Renée Zellweger ‘Needed’ to Have a 6-Year Acting Break: ‘I Was Sick of the Sound of My Own Voice’

"When I was working, I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, listen to you. Are you sad again, Renée?'"

Renée Zellweger is reflecting on why she temporarily stepped away from acting 15 years ago.

The star told British Vogue that her acting hiatus from 2010, after filming the movie “My Own Love Song,” to 2016 was an effort to get “healthy” in all parts of her life. Zellweger would return to the screen with the third “Bridget Jones” film, “Bridget Jones’s Baby.” She later went on to win her second Oscar for “Judy” in 2020.

“I needed to [have a break],” Zellweger said. “I was sick of the sound of my own voice. When I was working, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, listen to you. Are you sad again, Renée? Oh, is this your mad voice?’ It was a regurgitation of the same emotional experiences.”

During her time away from Hollywood, Zellweger explored other aspects of her life.

“I wrote music and studied international law. I built a house, rescued a pair of older doggies, created a partnership that led to a production company, advocated for and fundraised with a sick friend, and spent a lot of time with family and godchildren and driving across the country with the dogs,” she said. “I got healthy.”

Now, nine years after “Bridget Jones’s Baby” brought her back to the big screen, Zellweger is once again reprising the character for a fourth installment, “Bridget Jones: Mad About a Boy.”

“I love her,” Zellweger said of her iconic character. “Her story is not finished. As long as [author] Helen [Fielding] puts pen to paper, she’s alive.”

Zellweger previously told IndieWire that she has a “different perspective” on acting since her hiatus. While speaking about her Best Actress win for the Judy Garland biopic “Judy,” Zellweger explained how her former win for “Cold Mountain” in 2004 was a whirlwind.

“Well, at that time, I think I was so busy that I wasn’t actually in the moment,” Zellweger said. “How’s it different? Different perspective. [I’m] a little more present now. I think that the time away and the time in between has helped me to appreciate it in a different way, I just look at it in a different way. What it represents is a little bit different.”

Zellweger won Best Supporting Actress for “Cold Mountain” in 2004. She also has Oscar nominations for “Bridget Jones’s Diary” (in 2002) and “Chicago” (in 2003).