Following the busiest few years of her career, Renée Zellweger enjoyed a much-needed six-year hiatus.
The 2x Oscar winner recently opened up to Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy co-star Hugh Grant about why she took a break from acting in 2010, before returning for 2016’s Bridget Jones’s Baby.
“Because I needed to,” Zellweger said in the British Vogue interview. “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.
She explained to Grant that she still kept busy during her time away from the screen. “I wrote music and studied international law,” she noted. “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.”
Since returning to acting, Zellweger won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her performance as Judy Garland in the 2019 biopic Judy.
Renée Zellweger and Leo Woodall in ‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy’
Jay Maidment/Universal Pictures
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, which is scheduled to premiere on Valentine’s Day, sees Zellweger’s titular character in her early 50s, navigating modern life and juggling motherhood. Now a widow who has lost the love of her life (Colin Firth), everyone suggests that she just needs to get laid.
The sequel is based on author Helen Fielding’s third novel in her series. In addition to returning cast members Zellweger, Firth, Grant, Patrick Dempsey and Emma Thompson, the sequel also stars Leo Woodall, Chiwetel Eijofor, Isla Fisher, Josette Simon, Nico Parker and Leila Farzad.