Welcome to the sag-aftra foundations conversations podcast the sag-aftra foundation believes the contributions made to our culture by Performing Arts are not only valuable but also essential and so we provide free programming and services like this podcast to support them. If you'd like to learn more about this egg after Foundation or access the full library of our conversations or make a donation to support this podcast, please visit sag-aftra dot Foundation. That's www.ssa.gov GAF tra. Asian also subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter Instagram and Facebook at sag-aftra found. Thanks and enjoy the conversation. Thank you guys so much for being here. My name is Janelle Riley. I'm an editor variety. I cannot tell you how excited I am to be doing this career cute conversation with Renee Zellweger since her breakthrough roles in films, like Empire Records and Jerry Maguire. This is an actress who is always surprising us with bold choices and terrific performances. She is of course a three-time Academy Award nominee for her work. In Cold Mountain like notes cut off there, but I actually know this off the top of my head Chicago and Bridget Jones Diary. Oh whew, okay pulled that out. She has created such an indelible characters that include but are not limited to Roxie Hart Bridget Jones Nurse Betty and Dorothy Boyd still. I doubt even her biggest fans were prepared for her completely transformative work is Judy Garland and Judy for which she has already earned Golden Globe Spirit award and said Award nominations. Please welcome Renee Zellweger. I promise you say thank you. What a kind. Welcome. Thanks. And would thank you so much for being here. These are all hello. Actors fellows a members. I knew I didn't need to change into fancy clothes you got here people and now it so I actually always like to start at the beginning and ask. How did you get your sag card? What was the job that brought that to you? Right? That's a conundrum, isn't it? Do you guys remember that going right? Okay, so I just have to work in a sad thing to get my sag card, but I can't work in his acting and was that my son card? I didn't major in math, but no even if I did that with nah, there's no way around that Coors Light. That's right was Coors Light commercial crew is like commercial and I think it was just an accidental fluke kind of thing. I don't think it was meant to be anything special and then suddenly I think it was one of those mysterious upgrades that you don't understand at that time. Yeah. That was it was a mystery upgrade. Do you have a line in it? Do you remember? Oh, absolutely not. Now I played volleyball on the beach and burnt my retinas on reflector foil and rollerbladed down a hill before I knew how to stop sometimes you lie special skills. She was out shoveling shout out here. Did you shoot that a Texas still we went to Mexico wow. Yes. Okay. So this when you were still living in Texas and they flew down to Mexico. Yeah, that's amazing. Wow. We're young and going to Mexico. I can rollerblade. I actually want to go back and start at the beginning because you were born and I believe raised in Katy, Texas, which is you know far away from the bright lights of Hollywood. When did you know that you wanted to be an actor? In college on the set of a thesis film that director student of film was making and there were maybe five of us who were on her cast and crew, you know, so I people during their sometimes. Yeah young woman. She was in Wrigley Rick linklater is class which is kind of fun. And yeah, she just needed some some actors. And so anytime anyone asks me. How do I Get a start. I don't know now because all the online stuff it seems there's so much more opportunity to be seen but I still think going down there to the film school and submitting your headshot is worthwhile. Right? Is that still good advice or am I giving away my agenda because you're working with yeah, you're working with the next generation of filmmakers possibly. So that was it. We were on the set in the middle of nowhere and we were doing this Flannery O'Connor short story or hurt it hurt into Imitation of it and and I don't know I got the bug I just got I just I didn't understand why this felt very important to me but I couldn't wait for the next opportunity. Was this the first thing you done acting? Yes, I to make some money. I had done a little bit of commercial photography with locally. No Austin still an art town and the place was just chock-a-block with artists of you know, and Medium when in the 90s when I was you know out there so this one's going to be a photographer. He needs models and this one's right music and he needs a singer and this one's you know, and so you kind of hop around with your friends and do these little projects together. So I had done a lot of you know, just local print stuff just for you know for friends and then I had done some commercial work to pay for college because boyo boy those residual checks go a long she was someone who did like school plays or anything like that I did but I looked I was really small and I looked younger than I was and so my theater director kind of had a hard time taking me seriously. Really? Yeah, so I where is he now? She she's still do you know she's still teaching and she was like man and it was fine now did when I play And we did Children's Theater every year. It's spring break. We would do a children's play and we would be the field trip for the elementary schools. They would come and see our our little play that we put on so I go. Oh that's really cool left it. So when you made the decision that this was something you want to pursue his pursue as a career. Did you take classes where you completely self-taught? So where do we even start? I took a theater class as a requirement to get my degree. I didn't I didn't do it because I thought I wanted to be an actress really know. I remembered that. I loved it as a kid, but I thought I was going to write and this was a requirement to get your Fine Arts. You know, thank goodness. It's still a requirement. And yeah, I just went to the class because it fit fit in the schedule between my late night, you know job and everything else that was going on and I Of the really yeah, but that wasn't it. It was it was that thesis film. Did you actually like learn a certain method in that class that you still use today? No, we didn't really study. We just performed things. So you would write your own stuff and then you would perform it. Yeah. It was a cool way of learning at yeah. Sure. Yeah and you actually booked quite a few things when you're in Texas. I believe eight seconds. Yeah on there. Are ya John Jay Hamilton? Yeah great director and I believe you did the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Next Generation. When were there both booked in Texas that's work out of my life, which starred future fellow Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey as I'm coming. I mean, it sounds silly. But when you were on that said, could you tell like he was going places? For for us on that set. Yeah, we were just excited that we had our job. And so the goal was to get another job, you know, and so I mean, I don't know maybe he had dreams and things I knew he was going to move out to Los Angeles. I knew that he was he was reading for other roles in films and not long after he moved out here. Here and he got Angels in the Outfield. I think it was probably because people were responding to Dazed and Confused before it was released because when we were shooting Chainsaw Massacre that wasn't released yet. And yeah, so he he moved out about I think six months maybe nine months a year before I before I did what was the deciding factor in you moving out to Los Angeles. It was it was so hard one because it wasn't In the cards, really? Well not the cards that I picked for myself anyway, but when does that ever work? I was I want to stay in Texas. I just thought I was just keep working and I couldn't live in my town and stay here with my friends and make a living now, but at that time that wasn't true it might be more true. Now. We were booking a lot of work. I was busy. I was busy, but at some point I Understood that it wasn't a job. It was a creative opportunity and it was with every job becoming increasingly more important to me and I can't explain it. I've thought a lot about it, but why does a painter tooth canvas and paint? I don't know. Why don't I make sculpture. I don't know photography, you know, whatever it is that grabs your heart. It's sort of inexplicable and SWAT was happening to me and my opportunities to work continued but the opportunity to grow as an artist was a little bit stifled. There wasn't a lot of film that came to town. It was wonderful though, because when you did work on a film it was the same crew. So you knew everybody. Oh no. Oh, yeah, it's great, you know a couple of players that would come and go because some things with shooting simultaneously, but it was much rarer than that. You had three or four films happening in Texas at once. And now it's you know staying pretty standard. But yeah it I got this call and I was going through this very, you know, this thoughts thinking that I really don't think I have to go I can stay here and I can stay here and the phone rang and it was my agent saying hey, I got a job for you and I said, yep. See there you go to go anywhere and he said it's up and down. You got to go, you know tomorrow if you don't do it, it's Long John Silver's and I thought that's good money. Yeah, you can make a you can make a chili all along John Silver's. You know, now I just I I thought right I get it. I get it if I want to explore different creative experiences. I would need to go where there were more opportunities. Well, I was curious because I know you received an independent Spirit Award for Best debut performance. For 11:45 and after that I was wondering if that raised your profile of people were encouraging you to come out or it was always going to be the plan. I had just come out at that point. Okay, and the phone started to ring which is really weird because I didn't give anybody my phone number. So that was weird. That's really weird. And they said before social media right Hollywood, man and you right so It was just you know, as a friend of a friend from a producer of a thing and you know from 11:45 that film which I had shot while I was still living in Los Angeles. Oh, you did shoot that now, I mean and I'm sorry, Texas. I was still living in Austin. Yeah, and what if I think you're big sort of breakthrough roles of was Empire Records, which has like such a beloved cult following did you know sort of at the time that you were onto something special because that's one of those movies that I don't know if it made a big impact at the on the time. I'm but in the years since its release people love that movie. Yeah, it was it's so weird to think that it was sort of I don't know at the tail end of an era. Yeah. It didn't seem like that at the time that that it was going to change so profoundly and just a matter of I don't know maybe five years, but now it was more it was just an adventure at the time it was special because the There's were a lot of fun and it was felt like we were at warhol's factory or something because Alan who directed the film was such a savant and he was so creatively fluid and he wanted everything to kind of flow and to see what happened quite quite a bit. So that was my first experience with that as pretty fun. Are you going back and watch that recently or are you someone who never watches your performances every day every day? Come on over guys, it holds up really. Well. I really think it was ahead of its time. Yeah. Well, I have to go back and have a look. Yeah, I mean it felt it felt cool. Yeah the time it's a great time. Yeah, for sure and you followed that with a what I think was your big commercial breakthrough with Jerry Maguire where you played the single mother who falls for Tom Cruise's Title Character. I know that that was a big yet as they say a lot of people wanted that. All Tom Cruise was probably has never been a while. He still doing really well. Don't get me wrong. But that was really at the peak of his Fame. What do you remember about the process of booking that role? Wow, everything? I remember everything really? Oh, I remember everything about that except what song I was planting. It was by a band called Everything But the Girl and my manager gave me the CD the Dave. Before and I remember popping it into the player and rolling all the windows down and laughing all the way to Sony was this for the audition or when you got the part it was for the audition. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, did you realize what a big deal this was when those sides came in and when you first went in for the meeting or did you try not to think about it? I never really it didn't really seem like a possibility to me. So it didn't really matter. You know, I just want to do a good job. For the casting director who I really liked and then I wanted to do a good job for Cameron when I met him and he just felt Kindred to me right away, you know, he's music guy now, I didn't know that at all. I didn't understand that the time this is really embarrassing especially being that I did go to university that the posters on the wall in James Brooks office. Yeah. Love the same. Things that's awesome. I get it now. Yeah, I was naive. I was green and and I wasn't, you know, I wasn't looking for anything. So there was never any disappointment. It was all just really cool and just a really neat adventure to see what would happen next. Stand the fact that that was going to be on the list was hilarious to me, you know, has that happened, you know, you must be good at auditioning. I'm presuming. Um, oh, I don't know you did pretty well out of the gate. Oh, yeah. You didn't see me in Woody Allen's office. No y'all. Oh, no. No, no, if you look up Circle the Drain there's my picture in the chair. Not pretty was this after Jerry Maguire was before okay. It was right after love and 45 came out I guess was 94 and I didn't really grow up a connoisseur of film and on a sinful. I didn't we didn't have access to moved here where I lived and we don't have cable. So, you know, you watched Wizard of Oz and you watch The Sound of Music Year, there's one more in there. It's wonderful life. There's that one because my fine and was that oh sure ya went to see that at the movies because you know back in the day when they play children's movies for like a month remember that we stayed in theaters. Yeah, so I didn't I didn't know Woody Allen's work, but all my friends that I had made out in Los Angeles very Be aware of you know his importance as a filmmaker and then I got nervous and then I was flying there going this is premature. This is really too soon. This is too soon. I'm not ready for this. Do you think that you self-sabotage did or you were just nervous and yeah, really a hundred percent. What a loser. It's a lot better story than everything went great is great. I mean, did you have to do a scene or did you just freeze up or do a scene? Yeah, it was for Mighty Aphrodite. Oh, yeah, Anna and the scene was it's cold, you know, you don't know what you're going to do only get there are fine so you can see the sides and and if you guys know the mighty Aphrodite film appears to be right and yeah, right she's a fantastic in In this found out so it didn't matter if I was if I did the best audition of my life, it would not have happened or have been that you know. Yeah. She was amazing. So it's that really explicit scene where she's talking about having multiple partners at one time. Hi nice to meet you learn these words that I don't really use. Say them, so no type are oh, wow. Yeah, it was cool though. I went into his projection room. And there was Celluloid and it was on the floor, you know, there's fly physical things everywhere and this magazine like a Hot Rod Magazine, which I thought was interesting. But what a cool what a cool story to have been in Woody Allen's Cutting Room. Yeah. It's almost better than it went badly. Lee now you'll remember it I'm going with that. You're Jerry Maguire audition must have gone pretty well because you landed the part. Do you remember when you got the news because you said you couldn't even believe this was happening. I mean, when did it finally sink in? Well, we were at Sundance with with the whole wide world. Oh sure, which was Dan Ireland's first picture and he started the Seattle film festival and he's Now I'm very sad about that. But what an adventure that was we shot that in Austin in 1995 in the summer. And here we were going to Sundance. What was your first time at Sundance second. I went for five minutes for love and 45 minutes. We thought and met John Kirby knows are oh that's your manager to this day. He's right. No, I'm a truant. Oh, sorry. Sorry, Ron. Hard drives get wait a long you guys been together. How long have we been married? 26 years 26 years. He's been your manager. Wow. That's amazing. Cool. Yeah lucky. So you were there at the Sundance Film Festival, is that when you got the word? Yeah, it had been a while. And so I kind of felt that oh no. Oh, yeah, it's okay. I had great day have a lot of fun on the set at Sony doing screen test. Yeah whole lot of fun and so my whole family came up because because we were going to Sundance for the whole wide world premiere and so my mom and dad came and the dog was there. And my brother had gone out because how we were okay. We were got the phone rang and and it was Cameron and he said hey, hey Z. I said hi. And here it comes. You know, he's like, so I just want to say, you know, it was really great hanging out and getting to meet you and I mean, thank you. I'm like just Hurry up and break my heart already. It's great. You did great job and you know, he's just a lot of fun and I just wanted to thank you for for for you know coming out doing all that with us. Yeah. No, thank you. It was awesome. It's yeah, so I was wondering if you know you maybe you maybe want to what the part? What did you say? So yeah, I'm so so the next day I think there was an announcement about it and in variety or something like that. This was I guess my first big deal thingy and my brother went out to get the variety could you know, they throw around at Sundance? Yeah, I could cry just thinking about it. Sweet. I mean He is that Dorothy was such a was like a tub like she's passed or something, but she's such a great character. It's such a great movie actually have a question from the audience. I think it's Richard is that correct? Says I fell in love with you and Jerry Maguire like the rest of the world did how many times a week? Do you hear you had me at hello. And do you ever Tire of that? No, not enough a couple times. I don't go out much. So, you know, it'd be weird if I heard it a lot. Here inside the house. Yeah. Yeah now but it's still touch a thing. It's what a cool thing. You know, somebody gives you a line like that right? Come on. Yep. He's a hell of a rider that man Annie It's really really great filmmaker. Yes. How did that movie sort of change. You're not only your career. Obviously it really shot you into the stratosphere, but how did To change your life both, you know, whether in a good way or sometimes a negative way when you're suddenly put in the spotlight like that. Well, there's that. I know that it changed my life in ways that I don't really see because it because you know, John Kirby know is there and he's busy or yeah, so there's that but you know, I went to go do a little film and in New York. The price of Ruby right for like five cents. We were making a very different character to yeah very and it was what a great experience that was, you know back in the honey wagons where the toilet is your couch is your you know table is you know, that they don't rent so creepy when it's cushions don't write as doing that when all this other stuff was going on. Ali and I didn't go I didn't do promotion for Jerry Maguire. In fact, I asked John Cabrera. Oh if I could please have a public publicist person to say no for me because I didn't want to upset anybody. I wanted to be responsible and grateful but I wasn't ready to be the lady on the couch. Wow, you know, I wasn't ready for that. I knew that that Going to turn my life upside down and I just kind of wanted to put my toe in the water and step in slowly. So did you do any interviews? I think I went on Rosie O'Donnell. Yeah. Okay, so I did that and and and I'm I'm I think I might have like a Woody Allen personality because I think I brought the Woody Allen personality to the Rosie Show. I'm pretty sure that the nervous you watched it. Oh, yeah for sure. No, come on. It doesn't matter. It's just one of those things that it's so surreal that you kind of don't have a context for what it is that you're experiencing. What's an it's a weird situation to to bring someone onto a set with the giant audience and you know, just start chatting. So sure it's going to be bumpy probably. Yeah. It was a little bit was interesting. Yeah, so did that and I think maybe took some pictures I think maybe and then when price per rubies came out or something. I think I did a press junket for that because it was a smaller film. I went to national board of review for that and did interviews to that or remember that right is everybody still awake out there. Well, it's actually it's interesting because by the year 2000 well movie. I really want to touch on as Nurse Betty which was such a way such a Dark comedy, but really like heart-wrenching movie from neela Butte and I know that you won a Golden Globe award for your performance, but you were in the bathroom when they called your name. Yeah. I'm starting to wonder if you were purposely hiding because God is Were you telling him a complex? I'm crawling. I don't have a complex. This is early days new experiences brand-new. I just finished Bridget Jones. I think I'd gone through a breakup, you know big heartbreaking breakup thing. Now as they are I guess that's why it's called a breakup, you know anyway, And then it's time to put on a dress and go, you know do your thing and you really don't even really feel like you know putting on jeans to go to the coffee shop, you know let alone. But anyway, what a treat to be invited to that. Yeah super it was cool, but I felt really awkward because well because you can't before you learn how to do something like that. It feels you know, it was a privilege and I loved my dress and all that stuff, you know, but I guess when your brain is someplace else. It's a it's a skill that you develop to compartmentalize to sort of put your personal life side and go and enjoy this moment that might never happen again, right? And so there was a lot of that and so I was with my friend I was with John Kirby know and my friends and it was really neat. It was a fun night and and I got a red carpet and you know the road like condolences in the interviews like Noun, so you did, you know, it's not about winning right? It's about you know, it's that I know this movie really, you know it touch people and you know, whatever wasn't by the end of the thing I was like, okay, so sad up my table and you know, I was just thinking about how uncomfortable I was at that moment. I thought you know, I could just go for a little walk and I'll just go to the bathroom for a second and just like, you know What lipstick I'm going to go and put on some lipstick. That's the answer. So I went back to bathroom. We looked on the program and I was with Kevin to Vain and who is the other gentlemen. Let me think wasn't it Diane Fosston Berg's husband. Yep, Barry Diller and there's a nice me and we looked at them and they were going to go the bathroom and I thought yeah, I'm gonna jump on this I'm going with them. So we got we all looking at the program to make sure that it was a good time to go and the lights would come on and the room which indicates that are gone off in the room rather which indicates that they're cooling the room and it's Joe is not on for the moment we go the bathroom and I'm digging through my purse and I'm looking around, you know, put my lipstick on and put it back in and it won't close. I won't. Yeah, I mean, it won't close and so something's got to go right in this tiny little I mean, what is that? You don't really like right right. It's like here you can take a key holder. You can maybe get the key in there. You know if you remember it. Yeah, so, okay. So now it won't close and then I look up and I go. Oh my goodness. That's a little too much lipstick. I better get that hot sun look at how I get a napkin and wiping off the lipstick and throw the though the napkin in the trash and I'm still Close this Rubik's cube of a maze of hers and it won't close. I'm like, you know how need lipstick a morning but lipstick on and I did too much of us if I can stay there all night. So I'm throw out the lipstick click perfect. Oh, that's too much. I wiped off too much lipstick. Okay. Now I'm going in so I'm digging in the trash. For my lipstick and I hear there's some baby man screaming. Hey, hey, come on, and I'm like, oh my God don't you know that the thing is televised and they can hear him screaming. Running a red. Hey, and it still doesn't occur to me. I'm thinking you know, there's bound there's a lot of Renee's at the Golden Globe digging digging and then I thought and then a young lady came over to me and she knew touch me and she said I think he's talking to you. So I left the lipstick and I poked my head out and Kevin and Barry said but you got to come now. You won you got to come now. Oh my gosh. And I think the moment would have come and gone. If not for sweet Hugh Grant doing his soft shoe there. I wanna stretch out the moment, you know, you're granted his most befuddled if you watch the clip. Yeah, he's he's just because he knows you're there. Bridget Jones at that point we just finished. Oh, okay. We finish each other. Yeah. Well, so you didn't deliberately self-sabotage. It sounds like it was an accident. Oh that part certainly Why didn't it didn't occur to me that that was a possibility either, you know, so it was perfectly safe to go to the restroom in my opinion as we mentioned you followed that with Bridget Jones Diary which you know was an adaptation of this beloved book because you were so great. Are you are so great. It was so successful in spawn to Great sequels. I think maybe a lot of people don't know that it was kind of slightly controversial casting at the time. You know, I don't know if it was because like people thought it should be a Brit or because she's just such a beloved character. We were able to just tune that out and go off and be awesome. You are good for a girls. Are you going to slide that in there like that? I would never think about it that way, but I'm thank you. No, I mean where you don't learn Jones? It's very rare actually for comedic performance like that to get recognized by the academy. Yeah, II they're getting better about it. I think so. Yeah, I mean because there have been some performances. I mean, all right like Joan Cusack in The Addams Family drunk you second everyone and everything. Yeah, but you guys I mean was it she just stood off the charts? Anyway, I digress oh, we didn't have social media back then. So maybe it was easier to turn to in that stuff out. And yeah, I didn't I wasn't aware of it. Oh what happened in just make you aware of it? I'm sorry. Oh, no. No, I'll be okay. Oh, yeah, it turned out. Okay. Yeah. No, I mean there were tiny bits of it that I would see just because of the nature of the research that I was doing because I was working at picador publishing which represented Helen Fielding. And in my internship, you know, I wanted to work the Publishers to understand what Bridget did what her work was so they pretended that I was the I guess the the cousin of the editor there. So the nepotism made sense and I have been studying in America for 10 years, which explained my weird accent really nailed the British accent when you had to go. Thanks, boo. And yeah, a lot of help yeah constant consistent help for a long time after three movies, you know over the course of all these years. Why do you think people love Bridget so much mean? She's the Woody Allen personality, you know, it's her Humanity. I think I think that you know, Well, I mean first of all, what's not to love about a woman who has so much joy clearly and who fearlessly goes forward despite her self-doubt and finally if you know, she finds self-acceptance and different sports in her life, like we all do and to sort of be able to relate to a person who is imperfect but still has triumphs all the time, you know, because that's the truth and life, isn't it? Yeah. And your Chemistry with Colin Firth is so amazing. It's funny to me because in the book Bridget Jones the characters obsessed with Colin Firth and obviously you can't do that in the movie because he's right there playing Mark Darcy, by the way. I just someone just asked me this today is Bridget Jones Diary a Christmas movie. Oh, isn't that interested in? Yes. Yeah, I would say yes, I mean that it ends with the snow the first one it starts at Christmas after Christmas and go on holiday of certainly could be So interesting, I hadn't thought about it that way but yeah sure. Why not is Die Hard? Whether or not die hard is a Christmas movie Yes. Okay. Okay. So you followed that with another oscar-nominated role. You actually went to SAG Awards for Chicago one for your performance one for besides Ensemble again, I think you subverted expectations because movie musicals at this time. We're not a safe bets this it really kind of started the trend of major movie musicals and And I don't think people expect it to be as good as it was and to do as well as it were you nervous going into that. I mean also you have to sing and dance and that's what I was nervous. I was nervous about that because you know, these are proper ho first, you know, Catherine started on the West End when she was a little girl. Yeah, but that quickly sort of took a backseat to the schedule and also just Joy, yeah a bang in the middle of that process and watching it go Go, you know just in full force. It was extraordinary to be in the middle of that and watch people who are just so gifted at the top of their games in their Bliss expressing themselves. And this new sort of I don't know way of filming a musical and what do you say about Rob Marshall's imagination meaning? Yeah. Would you be interested in doing another Musical? Sure. It's a lot of work. Don't notice. It really know. It's Joy. Well joy, when I look at the schedule and it makes me go but it you don't, you know, feel it. It's your favorite. I mean, I don't know your favorite friend. It's your favorite hobby is your favorite meal. It's your favorite vacation. It's your favorite creative challenge all rolled into one. Thing it's it was an unbelievable blessing to do that from did you have experience singing and dancing before that or did you start from scratch? Well, there was that tiny bit in with coyote Shivers. All right Empire Records. Yeah. There was that there was that this is like you're the lead role in a musical. You're pretty much in every scene singing and dancing. I mean I I can't even imagine the preparation. Where do we even began? Well, we were on this stage that they created on a loading dock in Toronto. And you know, we have those stations. It look like a basketball gym. The the main floor is about that size vast, you know on the periphery and then you had little rooms off the side that you'd have the piano in there and you'd rehearse that number in there and then you go over here and you work on that song and then whatever the number was that they're working on that day would be on the main floor and you would rotate it was like Camp, you know, that sounds so fun if it was and it's not live. So at least you get another shot at it. I guess I would have I I dreamt those numbers really. I jumped those numbers because I didn't want to want to mess up. Yeah because as you know, you think about the shared numbers and everything. That had to go right in every single take in order to complete the scene and those those dancers on you know, these bungees and the exhaustion that they must experience not even halfway through the day and then to be asked to continue on and on and on and then I just like missing a beat or a word or huh. I would have dreamt about that on you know, Richard Gere's Slap Ya musical numbers the press conference about being the marionette on Richard Gere's loud and and dum dum bump bump bump bump and he pulls me up I would wake up you're kidding like shut up like yes during yeah, I would be my subconscious was working that all night. Yeah. Anna I would wake up when he on that beat and that crazy it's amazing days anyway, so I can say that consciously the pressure I didn't experience it. But certainly it was in there somewhere the following year. You played Ruby thoose in Cold Mountain another beloved performance that when you so many awards had to start making up new ones for you sag War the bafta award the Golden Globe and of course the Academy Award for best supporting actress. Sure. That was a nice really really nice those against such a beloved novel. I feel like it when you of course, you know, it turned out to be a great movie. You guys were all great in it. But there is there ever a concern when you're doing something that beloved, you know, that people aren't going to respond to it. I don't think about it. That way. I never go outside of the experience. I worry more about that. I don't want to That I want to do my best for the people. I'm working with, you know for my partners in the project, you know all showing up and trying to create this one thing together. And so that's where my mind is. I want to MMM Ruby seems like a really challenging character. I mean, she's so much fun. We love her instantly, but I mean just just the harshness of the shooting conditions and like such a unique character. I'm curious. Is how you sort of found your way into her it helped. Yeah, so it helped it really helped everything felt. Yeah, we got to Romania and I'm thinking that the government changed only happened about 10 or 15 years before so it was still very interesting to see what it was from the west or the modern West that was being integrated into culture. Like I remember I had these spaceship sheets on my bed in the spaceships on them and they'll spaceship whole sheets on my bed and and a red towel and the tag was still on the towel. And I knew I knew that it was a point of Pride that this was a new towel, you know? Yeah, so the people people still lived really close to the Earth, you know, you would be driving down the mountain because we stayed in point of Branch offices, which was a skiing training Olympic Village kind of training Village that felt like the land that time forgot it felt like maybe the swimming pool was built in the 20s and everything else around it, you know the old gym equipment if you're a very lucky enough to come across some of that stuff is so fascinating to see but you'd wind down the mountain half an hour into brush off at the Is a mountain and there would be farmers in the field and the kind of you know, see it that roof sort of Hut right there for hanging out, I guess to watch the sheep and watch the weather because the weather would determine the work of the day. So you'd see these guys standing out in the field and looking around to see what was necessary that day. Wow. Yeah, and I mean the things it was putting a gift, you know to live among that for a while. While and I learned the cows really do come home. It's not just an expression. Oh, they'll go out to pasture four o'clock in the morning with tiny little children tiny children, you know, we're worried let him play in the backyard and they're getting marching off to take the coughs, you know, miles and miles and miles to the fields. You know, you have to rub your eyes not sure what you're seeing and then at the end of the day, what if we would go home at Sunset the cows would be coming home and they know where they live. That's so interesting a knock on the door. It's weird. They each name is here tomorrow and tomorrow stand outside and move outside their respective homes. Wow, that is hilarious frame. But you had steak plans tonight that weird but now the elements and all of these things just made it. It was very helpful because you know, she's you know, she's in the Earth. Yeah the Earth and it just felt it was very helpful to live that closely to so many people whose lives are still determined by my nature in such a way. You can actually see your guys's breath so much in that movie because it's so cold which I guess helps if you're playing a cold character. Yeah easier to pretend it's cold when it's cold. There's so many things I want to touch on. Movies like Miss Potter and Cinderella Man, but we have to get to Judy because I know we're on a schedule. Okay, I'm looking at you there and still not believing it's entirely you. I don't know if you knew you were up there. Oh, yeah. So I'm going to start with Judy herself. Were you a fan where it was? She someone you dreamed you might play some day or did that just seemed like such a crazy idea. Oh never occurred to me that that was a good idea or that that would ever be something that soon would propose. I know I don't consider myself a performer. I don't do enough done live performance before and I didn't consider myself a singer of you know of those sorts of songs. I've been Really have that sort of vocal stamina. So now and I was always a fan. Yeah, I I've been asked that a lot and I don't know if you guys you know, the people that you just sort of take for granted because of course, they're great. Of course, she's great and she's sort of carved out her place among them iconic classic heroes of you know, the ages it was sort of like that. She was always around the house and plan on the turntable. Land on the reel to reel my dad had really Brown says wow, uncle right where's that? But so yeah, she was always she's one of those people who sort of defined your life. And you know, you had Judy Garland your Frank Sinatra have Bob Hope and Dean Martin and you give me all of them. My mom loved Tom Jones. Oh sure. She's out of town. So, you know, they were always playing so who's something still now the other Place is crazy, isn't it? So who brought the idea to you? And what was your initial reaction? David Livingstone is an acquaintance of mine. He worked on my is a friend of mine. He worked on Bridget Jones and million years ago. And so he had bought the rights to the play into the rainbow. I think was the name of the place. Yeah, and he had hoped to bring it as a play to I don't know Broadway or something. I'm not sure and the but he missed out on the right someone else got the rights, but he but no one was asking for the rights for Cinema. And so he got the the film rights and he sent it along to John Kirby know everyone right Anna and John sent it to me and and I said why yeah, and it's read it click. He does that a lot. Like I said, he's always right. I've been prior to this you had taken sort of a six-year Hiatus. I it was Did you sort of know by choice or like I'm going to take some time off and then it just kind of became six years or did you know it was going to be a substantial break? I didn't know what it was going to be but I knew it was necessary. Hmm, and so it didn't really matter what it was going to be. I just needed to do it and then was it you you but you of course you came back to do. Bridget Jones in 2016. And so you were working again you did a great Series this year called what if that we have a lot of questions about so much fun. Yeah. It was so much fun. But you know coming back to do something as imposing as Judy Garland. Where did you even begin? I mean, I don't know. Did you take voice lessons? How did you find her voice? How did you find her? Look? Well David called and we talked about it and I was curious. What made him think and I explained to you know, I don't sing like that and I have a little voice and he said why don't you just come to London and we'll just try some things and I still you know, I had my doubts. I love the story and I loved his reasons for wanting to tell the story to sort of contextualize the circumstances that she was grappling with toward the end of her life so that maybe you know, the whole tragedy thing could be I don't know me. Subverted in some way and I loved that and I was curious and he said we're going to go record some songs for fun at Abbey Road. So okay. Yeah, I know. Yeah, you don't say no to Abbey Road, right? So this might be the worst idea in the whole world, but I was gonna go to London. So then we just start trying things. We did an initial photo shoot with just a wig black. Generic black wig that was available and we did her stage makeup and we just took pictures in a room and just to see how far away we were and what might be possible and it was oddly similar was really strange because I'd never thought that I shared a likeness with her at all, but it was really strange and then the music we recorded he'd sent me her recordings from 1968 to listen to what your quite different from her. Recording using the lower octave shoe seeing the register. She was, you know compromise in certain ways and she had learned little tricks to find her way around the things that maybe we're more difficult at that time and I played around with that for a while and we get those recordings and that's the best day ever in the world when the taxi dropped you off outside of Abbey Road, and you go inside. And yes, I did the crosswalk photo your please please and I came home and that was in 2017 and I came home and started working with the vocal coach to build my my voice. Like I didn't believe was a thing, but apparently it is the thing. You can actually manipulate your vocal cords. Yeah. I didn't know that. I thought you were either. Five foot tall or 5 foot nine and that's the best. That's that but you still sing like that lately. You must be great at karaoke like funny. I'm thought about that. Does everyone want you to do Judy song? So can you imagine? Can you imagine I would be the most boring dinner party guests and they don't know don't ask Renee. She's gonna do man that got away again. There's a difference it's a notable difference. But I know it's work that I'll keep up. Yeah, really you will ya. Oh, that's great. You sure I should talk about the transformative look to because you know, the short list came out today and Jeremy would head who worked with you on this look was made the short list for makeup and hairstyling. Oh, that's great. Yeah. I mean you guys did an amazing job. He's so great. He's so great. I mean what a sweet person. He's just such a brilliant person to watch him work and it's the whittling it down to where it it's not an obstruction, you know, that was really important and has the best sense of humor. He's giggling because you need to paint the lines. It's an alcohol based makeup. And so you had to dip The you know, the alcohol every girl's dream come true. Yes, please. Please schmear my face with isopropyl alcohol all day. He's so cute. He's so he said we're going to start a line called degenerate. So he drew down the bottle which is about this big if by the end of it was really funny because he would he would go through the whole inventory check check check while we're running between scenes in. Okay got to contact. Yes, the thing wigs and I only got two teeth teeth, but the teeth in and okay, you're good. Yes, I'm good. Good go and run. I can't wait. We haven't done my lines yet and he goes so we haven't so name is this a we whittled down the time and the chair substantially by the end of the shoot, but now it was a process we started with the wig in the makeup and then we put everything on, you know, the cheeks and everything but everything and then we paired it down and took a million photos different photo shoots to see what felt you know appropriate and What we got away with was what's left there? So are you wearing false teeth in this? Yes, how do you sing with those? Well, it's really interesting because sorry I'm have my Invisalign Braces on right now. So that's you there was like she's wearing them now but there's this interesting thing that I couldn't figure out the thing that was there were a lot of things that were elusive that I could not. Figure I couldn't figure out her eyebrows and how they got there. Sometimes I couldn't figure that out. And then here in this wonderful book by Stevie. I can't remember her last name at the moment, but she was her I've seen met her at a screening in New York. Really so exciting. It's a wonderful book. I don't even know how to suggest it. I guess Stevie Judy Garland book. She was her assistant and toured around with their own would set up her makeup backstage. She's talking about laying out everything the way Judy likes it in her dressing room and the tapes And I thought well wait a minute what the tapes there these tapes and it's called. Mr. Something's or doctor something's or facelifts instant lift or something and you tape it here in the hairline and then it's got a string and it goes around the back and you tape it here. So under your wig or your hair, whatever it is and it gives you like a thing going on here. We're currently you can put it here if you pull your hair right here and you put tape it there and back there on your hair and it gives you a little something something there. Yeah, so Apparently it's still out there and the ladies still use it. It's not pretty popular little trick still anyway, so there's the eyebrow train she got the right and and the teeth I couldn't because sometimes they look like this and sometimes they look like that and I just couldn't I couldn't figure out if I just chronologically wasn't looking at, you know, the progression of the wear whatever it might have been and and then I found that she wore she wore a clip-on veneer really? From the time she was in MGM as a young as a young person. Yeah, so actually it was helpful because there would be kind of a list be thing sometimes and the delivery of certain S's and things. Yeah, and it was helpful for that because I didn't know how that sound was happening either and that weird. That's so interesting. I had no idea this now they're asleep already this movie is I mean, it's such a wonderful performance. It's Full of wonderful performances and it also deals with things about you know, what it's like to be in the spotlight and be judged by people who think that they know you, you know, I love by the way. I love the to the the gay couple that standard take Judy and yeah for a night and it's so lovely. I think every character teaches us something. Was there anything you learned from Judy? Yeah, yeah a lot really and courage tenacity. and the inevitability of carrying on the necessity to just carry on and and in this process I mean it's it was really big. It was a big experience and I'm sure every actor here. We all know that you take something away from every job that you do and you learn something about yourself and I guess that's why we're artist right because we're curious about the world and our place in it and how we Define ourselves or how we recognize ourselves in that world. Anna yeah, I found my voice in this well literally and figuratively. Yeah. Well, I didn't know this I was doing these vocal exercises with the gentleman and Gary Catona. I was working with Eric vitro and Gary Catona and a gentleman named Mark whose last name escapes me because I don't know that I ever learned it you just Mark he was Mark he was he was my lifeline over in England Mark. He's fantastic vocal coach but so was Gary he does he's building exercises and you sound like I don't know maybe if the whales out of the water making the howling noises it would be something akin to that and it in order to in order to develop the muscles you got to use them and so he'll take you up and down the scale making these different variations and Note and in order to To do it. You have to go to places that you don't normally access your we don't use that particular point in your throat. And I never expected that there would be an emotional component attached to it. And it makes sense, you know, because you get choked up, right? We have an emotional experience. You feel it not just in your heart, but you feel like you feel like here and I didn't realize that I have been speaking in my upper. Start for probably 20 years and we know because you make things. Okay, right, it's fine. Yeah, that's fine too. But that's fine. That's fine until you're up here. When you he makes you break through all of that. And so whatever it is that you stored up there. That's a acting as a block blockage. It has to go before you can use the muscle and sing the note. Out so there was a whole lot of that work that went into getting to just the bare bones of what was there to access and I'm so grateful for that. I'm so grateful for that. We are so grateful for this beautiful performance actually all the beautiful performances you've delivered over the years. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for listening to the SEC after foundations conversations podcast. 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A career retrospective with Renée Zellweger from November 26, 2019. Moderated by Jenelle Riley, Variety. Renée Zellweger is one of the most cherished and respected actors in modern cinema. Zellweger is most notably known for her starring role as the seminal British everywoman in the film BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY and its sequel BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON, both opposite Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. In the first installment of the franchise, Zellweger earned her first Oscar® nomination, also earning Golden Globe, SAG and BAFTA nominations, among others. The sequel delivered her another Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical. She secured her second Academy Award nomination as convicted killer Roxie Hart in CHICAGO, the Oscar®-winning film version of the Tony Award-winning musical. Acting, singing and dancing alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones, who portrayed fellow death row inmate Velma Kelly, Zellweger took home a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical and a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, among other awards. She later earned the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in Anthony Minghella’s COLD MOUNTAIN, the Civil War drama in which she jumped off the screen as feisty farm worker Ruby Thewes. For her work in the film, Zellweger also garnered a Golden Globe Award and best supporting role honors from the Screen Actors Guild, BAFTA, and Broadcast Film Critics Association. Zellweger will next make her television debut starring in Netflix’s WHAT/IF, and her recent films include BRIDGET JONES'S BABY, alongside Colin Firth and Patrick Dempsey for Universal Pictures, the film adaptation of the book SAME KIND OF DIFFERENT AS ME, opposite Greg Kinnear and Djimon Hounsou, and THE WHOLE TRUTH, opposite Keanu Reeves. After graduating with an English degree from the University of Texas, Zellweger did some initial film and television work before making her feature debut in Richard Linklater’s seminal coming-of-age film DAZED AND CONFUSED. Other film roles quickly followed, including Ben Stiller’s REALITY BITES, LOVE AND A .45, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE NEXT GENERATION and MY BOYFRIEND’S BACK. Zellweger won the affection of audiences soon after with her breakthrough role opposite Tom Cruise in Cameron Crowe’s JERRY MAGUIRE. Subsequent film roles for Zellweger have included the acclaimed ONE TRUE THING with William Hurt and Meryl Streep, the dark comedy NURSE BETTY opposite Chris Rock and Morgan Freeman, ME, MYSELF & IRENE opposite Jim Carrey, the drama WHITE OLEANDER with Robin  Wright and Michelle Pfeiffer, Peyton Reed’s romantic comedy DOWN WITH LOVE opposite Ewan McGregor, and director Ron Howard’s Depression-era boxing drama CINDERELLA MAN with Russell Crowe. She has also lent her voice to such animated features as DreamWorks’ SHARK TALE, BEE MOVIE and MONSTERS VS. ALIENS. 