RENÉE NEWS - January 2005

Renée Zellweger Pursued for Neil LaBute's This Is How it Goes at the Public
broadway.com
January 25, 2005

Broadway.com has learned that the Public Theater is pursuing ultra-hot film star Renée Zellweger to co-star with Ben Stiller and Jeffrey Wright in Neil LaBute's This Is How it Goes. The play, directed by George C. Wolfe, is scheduled to run from March 8 through April 10.

After a string of movie appearances, Zellweger's big break came in the mid-1990s when she was cast opposite Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire. The movie elevated her to the status of Hollywood leading lady, and in the next few years, she starred in A Price Above Rubies, One True Thing and The Bachelor. In 2001, she won her first Golden Globe Award for Nurse Betty, which was directed by LaBute. Zellweger has said numerous times in interviews that she is a big LaBute fan, referring to him in an interview with the BBC as "spectacular."

A year after her Nurse Betty success, Zellweger was nominated for her first Oscar for her performance in Bridget Jones's Diary (which also earned her another Golden Globe nomination). Her performance as Roxie Hart in Chicago earned her another Golden Globe and a second Oscar nomination. Last year she won her third Golden Globe and her first Oscar for her supporting turn in Cold Mountain. Zellweger recently received a Golden Globe nomination for Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

Set in small-town America, This Is How It Goes on an interracial love triangle between two men, one white and one black and a white woman.

Renee Zellweger signs up to present Oscar statuette
news.yahoo.com
Jan 20, 2005

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Hollywood actress Renee Zellweger has signed up to present an Oscar at this year's ceremony, a year after she walked off with an Academy Award of her own, producers said.

She is currently lighting up US screens in "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," the sequel to her 2001 hit, and will be seen later this year opposite Russell Crowe in the boxing story "Cinderella Man.

Renee Zellweger Gets Paparazzi Advice
femalefirst.co.uk
January 18, 2005

RENEE TAKES PAPARAZZI ADVICE - TO AVOID THE PAPARAZZI

Movie star RENEE ZELLWEGER has turned to the paparazzi who stalk her daily for advice on how to avoid them.

The canny actress has befriended a handful of snappers so she can get inside information to help her stay out of the tabloids.

She explains, "I've been told by paparazzi acquaintances... that I should stop signing autographs."

Zellweger has learned that autograph hunters often work hand-in-hand with the paparazzi - allowing them to plan shots and get good angles.

The actress has tried to avoid the signature hounds, but they make her feel terrible when they boo her for not stopping.

She adds, "When people who want to sell your autograph on Ebay - to people you'd gladly give it to if they asked - boo at you in the street because you've given them 10 minutes but they want 20, then it's the commodification (sic) of your person, or of this person they presume you are.

"I find it increasingly less substantial to be part of that chaos of celebrity. I find it, frankly, very cheap."

Experts dish out red-carpet advice
floridatoday.com
Jan. 14, 2005

Globes nominees get tips for being red-carpet ready

Golden Globe nominees Uma Thurman, Johnny Depp, Meryl Streep, Renee Zellweger and Kate Winslet are great actors, no doubt. But when it comes to red-carpet fashion, they each face some challenges. We asked three fashion experts how they would dress the stars for tonight's Globes, which starts at 8 p.m.

Our panel includes: Phillip Bloch, a stylist dressing Jim Carrey and Denise Richards for the Globes, Jennifer Raymond, a stylist dressing Thomas Haden Church for the Globes; and Steven Cojocaru, a fashion commentator for "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Insider."

Renee Zellweger

As a blonde, the nominee (for "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason") is a red-carpet stunner. But her current dark hair and slender frame give her an unfamiliar look.

Bloch: "She's a devoted fan of Carolina Herrera and it works for her. The dark hair is a little more seductive, a little more mysterious. I love it when she wears pencil skirts and more fitted silhouette things."

Raymond: "As a blonde, she had a good-girl quality, but the black hair changes her whole persona. Black is not flattering on her skin. Red looks good on pale-skinned, dark-haired girls."

Cojocaru: "With her goth hair, she should go high-fashion but in a chic way. She could carry high-fashion like Jean Paul Gaultier."

Zellweger hopes to launch writing career
nzherald.co.nz
January 14, 2005


Bridget Jones star Renee Zellweger says she hopes to take a step back from the big screen and focus on her writing.

Zellweger, who recently announced her split from Jack White of the band the White Stripes, said she was moving from California to the East Coast of America and wanted a break from movie-making.

"I don't think that, as a creative person, you have that much to contribute when your life experiences are limited to those you have while you're emulating someone else," she said.

"So I've asked people not to expect me to walk on to a set any time soon," she told the February edition of W magazine.

Zellweger, who captured hearts around the world as hapless singleton Bridget Jones, said she was moving to New England, to be closer to friends in New York and Europe.

And while she is on a break from movies, she hopes to spend more time writing - "fiction, non-fiction, whatever I'm feeling when I pick up the pen".

Stars to shine at Golden Globes
sunherald.com
January 13, 2005

We've heard it a dozen times; you probably have, too. People like to say that the Golden Globes (the awards show will be telecast Sunday) foretell Oscar nominations (to be released early on Jan. 25).

True? Bogus? We pick the latter, since Oscar ballots must be returned before Saturday in order to count, and Globes winners won't be announced until Sunday, but who knows. Watch and learn; the telecast is from 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday on your favorite NBC affiliate.

Actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy: Annette Bening, "Being Julia"; Ashley Judd, "De-Lovely"; Emmy Rossum, "Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera"; Kate Winslet, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"; Renée Zellweger, "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

Renee Zellweger Nabs Leading Lady Award
fashiongates.com
January 10, 2005

Hollywood cutie Renee Zellweger, who starred in Bridget Jones, The Edge Of Reason took home the 31st Annual People’ s Choice Award for the leading lady and Will Smith was named favorite male action movie star. The accolade to people’s most favorite actors was presented in Pasadena on Saturday. Notably, it was the first time in People’ s Choice Award’s history that the winners were chosen by online votes.

Renee, who famously gained weight for her two Bridget Jones flicks, appeared at the ceremony clad in a long white gown cinched with an eye-catching rosette at the waist.

“I feel so lucky and so grateful to be able to be part of films that resonate with you in some way,” the actress said after having accepted the award from the presenter Prince.

Renee Zellweger Joins Tsunami Telethon
January 11, 2005
fox23news.com
 

Stars bag Oz trip
news.com.au
January 7, 2005
 

THE biggest names in Hollywood are heading Down Under for a $20,000 week-long wine-guzzling holiday.

Renee Zellweger, Charlize Theron, Will Ferrell, Tim Robbins, Samuel L. Jackson and Aussie Naomi Watts are among 40 of Tinseltown's leading actors expected in Australia later this year.

They're coming to Sydney and the Hunter Valley for a "VIP wine adventure".

The all-expenses-paid luxury trip is the top gift in a $50,000 gift box being given to every presenter at the Golden Globes awards on January 15.

Theron, Zellweger, Ferrell, Robbins, Jackson and Watts were all named as presenters yesterday and 34 more of Hollywood's elite will also get the trip as payment for presenting awards.

The 40 trips are worth $830,000 in total and are being largely bankrolled by Rosemount Estates winery and Qantas in a bid to boost publicity and associate their brands with Hollywood's elite.

Details on the Hollywood holiday hamper have been obtained by The Daily Telegraph and reveal the stars' package kicks off with a business class Qantas flight to Sydney and a trip to Rosemount Estate winery in the Hunter where they will enjoy a tour and tasting.

The stars then get a chance to blend their own wine and be given dozens of bottles of their personal vintage to keep.

The actors then will be taken to Sydney for several days' rest at an undisclosed luxury hotel and "guided tours of the city's most exclusive shops, galleries and restaurants" before flying home in the comfort of a Qantas Skybed.

The Aussie wine adventure is just one of 29 gifts for Golden Globe presenters.

In return for two minutes of work reading out nominees names and announcing a winner, each presenter will also get gifts such as $1400 worth of teeth-whitening product, a $520 Janet Lee luxury pet carrier, a $520 Yomo handbag, a $1131 Chopard watch, a $3500 Ehrlooms diamond pendant, a $1170 Missoni Shawl and a $160 box of chocolates.

For many of Tinseltown's elite the Golden Globe booty is just a warm-up for the real gift grabbing bonanza, the Academy Awards in February when each presenter gets gifts worth $143,000, including $7000 TVs and Caribbean cruises.

White-out for Renée
miami.com
Jan. 01, 2005

Santa didn't deliver this year for Renée Zellweger. While the rumor mill had the Oscar winner poised to become Mrs. Jack White before the New Year dawned, she's now back on the market, reports MSN.com.

Her rep has confirmed to People magazine that she and the White Stripes rocker have once again called it quits.

The low-profile couple went belly-up in September, and follows standard celebrity-split operating procedure by adding that they ``remain good friends. No scandal. No new relationships.''

The Bridget Jones star spent a traditional Christmas with her family, celebrating by watching Shaq take on Kobe during the Los Angeles Lakers-Miami Heat game in L.A.

Zellweger, 35, met White, 29, on the rural Romanian set of Cold Mountain in mid-2003, and since then they've maintained a light-bulb relationship -- on-again, off-again.