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, with Norwegian, Kven (Finnish) and Swedish descent. Her father, Emil Erich Zellweger, is an engineer born in Switzerland. They were married in the year 1963. Drew Zellweger was Renee's older brother. He is an executive in marketing and was born on the 15th of February 1967. Renee was a part of the drama group at high school, and was attracted to acting. She took an acting course at University of Texas (Austin) and began to consider acting as a career. She wanted to pursue acting after graduation. However, Hollywood can be difficult to enter, therefore Renee chose to stay in Texas and attempt to audition for roles in Houston. There, she was able to land roles in films like Reality Bites (1994), and Empire Records (1995). While filming the sequel, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994) she made friends with Matthew McConaughey, another Hollywood rising star. Renee was aware that he was working on a film and auditioned. The role was given to her in Love and the 45 (1994). This received her enough praise, that she moved to Los Angeles. Another role in The Whole Wide World (1996) came next, and led to her big break. Cameron Crowe was busy casting Jerry Maguire (1996) in which she starred Tom Cruise. Crowe was thinking about actresses like Bridget Fonda (Camden Diaz), Winona Ryder (Winona Ryder), and Marisa Tomei. He was able to see Zellweger's performance from The Whole Wide World (1996). He auditioned Zellweger and was convinced she was his Dorothy Boyd. Renee continued to be a huge success by releasing small independent films. The film received more praise from critics and felt assured that she was ready to make a return to large-budget Hollywood films. She was in the film alongside Meryl Streep in the tearjerker One True Thing (1998). She also played in Me, Myself & Irene (2000) in a role opposite Jim Carrey and shortly after she began to date Jim Carrey. In the role of the title character in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001).