Renée Zellweger

Renee was born on April 25, 1969, in Katy, Texas, USA. Her father is a Swiss-born engineer who married her mother, Kjellfrid Irene Andreassen, a Norwegian-born former nurse and midwife in 1963. She also has a brother named Drew Zellweger, a marketing executive born on February 15, 1967. She 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). After graduation, Renee wanted to continue acting, but Hollywood is a tough town to break into, so she decided to stay in Texas, and auditioned for roles around Houston, where she managed to grab roles in such films as Reality Bites (1994) and Empire Records (1995).Renee then took a role in the sequel The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1994), where she met Matthew McConaughey, another Hollywood up-and-comer. He was working on a project at the time that she was interested in, auditioned for, and won the role in the film Love and a .45 (1994), which earned her enough critical praise that Renee decided to move to Los Angeles. Another role in The Whole Wide World (1996) followed which led to her big break. Cameron Crowe was busy casting his next film, Jerry Maguire (1996), starring Tom Cruise. Crowe was considering such actresses as Cameron Diaz, Bridget Fonda, Winona Ryder, and Marisa Tomei, when he heard of her performance in The Whole Wide World (1996). He auditioned Renee and was sure he'd found his Dorothy Boyd.She followed her huge success with a few small independent films and after receiving further critical praise, Renee felt confident enough to reenter the world of big-budget Hollywood films. She starred opposite Meryl Streep in the tear-jerker One True Thing (1998). She also took a role in Me, Myself & Irene (2000), opposite Jim Carrey, and soon after began dating Jim. They 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 in Nurse Betty (2000), where Renee 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 in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001). I received my first Academy Award nomination for her role, which was followed by Renee's second Oscar-nominated role in the musical Chicago (2002). She then again wowed audiences with her fierce yet warm portrayal of Ruby Thewes in the film adaptation of Cold Mountain (2003), which won her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, which was Renee's first Academy Award.------Layout made by infamous_chiq at CreateBlog.com .