Oscars 2020: Renée Zellweger’s Greatest Performances

She had us at hello...

Renee

by grazia |
Published on

The Oscars are approaching and, as always, we can't wait to see who takes the iconic golden statuettes home. We're particularly excited about the shortlist for Best Actress this year, which features Saoirse Ronan, Cynthia Erivo, Charlize Theron, Scarlett Johansson and Renée Zellweger. So who's going to stand up to the podium? Our money is on Renée, whose performance as Judy Garland in Judy was a highlight of the year in cinema. She is both hilarious and devastating, and the actress has picked up several awards in the run-up to the Oscars.

That said, we've always been a fan. Here are our favourite moments in her impressive career.

Bridget Jones, in Bridget Jones's Diary

We have to admit. When they announced that one of our literary heroines, an icon of British contemporary fiction, was going to be played by a Texan, we were pessimistic. How could an American nail the, well, Britishness of Helen Fielding's perennial singleton. But we were won over as soon as Renee - red pyjamas and all - lifted her arms in sadness to lip-synch to All By Myself.

Renee was perfect as Bridget - in all three films - and we can't imagine anyone else in the role. Now, can someone get her back together with Colin Firth for Bridget Jones 4? Anyone?

Dorothy Boyd, Jerry Maguire

She had us at hello. When sports agent Jerry Maguire - Tom Cruise in one of his most charismatic roles - decides to leave his agency and go it alone, only one colleague follows him out of the door: Dorothy, a single mother with hell of a lot to lose. Renée beat out a host of Hollywood stars - Patricia Arquette, Winona Ryder and Marisa Tomei among them - for the role. Thank heavens she did: she is the film's undeniable heart.

Renee
Renée in Jerry Maguire ©Getty

Ruby Thewes, Cold Mountain

Nicole Kidman is excellent in this historical drama based during the American Civil War. In fact, everyone's excellent. Half of Hollywood is in it: Jude Law, Donald Sutherland, Natalie Portman, Jena Malone, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Charlie Hunnam, Eileen Atkins. Honestly, we could go on. But it was Renée as Ruby Thewes, the blunt newcomer who can shoot through the eye of a needle and can dispatch a chicken in a flash. Not her most glamorous role, but undeniably her most acclaimed: it won her her first Oscar in 2004.

Roxie Hart, Chicago

Renee
John C Reilly, Renée, Richard Gere and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Chicago promo mode ©Getty

We love a musical. Before Renée looked over the rainbow for Judy, she stayed firmly on the ground in Chicago, playing a fame-hungry, wannabe singer inconvenienced by the small fact of being thrown in jail for murder. She doesn't let it stop her, though.

Did she get outshone somewhat by Catherine Zeta-Jones's high-kicking, barb-wielding Velma Kelly? Sure. But she fought her corner with moxie.

Betty in Nurse Betty

Does Renée love playing title characters? Maybe. But she was fantastic in this cult classic, in which she played a woman who becomes dangerously obsessed with a soap actor. Nurse Betty was Renée's first major chance to show her comedic skill, and she was rewarded: she won Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for the part.

Will Renée be victorious again? We'll have our fingers crossed.

READ MORE: Get Ready For The 'Renéesance' - Renée Zellweger Transforms Into Hollywood Legend Judy Garland

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