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"As she plans to pile on the pounds and polish off her English accent to play Bridget Jones for the third time, we take a look at the life and career of Case 39 actress Ren\u00C3\u00A9e Zellweger. Most people are well aware of Ren\u00C3\u00A9e&amp;#039;s &amp;#039;Best Supporting Actress&amp;#039; Oscar for Cold Mountain and her romances with Jim Carrey and Jack White, but read on to find out some lesser-known facts about the star. 1. Ren\u00C3\u00A9e Kathleen Zellweger was born to a mechanical engineer father from Switzerland and a Norwegian-born midwife mother on April 25, 1969 in Katy, Texas. 2. As an 18-year-old, Ren\u00C3\u00A9e worked as a cocktail waitress at Sugar&amp;#039;s Go-Go lapdancing club in Austin. Bar manager Howard Lenett later said: &amp;quot;Ren\u00C3\u00A9e could act like a blonde bimbo at the drop of a hat and turn on the charm to get big tips out of the male customers. Like any other beautiful woman who&amp;#039;s ever waitressed here, Ren\u00C3\u00A9e was eventually asked if she wanted to dance topless - but she declined.&amp;quot; 3. Her first major role was in the schlocky splatter sequel Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation in 1994. The fourth flick in the series, the B-movie also featured an early performance from fellow Texan and future rom-com fodder Matthew McConaughey. 4. In 1995, she appeared as slutty shop assistant Gina in the cult teen favourite Empire Records. In one scene she famously sported nothing but pants and a red apron to utter the immortal line: &amp;quot;Welcome to MusicTown, may I service you?&amp;quot; 5. In that film, Gina also got it on with washed-up rocker Rex Manning, who was played by one Maxwell Caulfield. Caulfield is perhaps best known for his turn as swotty Michael Carrington in the somewhat unnecessary 1982 movie Grease 2. 6. Ren\u00C3\u00A9e&amp;#039;s tearful reconciliation with Tom Cruise&amp;#039;s character in Cameron Crowe&amp;#039;s 1996 hit comedy/drama Jerry Maguire inspired country singer Kenny Chesney to write his 1999 single &amp;#039;You Had Me At Hello&amp;#039;. 7. Six years down the line, Ren\u00C3\u00A9e and Kenny wed, but their marriage was annulled after four months and the actress called the whole affair the biggest mistake of her life. Chesney apparently &amp;quot;did not want his future children to be eating sushi and fancy French food - he wanted proper American food and he wanted a wife who could do her own cooking&amp;quot;. 8. Ren\u00C3\u00A9e bravely took on British chick-lit&amp;#039;s most iconic role in 2001 in an adaptation of Helen Fielding&amp;#039;s Bridget Jones&amp;#039;s Diary. The American said that she was &amp;quot;as surprised as anyone&amp;quot; to get the part, but nevertheless picked up her first Oscar nomination for the performance. 9. She put on two stone for the role and also won praise for her English accent, but co-star Hugh Grant later revealed: &amp;quot;She had a brief Princess Margaret phase, which was alarming. Then there was a phase when she sounded very slightly as if she had had a stroke where everything slurred.&amp;quot; 10. When filming the follow-up Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason in 2005, Ren\u00C3\u00A9e reportedly developed a fondness for Chelsea Football Club and visited their home ground of Stamford Bridge in disguise to watch them play. Boooo! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/10-things-about/news/a175080/ten-things-you-never-knew-about-rene-zellweger/>