Rene Zellweger Net Worth

Biography of René Zellweger

Renee Zellweger is an actress who made herself known in the world of cinema after the release of the sports melodrama Jerry McGuire in 1996. The world-famous woman brought the main role in the series of films “Bridget Jones’s Diaries”. Her type causes a lot of discussion between the audience, but leaves no one indifferent. Oscar winner for her lead role in Judy (2019).

René Zellweger’s childhood and youth

Renee was born into the family of a Swiss immigrant, Emil Erich Zellweger, who made a living repairing electrical equipment, and a Norwegian, by profession a nurse-nurse. Father – Emil Erich Zellweger was an immigrant from Switzerland. Rene also has an older (two years) brother Andrew.

It was the brother who became Rene’s best friend in childhood. She followed him with her tail and was fond of the same things that he was. As soon as Andrew started playing on the baseball team, Renee also became interested in baseball – not because she liked hitting balls, but because she wanted to spend as much time as possible with her brother.

While studying at school, Rene attended a drama studio, and also dreamed of taking part in the Olympic Games, so she devoted a lot of time to sports: she was a cheerleader, went in for athletics and gymnastics. Her parents supported her in this, hoping that she would become an outstanding athlete. By the way, they saw Andrew in the future exclusively as a great actor. But then Rene was seriously injured and realized that she would definitely not see an Olympic medal now.

In 1987, Renee graduated from high school and moved to the Texas capital, Austin. The girl entered the University of Texas, where she later received a Bachelor of Arts degree in film, radio and television. While still in college, the girl enrolled in a theater studio for drama courses. Then Rene did not yet understand that it was with acting that she was destined to connect her life. She took courses only to get the hours needed for her degree in English literature. In 1991, by the end of the university, the girl was really carried away by the theater and tried her luck in the acting field.

The beginning of the career of Renee Zellweger

It cannot be said that Rene’s first steps in the cinema were successful. No, she confidently moved forward, like many actors, having gone through a series of third-rate roles.

The acting debut of the actress is a rather famous film “Dazed and Confused” with young Matthew McConaughey and Ben Affleck. Renee Zellweger’s first role was tiny – she didn’t say a single word throughout the film, appearing in one of the scenes in a blue pickup truck.

This was followed by minor roles in the films “Murder in the Heartland”, “A Taste for Killing”, “Reality Bites”, “8 Seconds”. Almost desperate, Rene tirelessly went to all the tests that took place in Houston. And as a result, she got the main role in the horror film Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4. Critics did not like the first part of the trash horror, let alone the fourth, but the spectacular blonde who played the role of Jenny was noticed. In particular, it was Matthew McConaughey who persuaded her to move to Los Angeles.

In 1994, the girl appeared in the cast of the comedy Empire Store, along with the charming Liv Tyler. The picture told about the daily life of workers in a small shop, which is threatened by a merger with a large corporation. And the following year, Renee tried her hand at the melodrama genre, forming an organic romantic tandem with Vincent D’Onofrio in the film The Whole Wide World.

A breakthrough role was already waiting for her literally “around the corner”. She got the role of the beloved protagonist from the sports drama “Jerry Maguire” with Tom Cruise. The image of a sensual girl who sincerely believes in her beloved, sports manager Jerry, was revealed one hundred percent, openly, gracefully and soulfully. For this role, MTV nominated Renee Zellweger for an award in the Breakthrough of the Year category.

After the first triumph, the actress no longer had free time. The scripts flew into her mailbox one by one; soon the girl appeared on the screens in the detective story “Lie Detector”, the drama “More Rubies”, the comedy “The Bachelor”. In the film True Values, she had a chance to work with Meryl Streep herself, and in Me, Myself and Irene with comedian Jim Carrey.

Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones’s Diaries

Renee Zellweger dreamed of getting a role in the film adaptation of Helen Fielding’s novel Bridget Jones’s Diary, as she probably didn’t want anything before. She immediately realized that the film promises to be not just a romantic comedy, but a thin psychological tape. A plump, insecure, ridiculous heroine and a truly Grantian playboy – the girl understood the heroine and her conflict with all her heart, and she also realized that it was precisely such films that ordinary women so lacked. The purposeful actress beat all the competitors, of which there were many, from Kate Winslet to Kristin Scott Thomas.

In order to play Bridget Jones, Renee Zellweger had to gain as much as 9 kilograms. With her thin physique (in “normal life” the actress weighed only 46 kilos), it was very difficult. She had to consume more than 4 thousand calories every day, and only then did she begin to resemble what the directors wanted to see. In addition, the actress had to get rid of her American accent and acquire a pure English accent. Before filming began, she was even tested and sent to an English publishing house, where she had to work as a secretary for a month. The exam was passed – no one even suspected a girl from Texas in her.

The story of an eccentric woman in her early 30s who loves to eat and drink, is torn apart by conflicts with her mother who tries to woo him to a neighbor in a stupid sweater (Colin Firth), who is secretly in love with her boss (Hugh Grant), who only chuckles at her ability to get into ridiculous situations , could not but touch the audience. The film was a success.

In 2004, a sequel (“Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason”) was released. This time, the actress had to recover as much as 15 kilograms. The second part was received just as warmly, because the audience was still the same crazy, unpredictable and “vital” Bridget Jones. But after the premiere, to the dismay of fans of the series, Bridget Jones disappeared from the radar for a long 12 years.

And in the same year, a film was released that brought Renee Zellweger an Oscar in the Best Supporting Actress category. Her character, a beggar Ruby, helps the pastor’s daughter, Ada Monroe (Nicole Kidman), teaches her true female friendship and helps her establish a life in an abandoned estate.

Each subsequent heroine of Renee Zellweger was endowed with charm, expressiveness, temperament. It is under these descriptions that a feminist named Barbara Novak fits in the retro comedy Fuck Love!, who fell in love with the character of Ewan McGregor, the sexy Mae Braddock from the Knockdown film, where the actress appeared in tandem with Russell Crowe. The latter, by the way, even took boxing lessons from Kostya Ju for authenticity. In 2006, Renee reconnected with Ewan McGregor on the set of the Victorian biopic Miss Potter.

After a short lull, Rene again flashed in a melodramatic comedy called “Frozen from Miami.” Her heroine is a spoiled rich woman, forced to adapt to a rather harsh climate and completely unfriendly residents of Minnesota.

In 2009, the actress received another dose of adoration, reincarnated as a wheelchair-bound singer in the drama My Love Song.

In 2016, after a 12-year break, a triumphant return to the screens of Bridget Jones took place. In the third part of the popular film, the heroine Renee Zellweger became pregnant, but does not know who his father is Colin Firth or Patrick Depmsey.

Due to the hype amid the release of Bridget Jones 3, the film Only the Truth, starring Keanu Reeves, in which Renee played the female lead, remained little noticed.

Renee Zellweger personal life

The first serious love of Renee Zellweger ended tragically. Early in her career, she dated Sims Elliot, a member of the speed metal band Pariah. Like many rock musicians, he led a rather hectic lifestyle with alcohol and drugs. In the end, Renee got tired of it, and she left the young man, breaking his heart. Already suffering from acute bouts of depression, he could not bear the gap and shot himself.

While filming Me, Me & Irene, Renee Zellweger had an affair with Jim Carrey. Young people met for about a year, giving rise to a lot of gossip about the upcoming wedding, but the celebration never took place. They parted kindly, without making a fuss and without revealing the reasons for the breakup to the press. According to rumors, the reason was the actress’s affair with George Clooney – but this is only one of the versions.

In 2005, the actress married country star Kenny Chesney. The marriage did not last even four months. They did not even have to file for divorce – the marriage was simply annulled. When asked about the reasons, Rene only briefly threw: “Deception!”.

In 2007, Renee Zellweger met Bradley Cooper while filming the horror film Case #39. But closeness arose between them only 2 years later. They were called the most charming couple in Hollywood, but in 2011 the fairy tale came to an end. Evil tongues said that Renee, who turned 40, wanted to start a family, and Bradley, who had barely entered the “acting top”, was in no hurry to part with the status of a bachelor.

But apparently, Cooper maintained a warm relationship with his ex-girlfriend, because even four years later he preferred to leave his girlfriend, 21-year-old model Suki Waterhouse, rather than stop communicating with Rene – Sookie was annoyed that he could disappear for several hours, walking with Zellweger.

René Zellweger’s latest beau is musician Doyle Bramhall. As you can see, the couple is serious, but they do not think about marriage and children.

The actress emphasized many times that she does not consider the birth of children the highest degree of female happiness: “Having a husband and children has not been an indicator of a woman’s wealth as a person for a long time.”

Outside the set, Rene turns into an ordinary person. She has a house in East Hampton (a suburb of New York). Zellweger does not want to live in Los Angeles. And, despite the huge fees, the actress drives an old jeep, carries a dog in it, and flies in a tourist class. And in her free time she prefers to go for a walk on a mountain bike or read books.

In 2014, rumors appeared in the press that Renee Zellweger had made an unsuccessful plastic surgery. This explained her long “sabbatical”. Many fans were outraged by the face of their favorite that had changed beyond recognition. Rene herself denied plastic surgery, stating that all women tend to grow old, and aging, alas, leads to inexorable changes.

Rene Zellweger now

In 2019, a biopic about the decline of Hollywood’s golden age star, actress Judy Garland, was released. Her image was brilliantly embodied by Renee Zellweger. Critics noted that Rene was able to very subtly convey even the smallest details of facial expressions and gestures of Garland. Zellweger’s efforts brought her the first Oscar in her career (nominated for Best Actress).

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