Renée Zellweger

Renée Kathleen Zellweger (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. She was one of the world's highest-paid actresses by 2007 and was named the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year in 2009.Born in Texas, Zellweger studied English Literature at UT Austin. Initially aspiring to a career in journalism, she was drawn to acting following her brief work on stage during college. Following her film debut with a minor role in Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused (1993), Zellweger's first starring role came with the slasher film Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994). Receiving praise for her performances in the independent films Love and a .45 (1994) and The Whole Wide World (1996), Zellweger rose to prominence with starring roles in Jerry Maguire (1996), One True Thing (1998), Me, Myself and Irene (2000), and Nurse Betty (2000), winning her first Golden Globe Award for the lattermost. For her portrayals of Bridget Jones in the romantic comedy Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) and Roxie Hart in the musical crime drama Chicago (2002), Zellweger garnered consecutive nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing a loquacious farmer in the drama Cold Mountain (2003). Her other notable films include White Oleander (2002), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004), Cinderella Man (2005), Miss Potter (2006), and Bridget Jones's Baby (2016). In 2019, Zellweger starred in her first major television role in the Netflix anthology series What/If and garnered critical acclaim for her portrayal of Judy Garland in the biopic Judy, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress.