Zellweger was born in Baytown, Texas[1] and moved to Katy, Texas, a suburb of Houston, at the age of nine with her family. Zellweger's mother, Kjellfried Irene (née Andreassen), is Norwegian-born and of Lapp Sami origin;[2] she is a nurse and midwife, and moved to the United States in order to work as a governess for a Norwegian family in Texas.[3] Zellweger's father, Emil Erich Zellweger, is a Swiss-born mechanical and electrical engineer who worked in the oil refining business.[4][5][6][7] Zellweger was raised in a family of "lazy Catholics and Episcopalians".[8] 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.[3] 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.[3][9]
[edit] Film career
While still in Texas, Zellweger appeared in several films, including Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.[3] 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.[3] 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.[3] 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.[3] 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.[3] 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.[3] During casting Zellweger was told she was too skinny to play the chubby Bridget, so she very quickly embarked on gaining the required weight. She gained 20 pounds to be the part. Her dramatically personal yo-yoing weight has been the subject of much media interest. Along with receiving voice coaching to fine-tune her English accent, part of Zellweger's preparations involved spending three weeks working undercover in a "work experience placement" for British publishing firm Picador in Victoria, London.[10][3] 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.[3]
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.[3] 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. She also appeared in 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.[11] 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, where they would live a simple life and she could play in Moshe Ivgy's movies. She is also the subject of another song entitles Renee by American Christian artist Scott Krippayne, where Krippayne describes seeing Zellweger from afar at a coffee shop and empathizing with her Hollywood lifestyle while longing to see her become born-again.
[edit] Personal life
Zellweger dated Josh Pate, whom she began seeing in November 1996 after the filming of "Deceiver". She also was rumoured to have dated George Clooney.[12] 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".[13]
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.[14][15]
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.[16] On September 15, 2005, after only four months of marriage, they announced their plans for an annulment because Zellweger wanted to decorate their new home and Chesney did not approve. Zellweger cited fraud as the reason in the related papers.[17] 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.[18] Since her marriage annulment, she has been linked to various personalities, including actor Luke Perry of Beverly Hills, 90210 fame.[19]
Zellweger sold her home in the Hollywood Hills,[20] 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.[21]
Zellweger is an avid fan of British chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, in which she admits to staying up late to watch it.
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