Renee Zellweger Then
Born in 1969 in Texas, Renee Zellweger started off her career by appearing in several low-budget indie films in her home state. She then got a spot on an ABC TV show, before landing her first film role in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. From there, she started to get more and more offers, making a real breakthrough in the late ’90s and early 2000s when she appeared in movies like Jerry Maguire and Nurse Betty.
Renee Zellweger in ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ 2001. Photo by Moviestore Collection / Shutterstock
In 2001, Zellweger found the role that would, in many ways, define her career when she was cast as Bridget Jones in Bridget Jones’s Diary. The film was a smashing success, with Zellweger earning her first Academy Award nomination for Best Leading Actress. So, she was already a huge star when she was cast in Chicago.