Renée Zellweger's 5 best films

Hollywood had somewhat forgotten about her since the early 2010s. But Renée Zellweger has now well and truly made her comeback. On February 9, she stepped onto the Oscars stage, slender in her shimmering ivory Armani Privé dress, her mischievous gaze ever-present, to receive the Oscar for Best Actress for her remarkable performance in Judy, where she plays Judy Garland at the end of her career.

Jerry Maguire (1996)

Cameron Crowe introduced her to the public eye as Tom Cruise's single mother and devoted assistant in Jerry Maguire, which tells the tale of a rich and famous sports agent who is fired and dumped by his entourage after writing a memoir in which he questions his entire life.

Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

Some people don't know this, but Bridget Jones's Diary is based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Thirty-year-old Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) falls into the arms of her boss, the very sexy Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) while often crossing paths with Mark Darcy, a haughty lawyer who never stops ridiculing her, played by the irresistible Colin Firth. A funny and touching romantic comedy that became cult and a role forever associated with Renée Zellweger who later signed for two other, much less successful Bridget Jones: The Age of Reason in 2004 and Bridget Jones's Baby in 2016.

Chicago (2002)

After Annie, Rob Marshall sharpened his sensitivity to the musical genre with Chicago, a glamorous plunge into the 1920s, when marital murders were the stuff of newspaper headlines and propelled murderers into ephemeral stardom. Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger) and Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), for example, will do anything to avoid the death penalty, with the help of the famous and charismatic lawyer Billy Flinn (Richard Gere). The film was a real success, garnering no less than 13 Oscar nominations (it was the most nominated film that year). Nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress, Renée did not receive the award, but applauded her teammate Catherine Zeta-Jones, who took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Cold Mountain (2003)

In the midst of the Civil War, a handsome enlisted worker (Jude Law) risks abandonment to find his fiancee (Nicole Kidman), who has been waiting for him for years in the small town of Cold Mountain. Ada, who has been helpless since the death of her father, meets Ruby Thewes (Renée Zellweger), a hardworking and loyal neighbor who helps her with the farm work. With this great melodramatic odyssey, the American actress was finally given due credit by being awarded the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Judy (2020)

We've been waiting a long time for Renée Zellweger's comeback. In Rupert Goold's biopic about the last year of Judy Garland's life, the actress delivers a moving performance that reveals the extent of her talent on screen. Her portrayal of this fallen icon earned her the Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Actress, 16 years after her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in Anthony Minghella's Cold Mountain.

Translated by Freya Doggett

Also on Vogue.fr:

Renée Zellweger wins the Best Actress Oscar for "Judy"
Three things you didn't know about Judy Garland