Interview with Renee Zellweger

Renée Zellweger's Life Lessons

By Dena Ross

As one of Hollywood's most acclaimed actresses, Renée Zellweger has had so many memorable roles in so many blockbuster movies, it's hard to keep track. Of course, her portrayal of the tough and feisty Ruby Thewes in "Cold Mountain" landed her an Oscar, and young women everywhere will forever know her as the bumbling, wonderful Bridget Jones. Oh, and let's not forget "Jerry Maguire," "Chicago," and, more recently, "Bee Movie," "Appaloosa," and "Leatherheads."

"I sort of naturally gravitate towards [movie roles] that might be a nice antidote for...whatever is going on in my life," she recently told Beliefnet's Dena Ross in an interview. "My life lessons come in the form of scripts."

Zellweger is currently starring in "New in Town" as a Miami businesswoman who moves to Minnesota to oversee the restructuring of one of her company's factories. In this interview, she talks about the best piece of relationship advice she ever received, her own "fish out of water" story, and what makes her laugh.

Dena Ross is the Entertainment Editor of Beliefnet.

Spiritual Life

In "New in Town," faith plays a pretty big role in the townspeople's lives. Can you tell me a bit about your own spiritual life growing up? What about your spiritual life now?

My parents are European. My dad, I believe, was raised Church of England and my mom was Lutheran, and they decided to compromise and we went to an Episcopalian church growing up. I don't belong to a church in New York City—and I'm not here very often—but there's a church that I go to when I go up to Connecticut that's in my town. Mostly I would say that my belief system is maybe not completely conventional, but perhaps an amalgamation of things that I've learned and experienced in my life—different things that I've chosen to keep with me, ideas, things that have inspired me, things that give me strength.

Is the church you go to in Connecticut an Episcopal church?

Yes. My sister-in-law who just moved up there—my brother and sister-in-law—they go to a Baptist church up there, and she speaks really highly of it and is really excited about it. It's funny, because I guess when you're new to a town there's a list of things that once you've established [them] it feels like home and this one was a big one for her. She'd been searching for a couple of months and she found this place. And she says she feels like she's been going there all her life. She's met the preacher of the church and his wife and everybody and she felt an instant bond with the community.

The Experience of Leaving Home

When you first moved away from home, what was the experience like? Was it a "fish out of water" experience, as your character had in the new movie?

Oh no! I was so excited! I couldn't wait. There wasn't any part of it that wasn't an adventure to me. I grew up in a really small town, and it was a wonderful experience… I tell everybody. It's nice to grow up like that because you feel safe, and safe to grow into who it is that you're supposed to be. But when it came down to leaving, I couldn't wait until I could go and see what was out there.

When did you leave home?

[When] I went to college. I went to University of Texas in Austin, and I was there until I graduated. Then I stayed a couple of years longer in the beginning of the acting work I was doing. I moved to Los Angeles when I was about 24, and when I moved [there] I was absolutely a fish out of water because the subculture of that city is very specific and not like anything that I had experienced before. There was a little bit of trepidation, there were some things that you hear about Los Angeles that I had reservations about, but you become more familiar [with] your environment, and you learn that not everything you hear is true. I learned some of my greatest life lessons as a result of having taken the chance, the step.

The Biggest Life Lesson

What would you say is the biggest life lesson?

That there's a lot of gray. There's very little black and white. I came to learn that I might have been much more narrowly defining what constitutes "good." There's a lot more room for gray. Things that may not bring me happiness that other people engage in, that doesn't necessarily make a person bad. Tolerance--that's a good word. I became a little bit better educated, I suppose, for having had the experience and been exposed to so many more things—different things—and you come to understand them, and you come to judge less and it's a very positive experience.

Did your role in "New in Town" teach you anything about yourself?

Maybe how much I depend on my sense of humor to get me through things that may be challenging.

The Blessing of Friends

Your character in "New in Town" starts off as not connecting with the townspeople of New Ulm , but eventually you become close to many of them and you wind up helping them in a big way. What's the biggest or nicest thing a friend has done for you?

Oh boy. That's tough. I'm spoiled in that respect. It's hard. I have lists and lists and lists of moments that I cherish and think of when my friends and my family have come to my rescue. There's the tiny, saving your backside moments, and I guess they count....I had a very difficult period in the 90's and a couple of my friends grabbed me and took me to this lakehouse—a friend of mine's family has had this house since the turn of the last century, in the Upper Peninsula in the U.S., and we spent the week. It was a wonderful, welcome distraction. That was a big deal to me. I'm very blessed with people who will go great distance out of their way to help not just me, but other people in their lives. I think that's a huge blessing.

Laughter, Gratitude, and Inspiration

What makes you laugh?

Oh, everything makes me laugh! I'm cheap. I am such an easy sell. Circumstance, accidents, people finding themselves in different situations. It's also my defense mechanism, so when I embarrass myself…oh boy, laughter.

What are you most grateful for in life?

It's a state of mind that I try to be cognizant of every day, because there's not a lot not to be grateful for. You know it's all a blessing, isn't it? I guess at the top of the list I would say the people that I love, obviously.

What inspires you?

Goodness in other people and what they contribute. That inspires me. I love it when someone is gifted and shares it in some way so that it has a trickle down effect.

'Life Lessons in the Form of Scripts'

You've played such a diverse range of roles. What role would you absolutely love to play? Your dream role…

I think I've probably had them all. They've all been dream roles for one reason or another. It's in the people that I meet, or the character herself, or the location, or what I learned, or the challenges—the things that you have to go through in order to realize this person's life journey on-screen. Whatever it is, they've all been dream roles. And it sounds like such a cliché to sit here and say 'More, more! What’s next?' It feels a bit greedy and gluttonous, so I won't do that.

What kind of roles do you prefer?

It depends on what's going on in my personal life, what I've just done. I sort of naturally gravitate towards things that might be a nice antidote for whatever it was that I was experiencing before professionally or whatever is going on in my life—what are you hungry for, what do you need in your life? It's kind of funny, it's almost like my life lessons come in the form of scripts.

I did this film because I wanted to laugh. I'd been away and I'd been working on things that require a lot of cerebral commitment, a lot of intense, introverted moments on set and I wanted to play, I wanted to work, and I wanted to laugh. I wanted to not be the girl who has to go away in the corner with her iPod and focus on negative feelings while everybody else is telling a joke. I wanted in on the joke. And I thought, oh what fun to go and laugh every day on the set with this great group of people and play, and just experiment with the physical comedy and see how much more ridiculous we could make a scenario. It was exactly what I was hoping for, and I got it and I loved it and I had such a nice time.