Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant in March 2011
Born	Hugh John Mungo Grant (1960-09-09) 9 September 1960 (age 51) Hammersmith, London, England, UK
Occupation	Actor, Film producer
Years active	1982–present
Partner	Elizabeth Hurley (1987–2000) Jemima Khan (2004–2007)
Children	1 (Tabitha, b. 2011)

Hugh John Mungo Grant^[1] (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His films have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide.^[2] Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's sleeper hit Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994).^[3] He used this breakthrough role as a frequent cinematic persona during the 1990s to deliver comic performances in mainstream films like Mickey Blue Eyes (1999) and Notting Hill (1999). By the turn of the 21st century, he had established himself as a leading man skilled with a satirical comic talent.^[4] Since the 2000s, Grant has expanded his oeuvre with critically acclaimed turns as a cad in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), About A Boy (2002), Love Actually (2003), and American Dreamz (2006).^[5]

Within the film industry, Grant is cited as an anti-film star who approaches his roles like a character actor, with the ability to make acting look effortless.^[6] Hallmarks of his comic skills include a nonchalant touch of irony/sarcasm and studied physical mannerisms as well as his precisely-timed dialogue delivery and facial expressions. The entertainment media's coverage of Grant's life off the big screen has often overshadowed his work as a thespian.^[7][8] He has been vocal about his disrespect for the profession of acting, and in his disdain towards the culture of celebrity and hostility towards the media.^[9][10] In a career spanning 30 years, Grant has repeatedly claimed that acting is not a true calling but just a job he fell into.^[11]

Early life and ancestry[link]

Grant was born at Hammersmith Hospital in Hammersmith, London, England, the second son of Fynvola (née MacLean; b. Wickham, Hampshire, 11 October 1933; m. Boxgrove, Sussex, 6 July 1957; d. Hounslow, London, July 2001)^[12] and Captain Michael Jordan Grant (b. 1929). Genealogist Antony Adolph described Grant's family history as "a colourful Anglo-Scottish tapestry of warriors, empire-builders and aristocracy,"^[13] including William Drummond, 4th Viscount Strathallan and Dr. James Stewart.^[13][14][15] John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl, Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham, Rt. Hon. Sir Evan Nepean, and a sister of former British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval, are a few of his notable maternal ancestors.^[16] Grant's grandfather, Major James Murray Grant, DSO, a native of Inverness in Scotland, was decorated for bravery and leadership at Dunkirk during World War II.^[17]

Grant's father, Capt. Grant, was trained at Sandhurst and served with the Seaforth Highlanders for eight years in Malaya, Germany and Scotland.^[18] Capt. He ran a carpet firm, pursued hobbies such as golf and painting watercolours, and raised his family in Chiswick, west London, where the Grants lived next to Arlington Park Mansions on Sutton Lane.^[19][20] In September 2006, a collection of Capt. Grant's paintings was hosted by the John Martin Gallery in a charity exhibition, organised by his famous son, called "James Grant: 30 Years of Watercolours."^[21] She worked as a schoolteacher and taught Latin, French and music for more than 30 years in the state schools of west London.^[22] She died at the age of 65,^[12] 18 months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.^[23]

Grant's accent is an inheritance from his mother and, on Inside the Actors Studio in 2002, he credited her with "any acting genes that [he] might have."^[20] Both his parents were children of military families,^[24] but, despite his parents' backgrounds, Grant has stated that his family was not always affluent while he was growing up.^[25] Grant spent his childhood summers shooting and hunting with his grandfather in Scotland.^[19] Grant's elder brother, James "Jamie" Grant, is a successful banker as Managing Director, Head of Healthcare, Consumer, & Retail Investment Banking Coverage, at JPMorgan Chase in New York.^[26]

Education[link]

Grant started his education at Hogarth Primary School in Chiswick but then moved to St Peter's Primary School in Hammersmith. From 1969 to 1978, he attended the independent Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith on a scholarship and played 1st XV rugby, cricket and football for the school.^[27][28] He also represented Latymer on the popular quiz show, Top of the Form, an academic competition between two teams of four secondary school students each.^[29] Chris Hammond, his form teacher in 1975 and later the assistant head of Latymer, told People magazine that Grant was "a clever boy among clever boys."^[28][30] In 1979, he won the Galsworthy scholarship to New College, Oxford where he starred in his first film, Privileged, produced by the Oxford University Film Foundation, OUFF. He studied English literature and graduated with 2:1 honours.^[31] Actress Anna Chancellor, who knew Grant at Oxford, has recalled, "I first met Hugh at a party at Oxford. There was something magical about him. He was a star even then, without having done anything."^[32] He received an offer from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London to pursue a PhD in the history of art, but decided not to take the offer because he failed to secure a grant. Viewing acting as nothing more than a creative outlet,^[33] he joined the Oxford University Dramatic Society and starred in a successful touring production of Twelfth Night.^[34] Hugh Grant funds The Fynvola Grant Scholarship at Latymer Upper School in memory of his mother who was a teacher in West London.

Young earner[link]

After making his debut as Hughie Grant in the Oxford-financed Privileged (1982), Grant dabbled in a variety of jobs: he wrote book reviews,^[35] worked as assistant groundsman at Fulham Football Club,^[36] tried his hand at tutoring, wrote comedy sketches for TV shows,^[37] and was hired by Talkback Productions to write and produce radio commercials for products such as Mighty White bread and Red Stripe lager.^[38] To obtain his Equity card, he joined the repertory theatre Nottingham Playhouse and lived for a year at Park Terrace in The Park Estate, Nottingham.^[39] Bored with small acting parts, he created his own comedy revue called The Jockeys of Norfolk with friends Chris Lang and Andy Taylor. The group toured London’s pub comedy circuit with stops at The George IV in Chiswick, Canal Cafe Theatre in Little Venice and The King's Head in Islington.^[40] Starting on a low note, The Jockeys of Norfolk eventually proved a hit at the Edinburgh Festival after their sketch on the Nativity, told as an Ealing comedy, garnered them a spot on the BBC2 TV show called Edinburgh Nights.^[41] During this time, Grant also appeared in theatre productions of plays such as An Inspector Calls, Lady Windermere's Fan, and Coriolanus.

Career[link]

Grant at the Cannes film festival, 1997

Grant's first leading role came in Merchant-Ivory's 1987 Edwardian drama, Maurice, adapted from E.M. Forster's novel of the same name, in which he played the homosexual Clive Durham. He and co-star James Wilby shared the Volpi Cup for best actor at the Venice Film Festival for their portrayals of Cantabrigian collegians Clive Durham and Maurice Hall, respectively. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Grant balanced small roles on television with rare film work, which included a supporting role in The Dawning (1988), opposite Anthony Hopkins and Jean Simmons and a turn as Lord Byron in a Goya Award-winning Spanish production called Remando al viento (1988). He also portrayed some other real life figures during in his early career such as Charles Heidsieck in Champagne Charlie and as Hugh Cholmondeley in BAFTA Award-nominated White Mischief.

In 1990, he made a cameo appearance in the sport/crime drama The Big Man, opposite Liam Neeson, and in which Grant assumed a Scottish accent. The film explores the life of a Scottish miner (Neeson) who becomes unemployed during a union strike. In 1991, he played Julie Andrews' gay son in the ABC made-for-television film Our Sons.

In 1992, he appeared in Roman Polanski's film Bitter Moon, portraying a fastidious and proper British tourist who is married, but finds himself enticed by the sexual hedonism of a seductive French woman and her embittered, paraplegic American husband. The film was called an "anti-romantic opus of sexual obsession and cruelty" by the Washington Post.^[42] His other work in period pieces such as Ken Russell’s horror film, The Lair of the White Worm (1988), award-winning Merchant-Ivory drama The Remains of the Day (1993) and (as Frédéric Chopin in) Impromptu (1991) went largely unnoticed. He later called this phase of his career "hilarious," referring to his early films as "Europuddings, where you would have a French script, a Spanish director, and English actors. The script would usually be written by a foreigner, badly translated into English. And then they'd get English actors in, because they thought that was the way to sell it to America."^[43]

At 32, Grant claimed to be on the brink of giving up the acting profession but was surprised by the script of Four Weddings and a Funeral (FWAAF).^[4] "If you read as many bad scripts as I did, you'd know how grateful you are when you come across one where the guy actually is funny," he later recalled.^[3] Released in 1994, FWAAF became the highest-grossing British film to date with a worldwide box office in excess of $244 million,^[44] making Grant an overnight international star. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, and among numerous awards won by its cast and crew, it earned Grant his first and only Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical Or Comedy and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. It also temporarily typecast him as the lead character, Charles, a bohemian and debonair bachelor. Grant and Curtis saw it as an inside joke that the star, due to the parts he played, was assumed to have the personality of the screenwriter, who is known for writing about himself and his own life.^[43][45] Grant later expressed:

In July 1994, Grant signed a two-year production deal with Castle Rock Entertainment and by October, he became founder and director of the UK-based Simian Films Limited.^[46] He appointed his then-girlfriend, Elizabeth Hurley, as the head of development to look for prospective projects. Simian Films produced two Grant vehicles in the 1990s and lost a bid to produce About a Boy to Robert De Niro's TriBeCa Productions.^[47] The company closed its U.S. office in 2002 and Grant resigned as director in December 2005.^[48]

1995 saw the release of Grant's first studio-financed Hollywood project, Chris Columbus's comedy Nine Months. Though a hit at the box office, it was almost universally panned by critics. The Washington Post called it a "grotesquely pandering caper" and singled out Grant's performance, as a child psychiatrist reacting unfavourably to his girlfriend's unexpected pregnancy, for his "insufferable muggings."^[49] The same year, he played leading roles as Emma Thompson's suitor in Ang Lee’s Academy Award-winning adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility and as a cartographer in 1917 Wales in The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. In the same year he performed in the Academy Award-winning Restoration.

Before the release of FWAAF, Grant reunited with the director of FWAAF, Mike Newell, for the tragicomedy An Awfully Big Adventure that was labelled a "determinedly offbeat film" by The New York Times.^[50] Grant portrayed a bitchy, supercilious director of a repertory company in post-World War II Liverpool. Critic Roger Ebert wrote, "It shows that he has range as an actor,"^[51] but the San Francisco Chronicle disapproved on grounds that the film "plays like a vanity production for Grant."^[52] Janet Maslin, praising Grant as "superb" and "a dashing cad under any circumstances," commented, "For him this film represents the road not taken. Made before Four Weddings and a Funeral was released, it captures Mr. Grant as the clever, versatile character actor he was then becoming, rather than the international dreamboat he is today."^[50] Grant made his debut as a film producer with the 1996 thriller Extreme Measures, a commercial and critical failure.

After a three year hiatus, in 1999 he paired with Julia Roberts in Notting Hill, which was brought to theatres by much of the same team that was responsible for FWAAF. This new Working Title production displaced FWAAF as the biggest British hit in the history of cinema, with earnings equalling $363 million worldwide.^[44] As it became exemplary of modern romantic comedies in mainstream culture, the film was also received well by critics. CNN reviewer Paul Clinton said, "Notting Hill stands alone as another funny and heartwarming story about love against all odds."^[53] Reactions to Grant's Golden Globe-nominated performance were varied, with Salon.com's Stephanie Zacharek criticising that, "Grant's performance stands as an emblem of what's wrong with Notting Hill. What's maddening about Grant is that he just never cuts the crap. He's become one of those actors who's all shambling self-caricature, from his twinkly crow's feet to the time-lapsed half century it takes him to actually get one of his lines out."^[54] The film provided both its stars a chance to satirise the woes of international notoriety, most noted of which was Grant's turn as a faux-journalist who sits through a dull press junket with, what the New York Times called, "a delightfully funny deadpan."^[55] Grant also released his second production output, a fish-out-of-water mob comedy Mickey Blue Eyes, that year. It was dismissed by critics, performed modestly at the box office, and garnered its actor-producer mixed reviews for his starring role. Roger Ebert thought, "Hugh Grant is wrong for the role [and] strikes one wrong note and then another,"^[56] whereas Kenneth Turan, writing in the Los Angeles Times, said, "If he'd been on the Titanic, fewer lives would have been lost. If he'd accompanied Robert Scott to the South Pole, the explorer would have lived to be 100. That's how good Hugh Grant is at rescuing doomed ventures."^[57]

While promoting Woody Allen’s Small Time Crooks on NBC’s The Today Show in 2000, Grant told host Matt Lauer, “It's my millennium of bastards.�^[58] In 2000, Grant also joined the Supervisory Board of IM Internationalmedia AG, the powerful Munich-based film and media company.^[59]

Small Time Crooks starred Grant, in the words of film critic Andrew Sarris, as "a petty, petulant, faux-Pygmalion art dealer, David, [who] is one of the sleaziest and most unsympathetic characters Mr. Allen has ever created."^[60] In a role devoid of his comic attributes, the New York Times wrote: "Mr. Grant deftly imbues his character with exactly a perfect blend of charm and nasty calculation."^[61] A year later, his turn as a charming but womanising book publisher Daniel Cleaver in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) was proclaimed by Variety to be "as sly an overthrow of a star's polished posh – and nice – poster image as any comic turn in memory."^[62] The film, adapted from Helen Fielding's novel of the same name, was an international hit, earning $281 million worldwide.^[44] Grant was, according to the Washington Post, fitting as "a cruel, manipulative cad, hiding behind the male god's countenance that he knows all too well."^[63]

Grant's "immaculate comic performance" (BBC) as the trust-funded womaniser, Will Freeman, in the film adaptation of Nick Hornby's best-selling novel About a Boy received raves from critics.^[64] Almost universally praised, with an Academy Award-nominated screenplay, About a Boy (2002) was determined by the Washington Post to be "that rare romantic comedy that dares to choose messiness over closure, prickly independence over fetishised coupledom, and honesty over typical Hollywood endings."^[65] Rolling Stone wrote, "The acid comedy of Grant's performance carries the film [and he] gives this pleasing heartbreaker the touch of gravity it needs,"^[66] while Roger Ebert observed that "the Cary Grant department is understaffed, and Hugh Grant shows here that he is more than a star, he is a resource."^[67] Released a day after the blockbuster Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, About a Boy was a more modest box office grosser than other successful Grant films, making all of $129 million globally.^[44] The film earned Grant his third Golden-Globe nomination, while the London Film Critics Circle named Grant its Best British Actor and GQ honoured him as one of the magazine's men of the year 2002.^[68] "His performance can only be described as revelatory," wrote critic Ann Hornaday, adding that "Grant lends the shoals layer upon layer of desire, terror, ambivalence and self-awareness."^[65] The New York Observer concluded: "[The film] gets most of its laughs from the evolved expertise of Hugh Grant in playing characters that audiences enjoy seeing taken down a peg or two as a punishment for philandering and womanising and simply being too handsome for words-and with an English accent besides. In the end, the film comes over as a messy delight, thanks to the skill, generosity and good-sport, punching-bag panache of Mr. Grant's performance."^[69] About a Boy also marked a notable change in Grant's boyish look. Gone were the floppy locks that had become his trademark, with Grant now sporting a cropped haircut. He has retained this look since.

Grant was also paired with Sandra Bullock in Warner Bros.'s Two Weeks Notice, which made $199 million internationally but was judged poorly by professional reviewers.^[44] The Village Voice concluded that Grant's creation of a spoiled billionaire fronting a real estate business was "little more than a Britishism machine."^[70]

Two Weeks Notice was followed by the 2003 ensemble comedy, Love Actually, headlined by Grant as the British Prime Minister. A Christmas release by Working Title Films, the film was promoted as "the ultimate romantic comedy" and accumulated $246 million at the international box office.^[44] It marked the directorial debut of Richard Curtis, who told the New York Times that Grant adamantly tempered the characterisation of the role to make his character more authoritative and less haplessly charming than earlier Curtis incarnations.^[71] Roger Ebert claimed that "Grant has flowered into an absolutely splendid romantic comedian" and has "so much self-confidence that he plays the British prime minister as if he took the role to be a good sport."^[72] Film critic Rex Reed, on the contrary, called Grant's performance "an oversexed bachelor spin on Tony Blair" as the star "flirted with himself in the paroxysm of self-love that has become his acting style."^[73]

A speech delivered by Grant in Love Actually – where he extols the virtues of Great Britain and refuses to cave to the pressure of its longstanding ally, the United States – was etched in the transatlantic memory as a satirical, wishful statement on the concurrent Bush-Blair relationship.^[74] Blair responded by saying, "I know there's a bit of us that would like me to do a Hugh Grant in Love Actually and tell America where to get off. But the difference between a good film and real life is that in real life there's the next day, the next year, the next lifetime to contemplate the ruinous consequences of easy applause."^[75]

Grant in Brussels, October 2008

In 2004, Grant reprised his role as Daniel Cleaver for a small part in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, which, like its predecessor, made more than $262 million commercially.^[44] Gone from the screen for two years, Grant next reteamed with Paul Weitz (About a Boy) for the black comedy American Dreamz (2006). Grant starred as the acerbic host of an American Idol-like reality show where, according to Caryn James of the New York Times, "nothing is real ... except the black hole at the centre of the host's heart, as Mr. Grant takes Mr. Cowell's villainous act to its limit."^[76] American Dreamz failed financially but Grant was generously praised. He played his self-aggrandising character, an amalgam of Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest, with smarmy self-loathing. The Boston Globe proposed that this "just may be the great comic role that has always eluded Hugh Grant,"^[77] and critic Carina Chocano said, "He is twice as enjoyable as the preening bad guy as he was as the bumbling good guy."^[78]

In 2007, Grant starred opposite Drew Barrymore in a parody of pop culture and the music industry called Music and Lyrics. The Associated Press described it as "a weird little hybrid of a romantic comedy that's simultaneously too fluffy and not whimsical enough."^[79] Though he neither listens to music nor owns any CDs,^[24] Grant learned to sing, play the piano, dance (a few mannered steps) and studied the mannerisms of prominent musicians to prepare for his role as a has-been pop singer, based loosely on Andrew Ridgeley.^[9] The Star-Ledger dismissed the performance, writing that "paper dolls have more depth."^[80] The film, with its revenues totalling $145 million, allowed Grant to mock disposable pop stardom and fleeting celebrity through its washed-up lead character. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "Grant strikes precisely the right note with regard to Alex's career: He's too intelligent not to be a little embarrassed, but he's far too brazen to feel anything like shame."^[81] In 2009, Grant starred opposite Sarah Jessica Parker in the romantic comedy Did You Hear About the Morgans?, which was a commercial as well as a critical failure.^[82]

In 2011, Grant reportedly turned down the starring role in Chuck Lorre's Two and a Half Men reboot, replacing Charlie Sheen's vacated role. He turned down the role due to creative differences.

Work ethic[link]

Grant is well known for having a very strong work ethic. He has called being a successful actor a mistake and has repeatedly talked of his hope that film stardom would just be "a phase" in his life, lasting no more than ten years.^[43] He pins his lack of interest in acting on two different thoughts: first, that he drifted into the job as a temporary joke at age 23 and finds it an immature way for a grown man to spend his time;^[83] and secondly, because he believes to have already given the one remarkable comic performance he had hoped to create on screen.^[84] A self-confessed "committed and passionate" perfectionist on a film set,^[11] Grant has constantly opted to describe himself as a reluctant actor, who chooses to be neutral about his career and works mostly with friends from previous collaborations.^[6][85] Richard Curtis, a frequent collaborator, revealed that Grant is not fluid about the filmmaking process and tends to be unrelaxed while filming because he does not feel as though he's in the director's hands and prefers instead to take responsibility for giving a definitive performance.^[9] Grant is noted by co-workers for demanding endless takes until he achieves the desired shot according to his own standard.^[86][87]

A 2007 Vogue profile of Grant referred to him as a man with a "professionally misanthropic mystique."^[9] The observation followed published facts such as that Grant conducts his interviews alone (without any publicists),^[88] and has derided focus groups, market research and overriding emphasis on the opening weekend.^[89] Grant decided to let go of his agent in 2006, ending a 10-year relationship with CAA.^[90] Besides proudly proclaiming in interviews to have never listened to external views on his career, he stated that he does not require the hand-holding an agent provides.^[9] A few months before firing his agent, he said, "They've known for years that I have total control. I've never taken any advice on anything."^[84]

He has stuck to the genre of comedy, especially the romantic comedy, for the entirety of his mainstream film career and never ventures to play characters who are not British. While some film critics, such as the respected Roger Ebert, have defended the limited variety of his performances, others have dismissed him as a one-trick pony. Eric Fellner, co-owner of Working Title Films and a long-time collaborator of Grant said, "His range hasn't been fully tested, but each performance is unique."^[91] A majority of Grant's popular films in the 1990s followed a similar plot that captured an optimistic bachelor experiencing a series of embarrassing incidents to find true love, often with an American woman. In earlier films, Grant was adept at plugging into the stereotype of a repressed Englishman for humorous effects, allowing him to gently satirise his characters as he summed them up and played against the type simultaneously.^[39] These performances were sometimes deemed overbearing, in the words of Washington Post's Rita Kempley, due to his "comic overreactions—the mugging, the stuttering, the fluttering eyelids." She added: "He's got more tics than Benny Hill."^[92] Grant's penchant for conveying his characters' feelings with mannerisms, rather than direct emotions, has been one of the foremost objections raised against his acting style. Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post once stated that, to be effective as a comic performer, he must get "his jiving and shucking under control."^[93] Film historian David Thompson wrote in The New Biographical Dictionary of Film about how it is merely itchy mannerisms that Grant equates with screen acting.

Grant's screen persona of later films, in the new millennium, gradually developed into a cynical, self-loathing cad.^[94] Claudia Puig of USA Today celebrated this transformation with the observation that finally "gone [were] the self-conscious 'Aren't I adorable' mannerisms that seemed endearing at the start of [Grant's] film career but have grown cloying in more recent movies."^[95] Using his facial contortions and an affected stammer for varied comic purposes,^[96] According to Carina Chocano, amongst film critics, the two tropes most commonly associated with Grant are that he reinvented his screen persona in Bridget Jones's Diary and About a Boy and dreads the possibility of becoming a parody of himself.^[97] His preference for levity over dramatic range has been a controversial topic in establishment circles, prompting him to say:

In the media[link]

Grant has repeatedly spoken about his boredom with playing the celebrity in the press^[98] and is known in popular media for his guarded privacy,^[99] About the culture of celebrity, he told Vogue, "My theory is that it's like bodybuilders who inject testosterone, which means that their own powers to generate testosterone shut down forever. The fake esteem you get from being in the public eye feels like self-worth, but actually your own powers to produce it shut down. The stuff that really counts is your own. And that's, I think, why people go bonkers."^[9] On probing of his personal life, he has remained incredibly steadfast in "offering a dead bat to any question he feels is not general enough."^[100] Meanwhile, acquaintances portray him as a complicated man with an anarchic and sharp constitution.^[9][39] "There is at least as much of Hugh that is charismatic, intellectual, and whose tongue," according to Mike Newell, "is maybe too clever for its own good as there is of him that's gorgeous and kind of woolly and flubsy."^[101] Filmmaker Paul Weitz, calling Grant funny, observed that "he perceives flaws in himself and other people, and then he cares about their humanity nonetheless."^[102] British newspapers regularly refer to him as grumpy.^{[103][104][105][106][107]}

Libel lawsuits[link]

In 1996, Grant won substantial damages from News (UK) Ltd over what his lawyers called a "highly defamatory" article published in January 1995. The company's now-defunct newspaper, Today, had falsely claimed that Grant verbally abused a young extra with a "foul-mouthed tongue lashing" on the set of The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain.^[108]

On 27 April 2007, Grant accepted undisclosed damages from the Associated Newspapers over claims made about his relationships with his former girlfriends in three separate tabloid articles, which were published in the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday on 18, 21 and 24 February. His lawyer stated that all of the articles' "allegations and factual assertions are false."^[109] Grant said, in a written statement, that he took the action because: "I was tired of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday papers publishing almost entirely fictional articles about my private life for their own financial gain." He went on to take the opportunity to stress, "I'm also hoping that this statement in court might remind people that the so-called 'close friends' or 'close sources' on which these stories claim to be based almost never exist."^[110]

Legal troubles[link]

Hugh Grant mugshot, 1995

On 27 June 1995, Grant was arrested in an L.A. Vice police operation not far from Sunset Boulevard for misdemeanour lewd conduct in a public place with Hollywood prostitute Divine Brown.^[111] He pleaded no contest and was fined $1,180, placed on two years' summary probation, and was ordered to complete an AIDS education program.^[112][113]

The arrest occurred about two weeks before the release of Grant's first major studio film, Nine Months, which he was scheduled to promote on several American television shows. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno had him booked for the same week and, as recalled in former employee Don Sweeney's memoirs, "despite his arrest, Hugh Grant kept his appointment to appear on Jay's show."^[114] The interview was a career-making hit for Leno and Grant was singled out for not making excuses for the incident.^[115][116] He famously said:

On Larry King Live, Grant declined the host Larry King's repeated invitations to probe his psyche, saying that psychoanalysis was "more of an American syndrome" and he himself was "a bit old fashioned."^[118] He told the host: "I don't have excuses."^[119] Grant was appreciated for "his refreshing honesty" as he "faced the music and handled it with tongue [in] cheek."^[120]

In April 2007, Grant was arrested on allegations of assault made by paparazzo Ian Whittaker.^[121] Grant made no official statement and did not comment on the incident.^[122] Charges were dropped on 1 June by the Crown Prosecution Service on the grounds of "insufficient evidence."^[123]

Phone hacking exposé[link]

In April 2011 Grant published an article in the New Statesman entitled "The Bugger, Bugged"^[124] about a conversation following a chance encounter with Paul McMullan, former journalist and paparazzo for News of the World. In unguarded comments which were secretly taped by Grant, McMullan alleged that editors at the Daily Mail and News of the World, particularly Andy Coulson, had ordered journalists to engage in illegal phone tapping and had done so with the full knowledge of senior British politicians. McMullan also said that every British Prime Minister from Margaret Thatcher onwards had cultivated a close relationship with Rupert Murdoch and his senior executives. He stressed the friendship between David Cameron and Rebekah Brooks (née Wade), agreeing when asked that both of them must have been aware of illegal phone tapping, and asserting that Cameron's inaction could be explained by self-interest:

"Cameron is very much in debt to Rebekah Wade for helping him not quite win the election ... So that was my submission to parliament – that Cameron's either a liar or an idiot."^[124]

When asked by Grant whether Cameron had encouraged the Metropolitan Police to "drag their feet" on investigating illegal phone tapping by Murdoch's journalists, McMullan agreed that this had happened, but also stated that the police themselves had taken bribes from tabloid journalists, so had a motive to comply:

"20 per cent of the Met has taken backhanders from tabloid hacks. So why would they want to open up that can of worms?... And what's wrong with that, anyway? It doesn't hurt anyone particularly."^[124]

Grant's article attracted considerable interest, due to both the revelatory content of the taped conversation, and the novelty of Grant himself "turning the tables" on a tabloid journalist.^[125]

Whilst the allegations regarding the News of the World continued to receive coverage in the broadsheets and similar media (Grant appeared for example on BBC Radio 4) it was only with the revelation that the voicemail of the then missing and subsequently murdered Millie Dowler had been hacked, and evidence in her murder enquiry had been deleted, that the coverage turned from media interest to widespread public (and eventually political) outrage. Grant became something of a spokesman against Murdoch's News Corporation, culminating in a bravura performance on BBC television's Question Time in July 2011.^[126]

Personal life[link]

Grant during the second round of Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, October 2007

In 1987, while playing Lord Byron in a Spanish production called Remando Al Viento (1988), Grant met actress Elizabeth Hurley, who was cast in a supporting role as Byron's former lover Claire Clairmont.^[43] Grant started dating the aspiring model while shooting and their relationship was subsequently the subject of much media attention. After 13 years together, the two made "a mutual and amicable decision" to split in May 2000.^[127] In 2004, he began dating Jemima Khan under the intense scrutiny of British tabloids.^[9] Three years later, in February 2007, Grant's publicist announced that the couple had "decided to split amicably."^[128] The spokesman added, "Hugh has nothing but positive things to say about Jemima."

Grant is godfather to Hurley's son Damian.^[129] In November 2011, it was announced that Grant had become a father to a baby girl, Tabitha, earlier that autumn.^[130] The identity of the mother, with whom Grant had had a "fleeting affair" according to his publicist, was not at first announced; however, it was later revealed to be a Chinese woman, Tinglan Hong.^[131][132] The publicist went on to say that "while this was not planned, Hugh could not be happier or more supportive. He and the mother have discussed everything and are on very friendly terms."^[133] In an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in April 2012, Grant revealed that his daughter's Chinese name is Xiao Xi（�喜) meaning "happy surprise".^[134]

Grant has claimed that Hong has been “badly treated� by the media, saying that press intrusion prevented him from attending the birth of his daughter in September 2011. Grant said, “I was at one of the party conferences, about to give a speech, and was pacing about on the end of the phone. I shouldn’t have gone to the hospital at all, because it brought all this attention down on the mother’s head. But I couldn’t really resist it, so I went on the second day.� Hong later obtained an injunction which allowed Hugh Grant to visit her and baby Tabitha in peace.^[130]

A famous "golfing addict",^[135] Grant is a scratch golfer and is a regular at pro-am tournaments with membership at the Sunningdale Golf Club. He is also frequently pictured by the paparazzi at the famed Scottish golf courses in St Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie.^[136] Highly competitive,^[137] he reportedly plays with a lot of money at stake.^[138] As a young boy, he played rugby union on his school's first XV team at centre and played football as an avid fan of Fulham F.C.. He is also a fan of Scottish side Rangers F.C.^[139] thanks to his grandfather who was Scottish. He continued to play in a Sunday-morning football league in south-west London after college and remains an "impassioned Fulham supporter."^[27] Grant's other interests include snooker^[140] and tennis.^[141]

Charity work[link]

Grant is a Patron of The DIPEx Charity,^[142] founded by the late Ann McPherson, a charity that publishes the websites Healthtalkonline and Youthhealthtalk; and a Patron of the Fynvola Foundation, named after his late mother, a charity which provides nursing and care for older learning-disabled people.^[143] He is also a supporter of Marie Curie Cancer Care, whose Great Daffodil Appeal he promoted in March 2008.^[144]

Filmography[link]

Awards and honours[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hugh Grant

• Hugh Grant at the Internet Movie Database
• Hugh Grant at Yahoo! Movies
• Hugh Grant at AllRovi
• Hugh Grant at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
• Hugh Grant on Charlie Rose
• Hugh Grant collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Hugh Grant collected news and commentary at The New York Times, and in NYT Movies
• Works by or about Hugh Grant in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2009)

Graham Norton
Norton in May 2010
Birth name	Graham William Walker
Born	(1963-04-04) 4 April 1963 (age 49) Clondalkin, Dublin, Ireland
Medium	Television, radio, stand-up
Nationality	Irish
Years active	1992–present
Genres	Observational comedy
Subject(s)	Everyday life, pop culture, current events, celebrities, sex
Notable works and roles	So Graham Norton V Graham Norton The Graham Norton Effect Graham Norton's Bigger Picture The Graham Norton Show

Graham William Walker, known by his stage name Graham Norton, (born 4 April 1963)^[1] is an Irish actor, comedian, television presenter and columnist. He is the host of comedy chat programme The Graham Norton Show on BBC One in the UK and BBC America in the US. Hot Press has described him as "the 21st century's answer to Terry Wogan", with both men sharing an Irish background and the common link of being a BBC Radio 2 presenter and the BBC television commentator of the Eurovision Song Contest.^[2] Norton has won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Entertainment Performance on five occassions.

Early life and career[link]

Norton was born in Clondalkin, a suburb of Dublin, but grew up in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland to a Protestant family. He was educated at Bandon Grammar School, in County Cork and then University College Cork but did not complete his studies.

In 1992 his stand-up comedy drag act in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as a tea-towel clad Mother Teresa of Calcutta made the press when Scottish Television's religious affairs department mistakenly thought he represented the real Mother Teresa.^[3]

His first appearances in broadcasting were in his spot as a regular comedian and panellist on the BBC Radio 4 show Loose Ends, when the show ran on Saturday mornings, in the early 1990s. His rise to fame began as one of the early successes of Channel 5, when he won an award for his performance as the stand-in host of a late-night TV talk show usually presented by Jack Docherty.^[4][5] This was followed by a comic quiz show on Channel 5 called Bring Me the Head of Light Entertainment, which was not well received as a programme, but did further enhance Norton's individual reputation as a comic and TV host. In 1996, Norton co-hosted the late-night quiz show Carnal Knowledge on ITV with Maria McErlane.

In 1996, Norton played the part of Father Noel Furlong in three episodes ("Hell", "Flight Into Terror", "The Mainland") of the Channel 4 series Father Ted. Father Noel Furlong was often seen taking charge of a small youth folk-group.

Channel 4[link]

After this early success, Norton moved to Channel 4 to host his own chat shows including So Graham Norton and V Graham Norton. As a performer who is not only openly gay,^[6] but also camp and flamboyant, it was here that Norton's act was fully honed as a cheeky, innuendo-laden joker.

In 2003, he was the subject of controversy when, on his show on Channel 4, he made a comedic reference to the recent death of Bee Gees singer Maurice Gibb. The Independent Television Commission investigated after complaints about this insensitivity were forwarded to it and eventually Channel 4 had to make two apologies: one in the form of a caption slide before the show, another from Norton in person.

Also in 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. (Though Norton is Irish, the bulk of his television career has been in the UK.)

In the summer of 2004, Norton moved across the Atlantic to start a new venture in American television. The Graham Norton Effect debuted on 24 June 2004 on Comedy Central, and was also broadcast in the UK on BBC Three. In the midst of controversy surrounding Janet Jackson's Super Bowl performance, Norton was wary of moving into the market.^[7]

BBC[link]

Norton at 2009 BAFTA awards

In 2005, Norton moved to the BBC and began hosting the Saturday evening reality TV series Strictly Dance Fever on BBC One, as well as a new comedy chat show, Graham Norton's Bigger Picture. He also read stories some nights on the BBC children's channel CBeebies as part of Bedtime Hour.

In 2006, Norton hosted the BBC One series How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? in which Andrew Lloyd Webber tried to find a lead actress for his West End version of The Sound of Music. Norton has subsequently presented the 3 follow-up series: Any Dream Will Do in 2007, in which a group of males competed to win the role of Joseph in the West End production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; I'd Do Anything in 2008, in which Andrew Lloyd Webber seeks to find the part of Nancy and Oliver for Sir Cameron Mackintosh's production of Lionel Bart's Oliver!; and Over the Rainbow in 2010, following a similar format to find a new Dorothy for a Wizard of Oz West end Production.

Norton hosted various other shows for the BBC during this time, including When Will I Be Famous? (2007), The One and Only (2008) and Totally Saturday (2009). Since 2007, Norton has also been a regular host of The British Academy Television Awards. On 7 July 2007, Norton presented at Live Earth and undertook a trip to Ethiopia with the Born Free Foundation to highlight the plight of the Ethiopian wolf – the rarest canid in the world. In the same year, he was the subject of an episode of the BBC1 genealogy documentary Who Do You Think You Are?.

Norton's chat show, The Graham Norton Show, began on 22 February 2007 on BBC Two. Although in a format that he had not been involved in for 4 years, it is very similar to his previous Channel 4 shows. On 6 October 2009, the show moved to BBC One, in a new one-hour format.

In May 2010, he stood in for Chris Evans' breakfast show on BBC Radio 2. Later that month, it was confirmed that he would be replacing Jonathan Ross's Saturday morning slot on the same station.

In December 2011, the panel show Would You Rather...? with Graham Norton premiered on BBC America in the time slot immediately following The Graham Norton Show. Recorded in New York, it is one of BBC America's earliest efforts at producing original programming, and is also the first panel game the channel has shown, either of British or American origin.

In January 2012, he called on listeners to his Radio 2 show to help find his car hours after it was stolen. He called it "The Great Car Hunt" and told listeners to “Keep your eyes out for it. It was filthy by the way."

Eurovision[link]

Norton with Josh Dubovie at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010

Norton hosted the first annual Eurovision Dance Contest alongside Claudia Winkleman which was held on 1 September 2007 in London, England. The format was based on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing and the EBU's Eurovision Song Contest. Norton and Winkleman also hosted the 2008 Contest in Glasgow, Scotland.

In October 2008, it was confirmed by the BBC that Norton would replace Terry Wogan as the BBC's presenter for the UK heats of the Eurovision Song Contest, in a show to be called Your Country Needs You.

On 5 December 2008 it was announced that Norton would also take over from Wogan as the presenter of the main Eurovision Song Contest.^[8] The 54th Eurovision Song Contest was held in the Olimpiyskiy (Olympic) Stadium, Moscow on 16 May 2009.

Norton's jokes during his debut received some positive reviews from the British media. The Guardian noted his comments on Iceland's entry, which finished in second place, had "rooted around in a cupboard and found an old bridesmaid dress from 1987" and the Armenian singers, who finished in tenth place, were sporting traditional dress, "which would be true if you come from the village where Liberace is the mayor."^[9] The Times noted his highlighting of the arrest of thirty gay rights protesters in Moscow – "heavy-handed policing has really marred what has been a fantastic Eurovision."^[9]

His comment “The bad news is you’re about to watch Albania. She’s only 17 so please bear that in mind. Where was her mother? Why didn’t she step in and say no?� which was made just before Albanian singer Kejsi Tola was set to take the stage dubbed an insult by many, sent ripples of outrage through not only Albania, but also the Albanian population in Britain. He then announced that Albania should get no points and that he didn't care what anybody else thought. There was a petition circling the net calling for a formal apology from Norton. The petition, which called his comment “very rude and insulting,� had drawn over 1,000 signatures. He never responded.^[10]

In 2011, he snarked that if Jedward's entry into the competition that year won, the twins would never sleep again. In the end, they were eighth. Earlier in that year's televote, he joked "Quick, someone take a picture", when The British entry that year went temporarily in the lead early on after high votes from Russia(4), Bulgaria(12) and Italy(10). In the end, the song dropped down the 11th, earning 100 points. Very annoyed, Norton claimed 'We were better than Jedward'.

In 2012, Norton joked about the Spanish singer Pastora Soler and the economic situation of Spain. This statements unleashed many bad reviews on the internet. Norton joked about Rona Nishliu (the singer of Albania) too. He said that Rona was a singer that "she shout a lot".

Other[link]

In July 2000 Graham was one of three judges of the Miss Lesbian Beauty Contest 2000 held at The Talk of London, Drury Lane. The contest was won by 42 year old Carol Hutchins who wowed the audience with her sit-down comedy routine from a wheelchair. Graham described Carol as a "very bright, funny lady."

Graham Norton played Mr. Puckov in the 2006 American comedy spoof film Another Gay Movie. In 2007, Norton played Taylor in the romantic comedy film I Could Never Be Your Woman.

Norton was involved in a high-publicity advertising campaign for the UK National Lottery as an animated unicorn, the stooge to a character based on Lady Luck (played by Fay Ripley). He has also advertised McVitie's biscuits.

In 2007, Norton featured in Girls Aloud and Sugababes' Comic Relief video for the single "Walk This Way."

In January 2009, Norton made his West End stage debut in a revival of La Cage Aux Folles at the Playhouse Theatre.

Since 2009, Norton has been the host of the comedy game-show Most Popular on US cable television channel WE tv.^[11]

Norton currently writes an advice column in The Daily Telegraph newspaper. In October 2010, these columns were made into a book entitled Ask Graham, published by John Blake Publishing.

Personal life[link]

Norton with a dog in 2006, supporting Crusaid.

Norton has stated that he felt "out of place" growing up in Ireland; his family are Protestant yet the Republic of Ireland is overwhelmingly Catholic. Norton took part in the TV programme, Who Do You Think You Are?, to trace his ancestry. It was discovered that his family were originally planters sent over from England to take over Irish land. Some members of his family had fought for the British Monarchy during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and taken part in a massacre of Catholics in Carnew Castle. Another member of his family was later killed in battle by the United Irishmen. Norton said he was comforted to find out that his family had resided in Ireland for generations.^[12]

In 1989 while living in London, Norton was mugged, beaten and stabbed by a group of attackers on the street. He says he lost half his blood and nearly died, and he was hospitalised for two and a half weeks.^[13][14]

Norton is openly gay.^[6][15][16]

Norton owns a holiday home in Ahakista, County Cork, which is near to where he grew up, in Bandon. The house has a private beach and overlooks Dunmanus Bay.

TV appearances[link]

Main presenting credits[link]

• Carnal Knowledge (TV series, co-presenter) (1996, 27 one hour shows)
• Bring Me the Head of Light Entertainment
• So Graham Norton (1998–2002)
• V Graham Norton (2002–2003)
• NY Graham Norton (2004)
• The Graham Norton Effect (2004–2005)
• Graham Norton's Bigger Picture (2005–2006)
• Strictly Dance Fever (2005–2006)
• BBC/Andrew Lloyd Webber musical theater talent searches (2006–present)
  • How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? (2006)
  • Any Dream Will Do (2007)
  • I'd Do Anything (2008)
  • Over the Rainbow (2010)
• The Big Finish (2006–)
• When Will I Be Famous? (2007)
• The Graham Norton Show (2007–present)
• The British Academy Television Awards (2007)
• Live Earth (2007)
• Eurovision Dance Contest (2007)
• The One and Only (2008)
• Eurovision Dance Contest (2008)
• Eurovision: Your Country Needs You (2009–present)
• Eurovision Song Contest (UK commentator, 2009–present)
• Totally Saturday (2009)
• Most Popular (2009–present)
• Would You Rather...? with Graham Norton (BBC America, 2011–present)

Other television credits[link]

Radio[link]

• Just a Minute

Sitting in for Steve Wright August 2009 BBC Radio 2

Sitting in for Chris Evans May /July 2010 BBC Radio 2

On 2 October 2010, he began his weekly BBC Radio 2 Saturday show taking over from Jonathan Ross. The show airs from 10.00am-1.00pm and combines a mixture of music, chat and celebrity guests.

2011/12 Radio 2 Saturday mornings

Filmography[link]

Stand-Up videos[link]

• Live At The Roundhouse (19 November 2001)

Awards[link]

• 1999 : Gaytime Award for Gay Entertainer of the Year
• 2000 : BAFTA Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance – So Graham Norton
• 2001 : BAFTA Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance - So Graham Norton
• 2001 : RTS Television Award for Best Presenter – So Graham Norton
• 2001 : TRIC Award TV Personality of the Year
• 2002 : BAFTA Television Award for Best Entertainment Perfromance - So Graham Norton
• 2011 : BAFTA Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance – The Graham Norton Show ^[17]
• 2012 : BAFTA Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance - The Graham Norton Show

References[link]

External links[link]

• Graham Norton Radio 2 at BBC Programmes
• The Graham Norton Show at BBC Programmes
• Graham Norton at the Internet Movie Database
• Graham Norton at the British Film Institute's Screenonline

Renée Zellweger
Zellweger at Berlinale, February 2009
Born	Renée Kathleen Zellweger (1969-04-25) April 25, 1969 (age 43) Katy, Texas, U.S
Alma mater	University of Texas at Austin (B.A.)
Occupation	Actress, producer, voice actress
Years active	1992–present
Notable work(s)	Jerry Maguire, Nurse Betty, Bridget Jones's Diary, Chicago, Cold Mountain
Height	5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)[citation needed]
Spouse	Kenny Chesney (May–September, 2005; annulled)

Renée Kathleen Zellweger (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress and producer. Zellweger first gained widespread attention for her role in the film Jerry Maguire (1996), and subsequently received two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her roles as Bridget Jones in the comedy Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) (which she reprised in its sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)), and as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago (2002). She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama Cold Mountain (2003).

She has won an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and a BAFTA Award, was named Hasty Pudding's Woman of the Year in 2009,^[1] and established herself as one of the highest-paid Hollywood actresses as of 2007.^[2]

Early life[link]

Zellweger was born in Katy, Texas. Her father, Emil Erich Zellweger, is from Au in the canton of St. Gallen,^[3] Switzerland, and is a mechanical and electrical engineer who worked in the oil refining business.^[4] Her mother, Kjellfrid Irene (née Andreassen), is Norwegian; of part Sámi and Kven (Finnish) descent, Kjellfrid grew up in Kirkenes and Ekkerøy,^[5][6][7] and is a nurse and midwife who moved to the United States to work as a governess for a Norwegian family in Texas.^[8][9][10] Zellweger has described herself as being raised in a family of "lazy Catholics and Episcopalians".^[10]

While in junior high school Zellweger actively took part in several sports, including soccer, basketball, baseball and football.^[10] She attended Katy High School, where she was a cheerleader, a gymnast, a member of speech team,^[11] and a drama club member. After high school, she went to the University of Texas at Austin to major in English language.^[5] At the beginning, she took a drama class because she needed a fine arts credit to complete her degree, but the experience made her appreciate how much she loved acting.^[8] During this time, she supported herself by taking jobs as a waitress in Austin, Texas.^[8][12] She said in 2009 that she earned her Screen Actors Guild card doing a Coors Light beer commercial while in college.^[13] Also while in college, she did "a bit part ... as a local hire" in the Austin-filmed horror-comedy My Boyfriend's Back, playing "the girl in the beauty shop, maybe two lines. But the beauty shop [scene] got cut."^[13]

Zellweger graduated from college with a BA degree in English in 1991. Her first job after graduation was working in a beef commercial, while simultaneously starting to audition for roles around Houston.^[8]

Career[link]

Early work[link]

While still in Texas, Zellweger appeared in several films. One was A Taste for Killing (1992),^[5] followed by a role in the ABC miniseries Murder in the Heartland (1993).^[5] The following year, she appeared in Reality Bites (1994), the directorial debut of Ben Stiller, and in the biographical film 8 Seconds, directed by John G. Avildsen.

Zellweger's first main part in a movie came with the 1994 horror story Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, alongside Matthew McConaughey. She played Jenny, a teenager who leaves a prom early with three friends and ended up getting into a car accident, which leads to their meeting a murderous family, led by the iconic Leatherface.^[8] Her next movie was Love and a .45 (1994), in which she played the role of Starlene Cheatham, a woman who plans a robbery with her boyfriend. The performance earned her an Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance. She subsequently moved to Los Angeles, winning roles in the films Empire Records (1995) and The Whole Wide World (1996).^[8] Zellweger first became widely known to audiences around the world with Jerry Maguire (1996), in which she played the romantic interest of Tom Cruise's character.^[8]

Zellweger later won acclaim in One True Thing (1998) opposite William Hurt and Meryl Streep, and in Neil LaBute's Nurse Betty opposite Morgan Freeman.^[8] The role garnered the actress her first of three Golden Globe Awards, but she was in the bathroom when future co-star Hugh Grant announced her name.^[8] Zellweger later protested: "I had lipstick on my teeth!"^[14]

Critical success[link]

In 2001 Zellweger gained the prized lead role as Bridget Jones, playing alongside Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, in the British romantic comedy film Bridget Jones's Diary, based on the 1996 novel Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding. The choice came amid much controversy since she was neither British nor overweight.^[8] During casting Zellweger was told she was too skinny to play the chubby Bridget, so she quickly embarked on gaining the required weight and learning an English accent. She gained 20 pounds to complete her transformation to Bridget Jones.^[15] Her dramatic weight fluctuations became the subject of much media interest. Her performance as Bridget received praise from critics with Stephen Holden of The New York Times commenting, "Ms. Zellweger accomplishes the small miracle of making Bridget both entirely endearing and utterly real."^[15] Along with receiving voice coaching to fine-tune her English accent, part of Zellweger's preparations involved spending three weeks working undercover in a "work experience placement" for British publishing firm Picador in Victoria, London.^[8][16] As a result of her considerable efforts to effect author Helen Fielding's character, Zellweger caught the attention of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and won her first Best Actress Academy Award nomination.^[8]

In 2002 she starred with Michelle Pfeiffer in White Oleander. She played an actress in the film, and a clip from her role in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation was shown as she discussed her career with the main character, Astrid Magnussen. The same year, she appeared as Roxie Hart in the critically acclaimed musical film Chicago, directed by Rob Marshall, co-starring Catherine Zeta Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, and John C. Reilly. The movie won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and Zellweger received positive reviews. The San Francisco Chronicle's web site SFGate commented, "Zellweger is a joy to watch, with marvelous comic timing and, in her stage numbers, a commanding presence."^[17] The Washington Post noted that even though Zellweger couldn't dance well in real life, the audience "wouldn't know it from this movie, in which she dances up a storm."^[18] As a result she earned her second Academy Award nomination as Best Actress, as well as the Screen Actors Guild Award and Golden Globe Award.^[8]

2003–present[link]

Zellweger at the Harvard Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year Parade in February 2009.

In 2004 Zellweger received her first Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress in Anthony Minghella's Cold Mountain opposite Jude Law and Nicole Kidman. Zellweger since has starred in the sequel to Bridget Jones's Diary in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, lent her voice to the DreamWorks animated features Shark Tale and Bee Movie, and starred in the 2005 Ron Howard film Cinderella Man opposite Russell Crowe and Paul Giamatti. On May 24, 2005, Zellweger received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She produced and appeared in Miss Potter, based on the life story of acclaimed author Beatrix Potter, with Emily Watson and Ewan McGregor, released in December 2006.

Zellweger was awarded the Women in Film Crystal award in 2007.^[19] In 2008, she starred in the western Appaloosa with Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen and the period comedy Leatherheads with fellow Oscar-winner George Clooney.

In 2008 she produced a film, Living Proof, starring Harry Connick Jr., about the true story of Dr. Denny Slamon. The film, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, premiered in October 2008 on Lifetime Television.^[20]

In 2009 she starred alongside Chris Noth and Kevin Bacon in the feature film My One and Only,^[21] as well as in the film New in Town, a comedy about a corporate executive from Miami who is sent to New Ulm, Minnesota, to oversee a small manufacturing company making minimal profits producing and selling pudding. She also had a cameo role in the animated film Monsters vs. Aliens.

Renee has expressed a strong interest in reprising her role as Bridget Jones in the planned third installment of the "Bridget Jones" film series.

Personal life[link]

Starting in 2002 Zellweger dated The White Stripes singer Jack White for two years. They broke up after schedule demands kept them apart.^[22]

On May 9, 2005, Zellweger married singer Kenny Chesney in a ceremony at the island of St. John.^[23] On September 15, 2005, they announced their plans for an annulment. Zellweger cited "fraud" as the reason in the related papers.^[24] After media scrutiny of her use of the word "fraud", she qualified the use of the term, stating it was "simply legal language and not a reflection of Kenny's character."^[24]

In September 2010 it was reported that Zellweger and actor Bradley Cooper had been in a relationship for over a year.^[25] On March 18, 2011, People Magazine announced that the two had broken off their relationship.^[26]

Activism[link]

Zellweger and Marc Forster took part in the 2005 HIV prevention campaign of the Swiss federal health department.^[27]

Filmography[link]