Renée Zellweger Says She Took a 6-Year Hiatus from Acting Because She Was 'Sick of the Sound of My Own Voice'

Mar. 15, 2025

Renée Zellweger for BritishVogue’s February 2025 issue.Photo:Nikolai von Bismarck

Nikolai von Bismarck

EvenOscarwinners can only take so much of seeing (or hearing) themselves — just askRenée Zellweger!TheBridget Jones: Mad About the Boystar graces the cover ofBritishVogue’s February 2025 issue, where she addresses why she took a six-year acting hiatus from 2010 to 2016.The bottom line? “Because I needed to. I was sick of the sound of my own voice,” said Zellweger, 55.“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,” she explained.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.Renée Zellweger for BritishVogue’s February 2025 issue.Nikolai von BismarckWith her time off, the actress “wrote music and studied international law,” she told the magazine.Zellweger also “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 andspent a lot of time with familyand godchildren and driving across the country with the dogs.““I got healthy,” she continued.Asked if she would still go into acting if she got a life do-over, theChicagoactress said, “I’m not sure that the way that it works now, celebrity and all of that stuff, I don’t know that that suits me.“The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!Renée Zellweger on the cover of BritishVogue’s February 2025 issue.Nikolai von BismarckZellweger went on to note how she believes “there used to be a line between celebrity and art” 25 years ago. Now, she feels that balance “has become increasingly ambiguous.““And ‘notorious’ and ‘famous’ and ‘known’ are now all the same thing,” she said. “It used to be that you were known because you had done something that was worth knowing about.“As for whether she prefers the term “actor” or “actress,” Zellweger told BritishVogue, “I became an actressand now I’m an actor.““I guess I’m indifferent to those things. I don’t care. It’s so fun not to have opinions about certain things, isn’t it?” she added.Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boyis streaming Feb. 13, exclusively on Peacock.

EvenOscarwinners can only take so much of seeing (or hearing) themselves — just askRenée Zellweger!

TheBridget Jones: Mad About the Boystar graces the cover ofBritishVogue’s February 2025 issue, where she addresses why she took a six-year acting hiatus from 2010 to 2016.

The bottom line? “Because I needed to. I was sick of the sound of my own voice,” said Zellweger, 55.

“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,” she explained.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

Renée Zellweger for BritishVogue’s February 2025 issue.Nikolai von Bismarck

With her time off, the actress “wrote music and studied international law,” she told the magazine.

Zellweger also “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 andspent a lot of time with familyand godchildren and driving across the country with the dogs.”

“I got healthy,” she continued.

Asked if she would still go into acting if she got a life do-over, theChicagoactress said, “I’m not sure that the way that it works now, celebrity and all of that stuff, I don’t know that that suits me.”

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Renée Zellweger on the cover of BritishVogue’s February 2025 issue.Nikolai von Bismarck

Zellweger went on to note how she believes “there used to be a line between celebrity and art” 25 years ago. Now, she feels that balance “has become increasingly ambiguous.”

“And ‘notorious’ and ‘famous’ and ‘known’ are now all the same thing,” she said. “It used to be that you were known because you had done something that was worth knowing about.”

As for whether she prefers the term “actor” or “actress,” Zellweger told BritishVogue, “I became an actressand now I’m an actor.”

“I guess I’m indifferent to those things. I don’t care. It’s so fun not to have opinions about certain things, isn’t it?” she added.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boyis streaming Feb. 13, exclusively on Peacock.

source: people.com