Renee Zellweger: Interview

Interview by Clint Morris

Interview with actor Renee Zellweger
Starring in the movie Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

Renee Zellweger is one of today's most accomplished - not to mention stunningly beautiful - actresses. Though having starred in a string of popular features including Jerry Maguire, Chicago, Cold Mountain and White Oleander, it's the character of Bridget Jones in the two popular film adaptations of the best-selling Helen Fielding novels that's really connected with audiences.

What women seem to love about the character of Bridget Jones is that she's "your normal, everyday woman" - she's not entirely confident or secure, she hasn't got a horde of friends and predominantly, she's got a bit of weight on. But as Clint Morris discovers, Renee Zellweger hates the idea that people think she jumped at the chance to do the Bridget movies just so she could play someone 'unlike herself'.

Renee Zellweger and that charming smile

Clint: Do you think that Hollywood is too obsessed with looks?

Renee: Yes. I have to be honest though and say that's not what motivated my participation in the Bridget Jones movies initially. My interest in it came from my love of the book and the character and about wanting to be a part of it. I was so excited about being a part of that project and the shock of being invited to play her. I was fascinated by the concept.

But now what you're referring to with is probably Hollywood being obsessed with looks. That's something I only try to deal with on a personal level. I think Bridget Jones is a beautiful character, because what she says is that you don't have to conform in so many ways in order to be considered beautiful, successful, and respectful. I love that about the character.

But what I think you're asking is the question I get asked on the street most days - which is how I put on and lost the weight, right?

Clint: Unfortunately, that seems to be what everyone's interested in, doesn't it?

Renee: It saddens me, because I don't want to answer the question. I can tell you how to put it on, I can tell you how to alter your body slightly for a role…but I don't want to answer the question because I don't want to involuntarily perpetuate the idea that it was a good thing putting on the weight. The concern about the character for me was 'Am I going to look like the character should look by the time we need to film'. I don't want to say 'the losing the weight thing, well let me tell you…'

Clint: It is a sign of our times, I guess isn't it?

Renee: It's unfortunate to me. Asking the question seems to imply that one physical question is valuable over another.

Clint: Exactly. It's wrong isn't it?

Renee: That's incorrect. It's an invalid concept. I think it's a very sad thing, being that that is what we focus on. I don't know who it serves. I think about it, and I recall all the positive responses I got from the males in my life when I played this character.

I was walking around, after the film, looking like Bridget Jones still, and they approached me and told me I should 'hang onto a bit of that Renee'. Really positive responses! It completely invalided the belief. It's like saying I had to have a daggy haircut to play the role or I couldn't...

Clint: I loved Bridget's haircut!

Renee: You did. Wow. Thanks! [Laughs]

Clint: How has an Oscar changed your life?

Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

Renee: I have no idea. I can't make the connection - what it might represent. I can look at it for other people, and look at performances I've admired or directors I've admired and go 'great, good for you!' because I can see what you've created and how it made an impact.

I can't put myself into the scenario at all though. It's almost like I'm a fraud or something, like I'm pretend. Like I'm pretending. It's very strange. I'm so lucky, I'm so lucky.

I've had some incredible experiences come along, beyond anything that I might even have imagined. I left the morning after the Oscars to be on a set so any residual effect was gone. All I recall was that I had a wonderful time on Cold Mountain. I learned a lot, made some life-long friends and had an unbelievable time living on the mountain side of Transylvania for that time, but I can't see how it's changed me winning that Oscar.

Clint: Do you feel you've made it?

Renee: It seems so weird to be talking about it like that after fifteen years, Hmm. I look at it differently now. For a long time, I thought it was just luck, but now, I can look back and realise that there was a certain amount of work and commitment put into it.

I remember working for Rob Marshall on Chicago and not wanting to be the weak link, I didn't want to disappoint him - so I guess feelings like that never leave you. At the end, when the film is finished, even if nobody else cares, I just want to feel that it was worth that period of time.

I'm not saying everything you do has to be 'deep', but there has to be some reason why it needs to 'be'. You know?

Clint: What do you think is so appealing about Bridget Jones as a character?

Renee: I think it's her essence, I think it's her humanity. I think it's how honest she is and how she expresses herself. I think the fact that she can look at her shortcomings with humour and be self deprecating about that is great. She's also ever optimistic at the same time and never self-pitying, which is kind of inspiring. I think we root for her, because of that. She's never down on herself, in a literal way, it's always with a bit of humour.

Clint: Do you enjoy playing a character as different as Bridget, because she is different to the traditional Hollywood female roles.

Sitting down with actor Colin Firth

Renee: I guess so. She's just so unique. The experience in general is so unique. I can't think of a character that I might draw parallels with, in respect to Bridget. It's a privilege. A privilege. On every level. From a creative perspective to just embodying someone who's so completely different from myself.

To play someone who is so broadly physically expressive just takes it to another level. It's a lot of fun. A lot of the time you think the physical comedy thing is distracting, but with Bridget Jones that awkwardness is almost like an extension of her inner awkwardness. It's almost necessary. I love it so much.

Clint: I read a review of the recent Bridget Jones sequel, where someone compared some of the slapstick to Lucille Ball. Who's your comic heroine?

Renee: There are so many aren't there? There's Imogene Coco, from the Sid Caesar show. It wasn't really slapstick, just honest. No vanity. That's what gets me every time - the accidental comedy that comes from the truth in something.

Clint: What sort of input did you yourself have into the new Bridget Jones film?

Renee: There were some things about her, a la Helen Fielding, that are non-negotiable. Then, there's always room with the character for interpretation. It was a little different this time, as we weren't discovering the character or finding out who she is. It was about what she must've learned the last time and not compromising that. Anyway, it's always an amalgamation of many different things, with Helen Fielding's words it wasn't hard to imagine what she was like.

Clint: Do you find there's universality between the American sense of humour and British sense of humour?

Renee: Definitely now more than ever. There's always been that appetite for British humour. I use to have Monty Python parties when I was in highschool and we'd have videos on rotation of Blackadder and Mr Bean…all of them. There was always a dry, understated straightforward approach to comedy with the English, I suppose?

Clint: I understand there were quite a few delays before getting to a final version of the script. What were some of those specific concerns that had to be overcome?

Renee: Well, not on paper, but in terms of approaching the movie, it had to feel substantial enough of a movie to stand on its own, or at least necessary. And this is regardless of what we had done before, because none of us were interested in just regurgitating what we had already done.

A lot of people approach me on the street and tell me how much this character has touched them. So you don't want to do something that is going to compromise that character.

Clint: This one varies a lot from the book. Is that fair to say?

Renee: Yes, that's fair to say, because Hugh Grant's character didn't even appear in the book. [Laughs]

Clint: One quick question about your relationship status at the moment?

Renee: No [Laughs].

Clint: Okay, too quick. Are you still doing the Janis Joplin movie?

Renee: It's in development, yeah. That story deserves to be told properly because what an extraordinary person she was, what an influence she had. This one has to be done right, there's a huge sense of responsibility.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason hits Australian theatres on November 11, 2004.
Click here for the movie review.

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