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BEVERLY HILLS, California – "We will start this interview at some point, "I insisted to Renée Zellweger.
"No, no," she said.
It was mid-August and I had gone to Beverly Wilshire Hotel to ask Zellweger of "Judy", the new drama that describes her as Judy Garland in the last year of her life, when the actress singer was at its height. It's a transformative role played so enthusiastically that Zellweger, 50, will be hard to beat for Oscar, the best actress this year, a big blow considering her recent six-year break on the screen.
But it took us a while to get to all this. First, it was to convince Zellweger to go to the interview: as a publicist, I always sent emails to repel his arrival, the date of our lunch was approaching the time of l & # 39; aperitif. I wondered if Zellweger, who had sometimes had a hard time in the media, could save time.
For nearly two hours in the lobby of the hotel, I saw a series of well dressed women and sober men coming out of the elevator, and then Zellweger appeared, small and unobtrusive in his sportswear, his blond hair hidden under a Texas Longhorns baseball cap. "Thank you for staying," she said shyly. "Everything continued to overflow."
Zellweger said she was re-adjusting to the celebrity program, including a photo shoot, endless clothing fitting, appearances at film festivals and our interview. If "Judy" holds up this season of rewards, she will have to talk a lot about herself – and that's fine, she assumes, but is not it more fun to have a conversation about something else? thing?
I think that's why she took advantage of the little discussion she had while we were going to the restaurant: my boyfriend was away that morning and we were about to get into a remote relationship. Zellweger was suddenly the one who cooked me: what was he doing in life, how long had he been in a relationship, and had not Rilke ever said that love was the guardian of the loneliness of some and other?
"His go to It's going to go, I know it! She said, her growling voice accentuated in Texas was now so determined that she was recalling old-fashioned words like "snatch" and "moxie". Forget all the fears I could feed, she says. me: "People are cynical and they will say that this kind of thing does not work and me totally disagree. Watch Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon crying aloud! "
She said that distance would teach us never to take ourselves for granted, and recommended meditation and the frequent FaceTime sessions. Everything was so convincing that after 20 minutes of sincere advice, I had to remind Zellweger that it was she who was supposed to answer the questions today.
His face fell a little. "First of all, are you hungry?" She asked, coldly opening the menu. "You must be, darling." The waiter approached and Zellweger placed an order for me: "He will have a triple martini," she says with a sneer.
ONCE ZELLWEGER ASKED she herself at the interview, she began to enjoy it. "Judy" went pretty much the same way: director Rupert Goold persuaded Zellweger to take the project carefully, aware that an early offer could prove too discouraging. "Someone was asking, when was that moment when you knew you were?" Zellweger tells me. "And I do not think it's ever happened!"
The script was sent to him in 2017. "At first I did not understand why they thought of me for it," said Zellweger. The film would require a lot of live singing, as it follows a nearly helpless Garland after accepting a five-week engagement to perform in London. nightcluband although she won an Oscar nomination for the musical "Chicago," Zellweger did not consider herself much of a singer.
But Goold felt that Zellweger's vulnerability in "Jerry Maguire" and the chutzpah that earned him an Academy Award for "Cold Mountain" have perfectly suited the role.
"Garland has had such incredible emotional immediacy," said Goold over the phone. "You feel like you're getting a mind that has that innate innocence and hope in it, and I wanted someone who has that kind of fragility." He also said that Zellweger's own experience in Hollywood, which has drawn attention to his novels and tabloids speculation about cosmetic surgery, could help inform a main character who must constantly fight damaging rumors.
So Zellweger started to explore. As Goold insisted on the lack of lip sync, she booked time in the studio and hired a singing coach to see if Garland's distinctive vocal styles were within her reach. She worked with a choreographer and costume designer to channel Garland's folded posture. And she went to a rabbit hole reading biographies, looking at old clips and browsing Garland's fan forums for useful details.
But every time Zellweger caught talking to me about these things for too long, she became conscious of herself. "How is it a job? What a pleasure! She said again and again.
The most dramatic sequences of "Judy" happen every time Garland is forced to sing despite a voice ravaged by time and dependence. Goold has looked at this suspense: "I told Renee:" I'm going to structure the script so that it's not just getting ready for " Can Judy Garland provide what she needs right now? "But also" Renee Zellweger? "" "
She played these numbers live in front of an audience and Zellweger remembers the scenes with the excitement of someone else. who did skydiving and who did not die. "I was delighted. I was so high. Talk about things you have never done before! "I did not allow myself to think about it, it was deep inside me, terrifying, and I pushed it away all the time. Fortunately, it was such a whirlwind that I did not have time to think and think, "I'd rather not do this thing tomorrow."
Yet Zellweger has become being wary of projects that require him to take too much without having the time to properly metabolize everything. Garland was operated by a Hollywood machine that rarely allowed him to rest, and Zellweger said that she understood what it is that to reach "A certain place where you do not know if your skin is thick enough and you still need to go."
In 2010, after working almost uninterruptedly throughout his film career, Zellweger pulled out of Hollywood to take a break. lasted six years, until it reappears in the sequel "Bridget Jones's baby." "I lied to myself, and I do not know why," she said. "I did not see the exhaustion side. There was a moment when I stopped recognizing that I had to take care of myself.
She does not regret having undertaken several major projects each year, but all this free time has allowed her to put her priorities in order.
"Instead of saying," My boy, I hope to be able to organize this special person's birthday party, "I had to say," I am To go at the birthday party, "and I felt that I had the right to make this decision because of the blessing of this work," said Zellweger.
Released from this duty, Zellweger followed a therapy, traveled, took classes at the University of California at Los Angeles and even wrote a pilot for Lifetime (the chain eventually passed): "I took some free time not to regurgitate the same emotional experiences to tell stories. I have experienced new ones and everything is informative.
And without that perspective, she could not have played Judy Garland. "That's what allowed me to appreciate the experience I had having to navigate through a public figure who is making a snowball in your life," she said.
WEEKS LATER, I went to the "Judy" after-party at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film was created that night delighted tweets and a standing ovation, and when Zellweger took the scene at the theater, she cried. Everyone at the party just down the street was eager to present his congratulations, but an hour later, the cluttered evening still did not have its star.
"Where is Renee?" I heard a reporter ask. "Does anyone have eyes on her?"
Finally, this has been confirmed: Renee was about to enter the building. I surprised Zellweger going up very deliberately up the stairs, dressed in a powder blue dress and white high heels. Flanked by two representatives, she was out of sight, seemingly wanting to participate in the first of many nights of the season where she would be the center of interest.
Then she looked up and squeaked. "I'm so excited to see you again!" She said as she climbed the stairs to cover me with questions. Will I see my boyfriend soon? Oh, next week? Wonderful! "It's a very special moment for him," she told a reporter.
The publicist tried to get her into the party while I asked her about the standing ovation. Zellweger firmly resisted both of us.
"I heard that the first was incredible," I said.
"Not as amazing as seeing your boyfriend next week!" She replied, tapping a finger in her chest.
This continued until this could no longer be the case. After all the work she had done in this role, she had just been ovationnée for three minutes. What was it doing?
"I do not know how to take it," she said finally.
How to take what? This kind of adoration?
"Yeah," she said, frowning. "What do you say to that? "Congratulations on your luck?"
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