CELEBRITY

By GRAZIA INTERNATIONAL

17 January 2025

Renée Zellweger Reveals Why She Really Quit Acting All Those Years Ago

The six-year hiatus was self-imposed.

renee-zellweger-career — LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – FEBRUARY 02, 2020: Renée Zellweger attends the EE British Academy Film Awards ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall on 02 February, 2020 in London, England.- PHOTOGRAPH BY Wiktor Szymanowicz / Future Publishing (Photo credit should read Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Renée Zellweger, the two-time Academy Award winner best known for her iconic role in Bridget Jones’s Diary, has opened up about her six-year hiatus from Hollywood in a revealing interview. Speaking with her former co-star Hugh Grant to British Vogue, Zellweger described the break as a much-needed reprieve.

“I was sick of the sound of my own voice,” she admitted. “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.”

The break, which began after filming My Own Love Song in 2010, saw Zellweger step away from the spotlight to embrace more personal and behind-the-scenes pursuits. Instead of being on-screen, she immersed herself in studies and filmmaking.

“I wrote music and studied international law,” she explained. “I built a house, rescued a pair of older doggies, created a partnership that led to a production company, advocated for and fundraised with a sick friend, and spent a lot of time with family and godchildren and driving across the country with the dogs. I got healthy.”

When the actress returned to the screen in 2016, it was to reprise her role in Bridget Jones’s Baby, it was with a fresh perspective that enabled her to take on more work such as Judy, a Judy Garland biopic that won Zellweger an Oscar in 2020.

Reflecting on her time away, she told InStyle in 2019, “I just knew that there were certain things I needed to prioritise… slowing down and working on building a life.”

386900 89: Actress Renée Zellweger arrives for the 73rd Annual Academy Awards March 25, 2001 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Zellweger is wearing a Jean Desses vintage dress with hair by Robert Vetica of Cloutier and makeup by Laura Mercier. (Photo by Chris Weeks/Getty Images

After a slew of performances since, Zellweger has again maintained a life outside of the limelight despite beginning a romance with British TV presented Ant Anstead in 2021.

She stars once again as the titular Bridget Jones in the upcoming fourth instalment, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy which premieres next month—catch the trailer below.