Renee Kathleen Zellweger

Renee Kathleen Zellweger was born on the 25th of April, 1969, in Katy, Texas, Her mother Kjellfridirene (Andreassen) is a Norwegian-born former nurse and midwife. She is of Norwegian, Kven (Finnish) as well as Swedish descent. Her father, Emil Erich Zellweger, is a Swiss-born engineer. They got married in 1963. Drew Zellweger is Renee's brother and was born on February 15, 1967. Renee was a part of the drama club at high school and began to be fascinated by acting. In Austin, she also attended an acting class and started to pursue acting as a profession. She was keen to pursue acting after graduation. But, Hollywood can be difficult to get into so Renee decided to remain in Texas and apply for roles around Houston. In Houston, she was able to get roles in films such as Reality Bites (1994), and Empire Records (1995). Matthew McConaughey was another Hollywood newcomer who she met on set for Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2: The Next Generation (1994). Renee observed him on a project which was of interest to her. She auditioned and was chosen for the role in Love and A.45 (1994). It earned her enough critical praise that she decided to relocate to Los Angeles. Her big break came with another role in The Whole Wide World (1996). Cameron Crowe was busy casting his next film Jerry Maguire (1996),starring Tom Cruise. Crowe was looking at actresses such as Cameron Diaz, Bridget Fonda, Winona Ryder, and Marisa Tomei. He was enthralled when the actor Zellweger was featured in The Whole Wide World (1996). He auditioned Zellweger, and felt certain he had found his Dorothy Boyd. After her successes in a couple of independent films, Renee felt confident enough to go back to the big-budget Hollywood film industry. Meryl Streep played her in One True Thing (1998). She was also in Me, Myself & Irene (2000) in a role opposite Jim Carrey and shortly after she began to date Jim Carrey. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) - in the lead role.