Renee Z through the years

Over the last couple of weeks, it’s been Charlize Theron in the spotlight, campaigning for Best Actress Oscar for her work in Bombshell as Megyn Kelly. There is another frontrunner, however, who is also an Oscar winner – that would be Renee Zellweger and I’m curious as to how she’s going to approach the next couple of months as we get closer and closer to Oscar nominations. 

Bombshell comes out mid-December, during holiday season. Charlize has momentum on her side as anticipation for the film builds on word of mouth after positive screenings. Judy came out a couple of months ago and for Renee, who’s contending for playing Judy Garland, the goal is to sustain the buzz that was generated out of the fall festivals. People love her performance but the film registered as a medium. She’ll likely be the only representative of Judy through the season, unlike Charlize who’s leading Team Bombshell in several categories, possibly even Best Picture, at the Oscars.

The strategy for Renee then is to really drill down on this as yet another gold standard in a career that has had so many high points and to stay top of mind for voters even as they’re attending so many other screenings and considering other films and actors. Here she is on the cover of the December issue of InStyle and it’s a really smart feature. Right on the cover, the message is clear: she’s back: 
 

Inside the magazine, Renee revisits some of her most memorable roles including, yes, Bridget Jones. There are actually two shots that I thought could have been Bridget. This one is obvious: 

But this one, which is supposed to be Jerry Maguire, is actually quite close to Bridget too, non?

It’s the way she’s standing, seemingly hapless with her feet turned in. But also the elevator, because remember, Bridget and Daniel Cleaver were in that elevator when he puts his hand on her ass. And the pink sweater. Bridget’s wearing a pink sweater when she talks about how “Tits-pervert” keeps looking at her breasts. Obviously I’ve seen this movie too many times. 

My favourite shot though is the one of her as Roxie Hart from Chicago. I like the way she’s leaning and how her hair is falling softly around her face, letting the light come in from behind. 

We also get pictures of Renee paying homage to her roles in Nurse Betty, Dazed and Confused, and of course Cold Mountain for which she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. And the takeaway here is that she took a six year timeout from the business but that even before then, the work was excellent, the work has always been excellent, and as soon as she came back, she went right back into that gear… and all the way to a Best Actress win at the Oscars...? 
 
Click here for the full Renee Zellweger article at InStyle.