Renée Kathleen Zellweger (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards; by 2007 she was one of the highest-paid actresses in the world.

Born and raised in Texas, Zellweger studied English literature at the University of Texas at Austin. Initially dreaming of a career in journalism, she became interested in acting after a brief stint on stage while in college. After supporting roles in the films "Dazed and Confused" (1993) and "Reality Bites" (1994), her first leading role was in the slasher film "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation" (1994). She gained recognition for her leading roles in the romantic comedy "Jerry Maguire" (1996), the drama "One True Thing" (1998), and the black comedy "Nurse Betty" (2000), for the latter of which she won a Golden Globe Award.

For her roles as Bridget Jones in the romantic comedy "Bridget Jones's Diary" (2001) and Roxie Hart in the musical "Chicago" (2002), Zellweger received consecutive Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing a talkative farmer in the war film "Cold Mountain" (2003). She reprised the role of Jones in the sequel "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" (2004) and, after a career slump and a hiatus, in "Bridget Jones's Baby" (2016). In 2019, Zellweger played her first major television role in the Netflix series "What/If," and also portrayed Judy Garland in the biographical film "Judy," winning the Academy Award for Best Actress. Since then, she has played Pam Hupp in the NBC crime miniseries "The Thing About Pam" (2022).