A Comeback for The Zeéeeee?
Monday, September 10, 2012 at 9:00AM 
Renée earlier this year. Still a fashionistaTravel back with me through time just nine years hence. Renée Zellweger was on top of the world: A list career, consecutive Oscar attention, hit movies, red carpet superstardom. She was so ubiquitous that she became the arch-enemy of The Film Experience only ever referred to as She Who Must Not Be Named™. By the time Hilary Swank had robbed her of the Most Hated title round these parts, she seemed depleted of everything else as well. In the past few years I've begun to feel bad for her and the way the public can suddenly turn on actors they once rushed out to see (see also: Meg Ryan). I now affectionally call her The Zeéeeee in remembrance of the five happy years we spent together (1996-2001).
While there's no such thing as an Oscar curse, Oscar wins quite often, and maybe quite naturally, mark the peak of an actor's career. Whether snagging showbiz's ultimate prize depletes the ambition you need to survive Hollywood, whether Oscar winners feel crushing pressure to prove they deserved their win and stiffen up, whether personal problems derail a career just as it seems to be perfect, whether a well earned vacation turns into a "we didn't miss you" extended hiatus ... well, who can say, really, but many stars fumble immediately after being crowned king or queen of Tinseltown for a year.
Recent movement in Zeéeeee's camp suggests she's ready for her career's second (third?) act now. She'll make her directorial debut with a film called 4 ½ Minutes which will star Johnny Knoxville as a struggling comedian. He is hired to babysit the Zeéeeees son and hijinx ensue. She's also lining up her Broadway debut in an adaptation of The Hustler, presumably in the Piper Laurie role. (Poor Piper! Leave her signature alones, people) Both projects are being scripted by Anthony Tambakis who wrote the screenplay to the fighting brothers drama Warrior. Some reports say that Tambakis is also co-writing a television series with the actress called Cinammon Girl to air on Lifetime. They must have hit it off.
Do you think this career can be saved? If so what would it take.
Reader Comments (31)
she should do what Helen Hunt did this year and find a really good script that could turn into an indie sensation a la The Sessions.
But frankly I dont miss her at all. I caught Jerry Maguire on TV the ther and her charm in that still holds up. What happened?
I miss Renee! I don't often disagree with your opinions but I've always loved Renee, as a comedienne, she's incredible, one of our best and although I love Nicole, Cate and Kate, in terms of warmth and charisma, I'm Team Renee and I don't care how unpopular this post makes me, TEAM RENEE!
directing seems a wise move. if there was one person on this earth born to squint through a viewfinder...
Quentin Tarantino should direct her in a gritty nihilistic noir film.
One supporting role as good-hearted hooker in a Woody Allen movie?
I'm afraid there aren't many of us left now, but I would love to see Bridget Jones 3.
I don't particularly like the idea of revisiting The Hustler on stage. I prefer a good dramedy on TV, something following the steps of Enlightened, The Big C or Nurse Jackie.
Zellweger's disappearance in broad daylight was a natural unfuss worthy occurrence.
@Keegan Can I join the team, please?
I hope so much that the film will be a hit!!!
I don't care about the brodway, coz I'll never see it, since I don't live even near to New York, not even America. But good luck to her always, she's the best!
I hope that Anne Hathaway suffers the same fate after her win for Les Mis.
I liked her in Down With Love with Ewan McGregor and Sarah Paulson. I think she has the talent and skills to have a successful next act as an actor, if she's fortunate enough to get some good roles. I'm in favor of her doing stage work if it makes her avoid nightmarish cosmetic surgery.
I'm more doubtful that she can become a successful celebrity again, although she was a stylish red carpet darling at one time. But even if she avoids Meg Ryan surgery, her celebrity story seems unappealing. Men seem uninterested in her, use her, date her, dump her. She'd have to have a Vicarious Vindication, where some popular man married her, adored her, and said so publicly.
I like her. The Meg Ryan comparison is apt; she really shines in romantic comedies, and is at her best when paired with the right partner (such as Ewan McGregor in Down with Love). Jerry Maguire wouldn't have worked without her. Now that she's aged out of those roles, she needs to rethink her career.
In terms of the "use her, date her, dump her" pattern in her personal life, I've always assumed that Renee, much like Jennifer Aniston, is a professional beard. (Bradley Cooper dated both of them!) If she's romantically linked to a man, it' s highly likely he's gay and closeted.
Reading these posts makes me sad for Renee. I've never had a problem with her at all. She reminds me mostly of Sandra Bullock in that she's pretty good in her small niche and people DO like her, despite some people who hate her. I think there is a lot of goodwill out there to her having a delicious comeback. I've always seen her in a sort of AbFab role in the future. I do NOT think she should try to go for some Master Thespian sort of attempt. There's no problem being the older girl-next-door. We all have to grow up sometime.
She had me at goodbye. I haven't missed her. I know I'm in the minority, but for me, Jerry Maguire was one of the most annoying things I've ever seen on the screen--a hundred and fifty six minute-long cringe. I really enjoyed her touching performance in One True Thing and her terrific turn in Chicago, but she did not deserve an Oscar for Cold Mountain. For the most part, I think she's a good actress, but probably not as talented as the media made her out to be. If her directorial debut hinges on extracting a viable lead performance from Mr. Knoxville, she might not want to get that red carpet Vera Wang out of mothballs just yet.
Ooohh no please spare me! She is not worthy any good roles. Her pouting, voice, mannerism...etc....I just cant stand that woman. BUT I have to admit that I really liked her as Bridget Jones
Her Oscar win for Cold Mountain was so wrong in all levels. Amen
Brookesboy, you surely mean Carolina Herrera. This also explains all these Tambakis projects.
I liked her during your good years too, Nathaniel. She was good to great in a lot of stuff, ranging from Jerry Maguire to Nurse Betty to Chicago. I think Chicago was her career peak actually, but five minutes into Cold Mountain I made a face as sour as she's often accused of making and never got back to sweet.
I think she needs to play an outright villain or unabashedly terrible person to resurrect her career, and use the sharp-edged brittleness that I always thought was a foundation of her good roles, that she would take out during her characters' inevitable downturn. I think she'd be fantastic in something like that - something along what Charlize Theron did in Young Adult.
I dunno; worthier actresses wandered through the wilderness since their heyday in 2002-2003. Look at Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman. Both of them seemed to face slumps—some of Kidman's best performances (Birth, Dogville, Margot) went underseen and misunderstood. Julianne Moore was off the real prestige map until Savage Grace reminded everyone that there was a potent, fascinating actress being wasted in misfired mommy thrillers.
Both actresses have played the field of big parts, small parts, mainstream and indie fare ever since. They've taken the right risks and worked with the right people. There isn't really a blueprint so much as luck and making the most of what you're given.
That said, Moore and Kidman are the two greatest talents of their generation (I stopped trying to choose between them) and maybe what we're finding now is that fate was generous to Renee for as long as her A-List run lasted. Hers isn't a presence I miss.
I also want to put forth a conspiracy theory wherein Cate Blanchett's ascent was an atom bomb intended to temporarily destabilize the career of every actress who seemed to matter before 2004. Nicole. Julianne. Charlize. Renee. Diane Lane had Unfaithful in 2002 and Under the Tuscan Sun (and underrated star vehicle) in 2003, and then...nothing. Total war. She has a hurricane in her...
Hayden: I think your conspiracy theory has merit. I adore Diane Lane, and she stunned the filmgoing world with her comeback in Unfaithful. I have a weak spot for Must Love Dogs, 2005. The movie is slight but she and John Cusack pack this movie with irresistible charm. And I love how his character is obsessed with Doctor Zhivago. I can relate. LOL
I think part of her problem is the same problem many actresses her age face - by her mid-30's, she just aged out of Hollywood's sweet spot. There probably weren't a lot of great opportunities for her and she was finally in a place in her career where didn't have to take something if she didn't want it.
I was a big fan after Jerry Maguire, Nurse Betty and, yes, even Bridget Jones. I think she has an interesting presence and is a talented comedienne, but I can't think of any recent movies that she would have made better. She's a unique talent to base a film around. Hopefully she's choosing these projects because they feel right, not just so she has something to work on.
I feel like her career was just a mix of all the right elements; everything was working right when it needed to.
She started with smaller things and broke out that way, then had Jerry Maguire and Nurse Jackie, which both earned her traction.
So when Bridget Jones came around, people were ready to nominate her for an Oscar ... and things kept building. She was a huge star and got the lead in Chicago, which she was pretty damn great in. She was so close to the Oscar that year that for simply appearing in a well-received film the next year, she swept (so basically, she has way too many awards lol). She was still at the right A-status and still had career momentum. Had she not had Cold Mountain, I doubt she would have an Oscar right now. Unless she randomly had an amazing role in a great film.
I'm kind of indifferent with her. She's a bit annoying, but she used to be a lot better than she is.
She can stay away.... It is ok!
I think of Renee and I think that she just didn't push herself creatively enough. I do think she's talented, but we've just seen version after version of that same girl.
I feel like if you look at her contemporaries (Nicole, Julianne, Cate etc.) they have all made serious strides to work on variegated projects that push them into uncomfortable situations. Sometimes (Nic with The Invasion, Fur etc, Julianne with Laws of Attraction, Forgotten, and Cate as the baddy Commy in Indy 4) they flop. But they still try to find the projects, scripts, and directors that motivate them to tell them in a different way.
I'd love to see her do a Lars Von Trier film or something with one of the great lady directors (Campion, Potter, hell even Kelly Reichardt).
It's really too bad she couldn't have gotten one of those roles in August Osage County. It would have been nice to see her in a small-ish role out of the limelight but still working for the cause.
Why she and Dianne Wiest haven't made a movie together as mother/daughter bank robbers I'll never know.
Hmmm that would be really great to investigate which actresses blossom while Blanchett chose do be abscent from the big screen for a couple of years. She must have said no to lots of good roles I think.
Nathaniel: please please make this happen for me ;)
She'd have made a FANTASTIC Ivy in "August Osage County," but I don't think she really looks like the clan they're building. Sad.
Loving the Wiest mom/daughter caper idea.
I need a Dianne Wiest fix. I've got Bullets Over Broadway up next in the queue. Sigh. She would be great as Renee's mama.
Now I wonder how Renée and Diane would've sparred in Rabbit Hole (not that anyone could've topped Nicole's perf).
The thing about Renée is she always was an acquired taste but had an endearing accessibility at the beginning (circa mid- to late-'90s) that she lost beneath off-putting armor. I first noticed her growing tickiness in The Bachelor (so fussy) but realized she gave in fully to self-consciousness/-seriousness by the time she made Chicago. (Bridget Jones' Diary was, for me, the last movie of hers that truly showcased her good humor and bonhomie at its best.)
All that said, I stand by what I've said that the girl sure can dress. (Future VF Style Hall of Famer, that one!)
She's the very first actress that I became obsessed with but to be entirely honest sometimes I forget her when somebody asks me who my fave actresses are. I am mad at myself for forgetting her but I will forever be here for her to support her in whatever she does. I strongly believe that that's what we should do when some fallen actors try their luck in acting again. And quite frankly, I think because of the thousands of people who are saying that she is overrated makes her underrated, if that makes sense. I really miss her. I miss her squints and pouts and I think she has one of the sweetest speaking voices in the Hollywood. Writing this post is making me cry now so I'll stop.
I certainly hope she can't come back ... there are too many talented actresses out there!
OMG!! 4rtful ... we agree again!
I think Anne Hathaway has taken her slot in Hollywood....