Renée Zellweger recalls being encouraged to drink on set for nude scenes
Renée Zellweger has recalled how a producer tried to coax her into doing a nude scene while filming a movie early in her career.
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Oscar-winning actress Renée Zellweger has revealed she was encouraged to drink wine before a nude scene in her early career.
Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar for the publication’s most recent cover profile, Zellweger opened up about the battles she faced as a young actress in Hollywood.
Not naming the project, the Cold Mountain star recalled one instance of being offered alcohol to loosen up on set.
“There have been times I have been in, you know, on set, where a producer’s ready for me to go ahead and take my clothes off: ‘Here, drink this wine, ‘cause then you’ll do it,’” Zellweger said.
“And, you know, I’m not gonna take that wine, but I would like a phone. ‘Cause I have a phone call I need to make right now.”
Zellweger has spoken out about her stance against scenes in the past, telling Premiere magazine in 2001 (via IndieWire) that she rejected a request for her to appear topless during a scene in the Tom Cruise-starring Jerry Maguire.
“It’s not like (Director Cameron Crowe’s) big plan was to have this sleazy, gratuitous boob shot,” Zellweger said. “That’s not in him, and I’d do anything for him — with the exception of that.”
She explained that her hesitation came from the belief that unnecessary nude scenes distract from the plot.
“When a woman stands naked in a room, unless that particular moment is held up by the subject matter, all you notice is that there's a naked girl,” she said.
Elsewhere in Zellweger’s Harper’s Bazaar profile, she described the “serendipity” of meeting current boyfriend, British TV star Ant Anstead.
When asked if she considered Anstead “a gift” from her late publicist pal Nanci Ryder, the actress replied, “Yeah, we do joke about that.”
“She’s always doing her best. It made me smile,” she added. “It made me smile to think on this, yeah, the serendipity of it all.”
Zellweger, 52, and Anstead, 42, have been dating since the middle of last year after meeting on the set of Celebrity IOU: Joyride.
The series hosted by the car guru gives stars the opportunity to gift “automotive masterpieces” to special people in their lives.
Ryder, a famous Hollywood publicist and PR agency exec, died in June 2020 after a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). She was 67.
Following her friend’s death, Zellweger wanted to do something special for twin brothers Jerome and Jerald Cowan – the nurses who cared for Ryder in her last years of life – so she jumped at the opportunity to take part in CelebrityIOU: Joyride.
Jerome received a 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass and Jerald got a vintage Bronco, while Zellweger walked away with a new love interest.
– with the New York Post
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Originally published as Renée Zellweger recalls being encouraged to drink on set for nude scenes
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