Renée Zellweger

Renée Kathleen Zellweger was born on April 25, 1969, in Katy, Texas, Her mother, Kjellfrid Irene (Andreassen), is a Norwegian-born former nurse and midwife, of Norwegian, Kven (Finnish), and Swedish descent. Her father, Emil Erich Zellweger, is a Swiss-born engineer. The two married in 1963. Renée has a brother named Drew Zellweger, a marketing executive born on February 15, 1967. Renée got interested in acting in high school while working on the drama club. She also took an acting class at the University of Texas (Austin), 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 Renée decided to stay in Texas, and auditioned for roles around Houston, where she managed to grab roles in such films asReality Bites (1994)andEmpire Records (1995).

While on the set for the sequel,The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1994),she befriendedMatthew McConaughey,another Hollywood up-and-comer. He was working on a project at the time that Renée was interested in, auditioned for, and won the role in the filmLove and a.45 (1994),which earned her enough critical praise that she decided to move to Los Angeles. Another role inThe Whole Wide World (1996)followed which led to her big break.Cameron Crowewas busy casting his next film,Jerry Maguire (1996),starringTom Cruise.Crowe was considering such actresses asCameron Diaz,Bridget Fonda,Winona Ryder,andMarisa Tomei,when he heard of Zellweger's performance inThe Whole Wide World (1996).He auditioned Zellweger and was sure he'd found his Dorothy Boyd.

Renée 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 oppositeMeryl Streepin the tear-jerkerOne True Thing (1998).She also took a role inMe, Myself & Irene (2000),oppositeJim Carrey,and soon after began dating Carrey. The two denied their relationship at first, but finally gave in and admitted it; today they are no longer together. Also in 2000, she starred in the title role inNurse 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 title role inBridget Jones's Diary (2001).She received her first Academy Award nomination for her role, which was followed by her second Oscar-nominated role in the musicalChicago (2002).She then again wowed audiences with her fierce yet warm portrayal of Ruby Thewes in the film adaptation ofCold Mountain (2003),which won Zellweger an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, which was her first Academy Award. She won her second, for Best Actress, 16 years later, playingJudy GarlandinJudy (2019).