Renee Kathleen Zellweger

Renee Kathleen Zellweger was born on April 25 1969 in Katy, Texas, Her mother, Kjellfrid Irene (Andreassen), is a Norwegian-born former nurse and midwife. She is of Norwegian, Kven (Finnish) as well as Swedish descent. Emil Erich Zellweger is her father. He is a Swiss engineer. They got married in 1963. Renee is a sister to a brother called Drew Zellweger, a marketing executive born on February 15 1967. Renee was a member of the drama club at high school, and was fascinated by acting. She enrolled in an acting class at University of Texas (Austin) and started to think about acting as a career. After graduation, she wished to continue acting, but Hollywood isn't an easy city to get into, so Renee decided to stay in Texas and attempted to audition for roles in Houston, where she managed to grab roles in such films as Reality Bites (1994) and Empire Records (1995). Matthew McConaughey was another Hollywood newcomer that she met filming for Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2: The Next Generation (1994). Renee was able to observe him working on a project which attracted her. She auditioned , and was awarded the role in Love and A.45 (1994). The film earned her enough critical praise for her to make the decision to move to Los Angeles. Her breakthrough came from another role in The Whole Wide World (1996). Cameron Crowe was busy casting Jerry Maguire (1996), starring Tom Cruise. Crowe was looking at actresses like Bridget Fonda (Camden Diaz), Winona Ryder (Winona Ryder), and Marisa Tomei when he discovered Zellweger's performance on The Whole Wide World (1996). He auditioned Zellweger to be sure he was his Dorothy Boyd. Following her success in a couple of independent films, Renee felt confident enough for her return to the large-budget Hollywood film industry. Meryl Streep was her co-star in One True Thing (1998). She was also in Me, Myself & Irene (2000) opposite Jim Carrey and shortly after she began to date Jim Carrey. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) In the title role.