BY MARTYN PALMER

EIGHT years ago Renee Zellweger read a story which she just couldn’t forget.

"It was unusual because of its simplicity," she says. "And because you don’t see stories that powerful very often. It really stayed with me."

This powerful, simple and moving script was "Cinderella Man," the story of James L. Braddock, a talented, promising heavyweight who was enjoying a good life with his wife, Mae, raising a young family when the combined forces of the Depression, bad luck, injury and a string of defeats forced him out of the ring, out of his home and into a hand to mouth existence to try and survive.

But Braddock was a fighter inside the ring and a survivor out of it, too.

And when he was eventually offered a fight, more out of respect for the boxer he once had been, he was expected to be little more than a ring fall guy for a promising young hopeful on his way up the ladder. Against all the odds, Braddock won and it was the start of one of the most remarkable comebacks in sporting history – a renaissance which would ultimately lead to a punishing fifteen-round contest for the heavyweight championship of the world in 1935. It was a comeback which earned Braddock the status of folk hero. He was, quite simply, the Cinderella Man.

"For me it’s a very powerful, very moving love story," says Zellweger, who plays Braddock’s wife, Mae, opposite Russell Crowe as the boxer. "They were so deeply in love and they went through so much together and she never gave up hope and he never gave up fighting, quite literally, for his family."

The script has been developed over the years but the story is essentially the same, she adds, and Zellweger, like Crowe, has remained committed to it when different directors were attached before finally Ron Howard came on board. "Ron has just been fantastic to work with," she says. "He’s one of the nicest people in Hollywood and one of the most talented. That’s a great combination."

Renee Zellweger: It felt like a period film, like it came from a different time. It felt like something that (Frank) Capra might have penned. It was subtle and so unusual and beautiful and simple. And that’s really rare.

Renee: Yes, it’s the kind of film that makes me love movies. It’s what I gravitate towards when I go to see something. And to be part of it, I just thought ‘wow! I would love to do this.’ Like I said, it’s very rare, you don’t see such beautiful story telling very often.

Renee: Yes, Howard Braddock, that would be James’ son, who is an elderly gentleman now, came to visit the set, which was lovely. And he was talking about not knowing that it was hard times, it was just the way it was, it was just life. And that in itself was a powerful testament to how Mae and Jim were able to keep it together for the sake of their family, for the children. Whatever stresses might have been present they found a way to manage. It’s powerful stuff.

Renee: Oh boy, he’s fantastic. He’s one of the nicest people in Hollywood and one of the most talented. That’s a great combination. Completely. I mean, genuinely the man has no malice. I don’t think he is capable of being unkind. I don’t think it’s in him. I’m enjoying this so much for the obvious reasons – he’s such a talented filmmaker, he’s quietly determined and I love his focus and his clarity and he knows what he wants to do and he has so much passion for it. It’s nice to be around that. With that kind of attitude at the top, it makes for a nice day at work, it really does.

Renee: He is phenomenally talented. I’ve wanted to team up with him for such a long time. I’m a fan of his work and I’m a fan of how he works. I like the choices he makes and I appreciate his level of commitment. It’s uncompromising. And not just as someone who has been lucky enough to work with him, but as a filmgoer. It’s wonderful when an actor disappears like that and he makes it look so simple – which it isn’t.

malaya.com.ph
August 30, 2005