|
Post by Admin on Feb 11, 2020 2:31:30 GMT
It marked the second Oscar victory in four nominations for Zellweger, 50, a Texas-born performer whose immersion in the role of Garland also earned Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA awards. Taking the stage to accept her award, Zellweger saluted her fellow nominees in the best actress race - Cynthia Erivo for “Harriet,” Scarlett Johansson for “Marriage Story,” Charlize Theron for “Bombshell,” and Saoirse Ronan for “Little Women.” “I have to say it is an honor to be considered in your company,” Zellweger said. She then paid tribute to Garland’s “legacy of unique exceptionalism and inclusivity and generosity of spirit.” “Ms. Garland you are certainly among the heroes who unite and define us, and this is certainly for you,” she added. “I am so grateful. Thank you so much, everybody.”
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Feb 21, 2020 18:21:53 GMT
Renée Zellweger discussed with Ellen what it was like getting into character to play Judy Garland in the new movie, “Judy.” The star admitted to getting real stage fright, and how it was good that she was able to capture a real representation of Judy’s fatigue by using prosthetic makeup.
Renée on winning an Oscar in 2004, being on the cover of Vanity Fair with Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Lopez, her childhood house being up for sale, being nominated for an Oscar for playing Judy Garland in the movie Judy, singing all of the songs live, and visiting Abbey Road.
Renée Zellweger now has an Oscar for portraying Judy Garland, but this shouldn’t make the Academy’s troubles melt like lemon drops.
Despite dedicating her life to the entertainment industry, Garland’s immeasurable talents and staggering performances were never honored with Oscar gold in her lifetime. In 1940, when she was 17 years old, she was given an Academy Juvenile Award, largely for her contributions to The Wizard of Oz.
But when the Academy had the chance to recognize her talents with a competitive award — in 1955 for A Star Is Born and in 1962 for Judgment at Nuremberg — they failed to do so.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Feb 21, 2020 21:41:07 GMT
It’s such an oversight that for many Grace Kelly’s 1955 victory for The Country Girl is considered the greatest snub in Oscar history. A Star Is Born was Garland’s comeback, after she’d exited her MGM contract on the heels of a suicide attempt in 1950. The film drew on much of Garland’s own biography, including details of the studio’s attempts to get her to lose weight and drastically alter her appearance. There have been few performances so vulnerable, so willing to expose the costs and rewards of stardom. Perhaps most ironically, the film contains a scene where Garland’s Vicki Lester wins an Oscar — even though the actress herself would never receive one. Now, Zellweger has an Oscar in Garland’s name. She swept the 2020 awards season for her portrayal of Garland in Judy, a look at the legendary entertainer’s life during her 1968 stint performing at London’s Talk of the Town. Zellweger’s was a victory projected since the film’s first trailers, given the Academy’s predilection for rewarding actors who embody real-life people (among Garland fans the performance was more polarizing and Garland’s daughter Liza Minnelli refuses to watch it). On Sunday night (and throughout awards season), Zellweger claimed her Oscar as a victory for Garland. “Though Judy Garland did not receive this honor in her time, I am certain that this moment is an extension of the celebration of her legacy that began on our film set,” she proclaimed. “Her legacy of unique exceptionalism and inclusivity and generosity of spirit, it transcends any one artistic achievement. Miss Garland, you are certainly among the heroes who unite and define us. This is certainly for you.” Even some of Garland’s former costars felt Zellweger’s likely victory was a step towards righting the Academy’s long-ago wrong. Meet Me in St. Louis’ Margaret O’Brien previously told EW, “People realize today that was sort of a travesty that [Garland] did not get the award. So I’m hoping that it does not happen to Renée Zellweger and that she gets the award this time to make up a little bit for Judy not getting it.” But let’s be clear: Hollywood took more from Garland than it ever gave. Putting her on a steady diet of pills as a child and pairing it with a strict diet, MGM warped her young sense of self and set her up for a lifelong struggle with addiction that ultimately took her life. In exchange, she gave them her whole heart, constantly delivering performances that were utterly raw and moving — the reason her star persists is because of her vulnerability. The struggling, lost woman beneath her soaring screen and stage presence was writ large on the screen and in every searing note of the songs that built her legacy.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Feb 29, 2020 5:32:33 GMT
Fresh off her (second!) Oscar win, Renée Zellweger appears to be taking more risks with her typical LBD + pumps red carpet formula. Granted, she changed things up for the Academy Awards in a glittering white one-sleeve Armani column gown, but Zellweger’s ride-or-die has been (and continues to be) the classic LBD. Adding an element of surprise (and delight!) to her go-to gala look, the Judy star wore a floor-length gown with a sheer lace torso and sleeves and a solid black skirt. But ah, for the twist … the skirt in question featured two slits trailing up the front of each leg and exposing the top of Zellweger’s thighs. The actress, who was attending a benefit for the Women’s Cancer Research Fund in Beverly Hills, paired her daring gown with a set of classic black pumps and her signature low ponytail.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Mar 1, 2020 19:51:08 GMT
Renée Zellweger has dived down rabbit holes to portray Judy Garland. She put herself through the proverbial wringer, contorting her body and stretching vocal chords in ways they had never been contorted and stretched before. Which is exactly how the Texas-born actor/producer wanted it. While pleased with her accomplishments and grateful for the opportunities that came her way, Zellweger became bored of her performances after working flat-out for more than 15 years. She entered a self-imposed exile in 2009 and when she re-emerged about seven years later, she was to do meaningful work. And then she got a call from Judy producer (and former Working Title executive) David Livingstone, an old associate from the Bridget Jones franchise. He had a script about the final chapter of Garland’s life, when the destitute star juggled domestic problems with a residency at The Talk Of The Town theatre in London. “It’s not anything I’d ever considered possible,” says Zellweger of the role. Yet she was drawn to the story of a cultural icon in her final days, and flew to London in 2017 for make-up tests and initial recordings at Abbey Road Studios “to see what might be possible and if it made sense”. Not entirely discouraged, she returned home and started researching. “It is your responsibility to go down the YouTube rabbit hole and read every book you can find and look at all the photographs and start collecting things and stories and ideas,” says Zellweger. “That’s a joy.” The technical side of things was perhaps a little less joyful. Zellweger had earned an Oscar nod for playing Roxie Hart in Chicago and could sing, but this was different. “I thought I had a very thin and inconsistent voice and had to learn how to sing differently because Judy had massive resonance and she belted out songs that were not within my ability when we started talking about this.” How Renée Zellweger Struggled In Hollywood. After Disappearing For Years And Returning As An Oscar Winner In 2020. Working with director Rupert Goold, a veteran from the UK theatre world, Zellweger immersed herself in preparation. One year before rehearsals she engaged a vocal coach in the US and then practised for four months with the film’s musical director Matt Dunkley. Production started in London in March 2018. Zellweger sang live, and impressed Goold with her attention to detail, mastering tics and holding her shoulders in the way Garland did due to a curvature of the spine. “You feel a different sense of responsibility when you’re playing someone who has lived and who is known because there are certain parameters that are established and non-negotiable,” she says. “With someone who is as beloved as Judy, you just want to be responsible in your approach. I love her too and I love what she represents and I love this gorgeous catalogue of work she left and that everybody feels some sort of attachment to her if you’ve ever seen The Wizard Of Oz. I wanted to be careful with that and we were all motivated by the hope to spotlight her importance and celebrate her legacy and feel we did it right.” Garland’s daughter Liza Minnelli was reportedly not thrilled about the idea of the film, and while Zellweger claims not to know much about that, she is empathetic. “I’m sure it’s probably an emotionally complicated thing to experience people talking about your mum in a project that you were not fostering personally.”
|
|