Renee Kathleen Zellweger

Renee Kathleen Zellweger was born on April 25 1969, in Katy, Texas, Her mother, Kjellfrid Irene (Andreassen) is a former nurse from Norway and midwife, with Norwegian, Kven (Finnish), and Swedish descent. Emil Erich Zellweger is her father. He is a Swiss engineer. The couple was married in 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 member of the drama group in high school and began to be interested in acting. She also took an acting class at University of Texas (Austin) which was the first time she looked for a profession in acting. She wanted to pursue acting after graduation. However, Hollywood can be difficult to get into which is why Renee determined to stay in Texas and audition for roles around Houston. There, she found roles in films such as Reality Bites (1994), and Empire Records (1995). While working on the sequel to that film, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994), she befriended Matthew McConaughey, another Hollywood young star. Renee observed him working on a project and decided to audition. She was offered the role in Love as well as 45 (1994). This brought her enough praise that she decided to move to Los Angeles. She was then offered a part in The Whole Wide World (1996) that gave her an opportunity to make her debut as a major actress. Cameron Crowe was busy casting Jerry Maguire (1996) which starred Tom Cruise. Crowe was considering actresses such as Bridget Fonda and Marisa Tomei when they appeared on Zellweger's The Whole Wide World (1996). The audition was conducted by Zellweger to make sure that she was indeed 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 in a position to return to large-budget Hollywood films. She starred opposite Meryl Streep in the tear-jerker One True Thing (1998). She also played a part in Me, Myself & Irene (2000) in which she starred alongside Jim Carrey, and soon after that, she started dating Jim Carrey. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) was her first film in the main role.