwalks and managed to achieve impressive success in the modeling business in ten years. Having significantly improved her financial situation, Renee acquired a chic mansion in the Hollywood Hills, and did not forget about her mother and sister, whom she also provided a comfortable existence.

Having reached the ceiling in her modeling career by the age of thirty, Russo, being a smart and reasonable girl, began to think about the future. She understood that the age of the model was short-lived, and younger competitors were already breathing in her back, so she decided to try her hand at the cinema, and asked her faithful friend John Crosby to help her in this matter.

Film career

Rene enrolled in acting classes, where she began to study stage skills, choreography and speech technique. Her first attempt at writing was the role of Eden Kendell in the TV series Sable (1987), based on popular American comics. It is worth noting that this tape has become a successful creative springboard for the aspiring actress Lara Flynn Boyle, the future star of Twin Peaks.

After the release of the first season, it was decided to close the series, but Rene already felt a taste for a new profession and dreamed of new roles. Fate again turned out to be favorable to her, and the girl got a role in David Ward’s sports comedy Major League (1989), where she played the main character’s girlfriend played by Charlie Sheen.

This work was followed by roles in the comedy Mr. Destiny (1990) with James Belushi and the action movie One Good Cop (1991) with Michael Keaton. On the set of the fantastic thriller The Fugitive (1992), Rene was lucky enough to work with Anthony Hopkins and Emilio Estevez, as well as personally meet Mick Jagger, his childhood idol.

But Rene gained real fame and worldwide recognition thanks to the role of Lorna Cole in the third part of the cult action movie Lethal Weapon (1992).

From that moment on, the film career of the 38-year-old actress began to rapidly gain momentum. One after another, films appeared on the screens, where Rene appeared in the images of strong, independent and self-confident women. This is Lilly Raines in the action-packed thriller In the Line of Fire (1993), Robbie in the disaster film Epidemic (1995), and, of course, Lorna Cole, who has already managed to fall in love with the audience, in the fourth part of Lethal Weapon (1998).

Rousseau is also brilliant in comedy roles, a vivid confirmation of which is the incendiary quartet with Danny DeVito, John Travolta and Gene Hackman in the film Get Shorty (1995).

Particularly noteworthy is the participation of Rene in the action-packed detective story The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), where the 45-year-old actress flashed in erotic scenes with Pierce Brosnan and appeared completely naked before the audience. For this role, Russo received $ 5 million and from that moment she moved into the category of the highest paid Hollywood actresses.

In 2005, Rene took up producing and released the film “Money for Two”, where she played the main role. It was followed by the family comedy Yours, Mine and Ours (2005), after which the actress decided to take a break and devote herself to the family.

In 2009, she starred in an advertising campaign for the famous shoe brand Brian Atwood, and in 2011 she triumphantly returned to the screen in the superhero action movie Thor (2011), filmed by Marvel Studios based on popular comics. Rene appeared before the audience in the role of Frigga, the queen of Asgard and the mother of the protagonist. This image perfectly emphasized her strong independent character, regal posture and proud beauty, not subject to the destructive influence of ruthless time.

In 2013, the actress starred in the second part of the Thor 2: The Dark World franchise, but the third film Thor: Ragnarok was released without her participation.

Rene Russo’s personal life

The personal life of the actress has developed no less successfully than her career. In 1991, on the set of the action-packed thriller The Fugitive, Renee met screenwriter Dan Gilroy, who was a co-author of the film. Russo did not like her role and she tried to make her own adjustments to the script. The creative process captivated Rene and Dan so much that they continued to communicate even after the end of filming, and after some time announced their engagement.

In 1992, the lovers entered into an official marriage, and a year later they had baby Rose. Now she is already an adult independent girl and the same beautiful model as her famous mother in her youth. For several years, Rose has been successfully collaborating with the Elite Model Management agency and has achieved significant results in the fashion industry. Rene never doubted that her daughter would become a successful model, because she even named her after the famous American fashion model Rosie Vela, her best friend.

Now Rene and her husband live in a prestigious area of ​​Los Angeles, sometimes they stay in Santa Monica, where her husband comes from.

Rousseau does not hide the fact that he suffers from bipolar disorder, and as he can, he tries to help people who have experienced an acute identity crisis, are prone to depression, or are simply insecure. She especially advises not to pay attention to external shortcomings, citing as an example her own not the happiest childhood spent in an ugly corset under a hail of offensive ridicule.

Rene Russo now

For a long time, the fate of the fifth part of the cult action movie Lethal Weapon was a big question, but at the beginning of 2024, it became known that the filming of the legendary franchise would continue. The entire previous cast, including Rene, will be involved in the work. The permanent director of the cult film Richard Donner will also join the creation of the picture, despite the fact that in April 2024 he celebrated his 90th birthday.

In the fourth part of the picture, the main characters, played by Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, receive the rank of captain and are waiting for replenishment in their families, but their calm measured rhythm of life is disturbed by a suddenly discovered ship with Chinese refugees. The plot of the fifth and final part is kept in the strictest confidence, even the authors of the script are still unknown.

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