Renee Zellweger

Interview By: Rocco Passafuime
RoccoPassafuime@TheCinemaSource.com

Renee Zellweger is an actress that always manages to exceed expectations. She started out virtually unknown playing a prom queen victim in 1994's abysmal Return Of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, then made her breakthrough as the dramatically understated love interest of the titular character in the 1996 drama Jerry Maguire.

She soon made a turn as the lonely and love-seeking title character in Bridget Jones' Diary and its sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason. Zellweger, then, would subsequently wow audiences with her role of fame-seeking Roxie Hart in the film adaptation of the musical Chicago.

Her latest role is that of famed British children's author Beatrix Potter in the film Miss Potter. Ms. Zellweger revealed despite securing the role, her prior knowledge of the real-life Potter was fairly limited.

'I knew a couple of her stories,' Renee admits, 'I didn't know all of them and I knew absolutely nothing about the woman. I remember the images as far back as I could remember, anything at all. I'd remember Peter Rabbit being there. My mom read the books to my brother and I, but not all of them. There were children's books and authors that were more prominent in our adolescence.'

Despite her limited prior knowledge about the author, Renee threw herself headlong into character of the purportedly eccentric author. However, by the end, she managed to have her own take on the author's persona.

'I don't think she's weird,' Zellweger says, 'I don't think it's strange at all that she speaks to her work when she's in that creative place in her mind, when she's conjuring this imaginary world. It's not strange at all to me. I love her eccentricities. I think she's brilliant. I think she's completely complicated in the most wonderful way and I'd love to have known her.'

However, when asked about whether any eccentricity plays a role in her ability to play different roles, Zellweger responds by saying that her particular acting talent comes from a more unconscious place.

'I've worked with a lot of creative people who need their medium,' Renee explains, 'They need it. It's what helps them cope. It's how they channel their emotions or their inability to deal with other things. It's the way they communicate, it's their outlet. I don't think I'm one of them. It's an important creative medium for me and it stops there. I don't know that it's my first medium, it's more accidental. But it has become very important to me in my life and I do need it.'

Renee, then, goes on to explain how she conjured up playing a role of such complex personality like Beatrix Potter.

'I just imagined that she had such a rich imagination because she had such an isolated adolescence,' Zellweger states, 'And that she was living in such rigid parameters that were set by her mother in terms of expectations that didn't interest her or that didn't come naturally to her. That was my perception of it anyhow that she needed the characters as a creative outlet.'

Renee does not only play the lead role in Miss Potter, but is one of the film's executive producers. She says that how she got the added position was simply an evolution of her initial inquiries about the film.

'I was curious about having read the script because I didn't believe in how it was being conceptualized on the page at the time,' Zellweger recalls, 'I thought it was gimmicky and kind of silly and I wanted to hear what [director] Chris [Noonan]'s feelings about it were. And then, so many other questions came up. I thought it would be an interesting opportunity to learn how to collaborate creatively in a different way and to participate on a more substantial level instead of just meddling and having opinions, making it legal to have opinions and meddle. I enjoyed it very much.'

Zellweger's secondary role as co-executive producer was one that, for her, helped ensure any doubt or fear in her mind that her performance would be any bit devoid of its authenticity and integrity.

'With Chris, there would be a couple of scenes where we'd discuss it,' Renee recalls, 'I would say, 'Oh, gosh, please just don't let me be corny! Don't let me be corny! Don't let me be schmaltzy!' And he looked at me and he said, 'I don't do schmaltzy.''

Renee goes on to point out that her supplementary involvement also helped bring added nuances to her character's development in the film.'

'I talked with [costume designer] Anthony [Powell],' Zellweger notes, 'We decided that when she was going to be under her mother's influence, she was going to be more uptight, more rigid, more formal. And as she starts to find her own legs, well, we're going to show that her clothes get a little bit less tailored and she's going to grow a bit. She's going to spread out with the landscape. She's going to take up a little bit more space, and she's going to find her voice, and her clothes should be the same to reflect it.'

In conclusion, Renee says she deeply proud of her work on Miss Potter and hopes all audiences will be moved by the human drama of its story. Just don't be tempted to dismiss its substantial story as a 'chick flick'.

'I don't think it's a chick flick at all. I think that underestimates it in a terrible way,' Zellweger insists, 'I think it's far more complex than that. It's not meant to be female entertainment. It's an important story and it's a beautiful story. And I don't think I've met a guy yet who seen it that didn't connect to it. It's just real. It's a human story.'