Renée Zellweger's biography

Telling PEOPLE about her days as a star high school cheerleader, Zellweger admits to "using my lifetime allotment of mascara in two years" and being a "fountain-haired" '80s teen. At the University of Texas in Austin, Zellweger acts in student theater productions with future Hollywood heartthrob Matthew McConaughey. The English major said she got into acting because "the drama class just happened to fit into my schedule."

 Zellweger nabs small roles in the cult favorite Dazed and Confused, the low-budget Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation and the Gen-X hit Reality Bites. "Really early on, in Texas, most of the roles I was offered were the other woman, the harlot, the one-night stand, the hot blonde in a black dress," Zellweger tells Britain's Guardian.








Her leading-lady turn opposite Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire makes Zellweger a household name. Of his decision to cast the unknown actress, director Cameron Crowe tells In Style, "She reminds you of a sister, a friend, someone you were in love with once or now." She goes on to act with screen legend Meryl Streep in the 1998 tearjerker One True Thing.