Zellweger is now a four-time Oscar nominee and two-time winner.
Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP
Zellweger was already a recognized actor at the time of the first “Bridget Jones” movie, having starred in films like “Jerry Maguire.”
After “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” she went on to earn an Oscar nomination for her performance as Roxie Hart in the film adaptation of the musical “Chicago.”
Then, in 2004, Zellweger won her first Academy Award for her supporting role in the war drama “Cold Mountain.” That same year, she also reprised her role as Bridget Jones for the sequel “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.”
After a string of poorly received films, Zellweger took a six-year acting hiatus from 2010 to 2016.
When costar Hugh Grant asked what prompted the break during a recent interview for British Vogue, Zellweger replied, “Because I needed to. I was sick of the sound of my own voice. When I was working, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, listen to you. Are you sad again, Renée? Oh, is this your mad voice?’ It was a regurgitation of the same emotional experiences.”
Zellweger told Grant that she spent those years getting healthy and doing non-Hollywood things, like studying international law, building a house, and going on a cross-country road trip with her rescue dogs.
She returned to acting in 2016 with two films: the legal drama “The Whole Truth” with Keanu Reeves and “Bridget Jones’s Baby,” the third movie in the rom-com franchise.
A few years later, Zellweger won her second Oscar, for her portrayal of the legendary actor Judy Garland in the biopic “Judy.”
Now, she’s back as Bridget Jones in the fourth movie, “Mad About the Boy.” The film follows the character as a mother of two and a widow since the death of her husband, Mark Darcy, four years earlier.
