At 50, Renée Zellweger has spent more than enough time in Hollywood to refine her pearls of wisdom. This might come as a shock, but celebrities are human too, and that means they have plenty of their own regrets. In a TV interview, Renée revealed one of hers: letting her 30s pass her by.
The glitz and glamour of fame isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be, and living your life in the spotlight can be insanely damaging. Add to that the years of plastic surgery tabloid rumours and it’s no wonder Renée Zellweger took a hiatus from Hollywood.
“[Fame] enters the room before you do. And so any perception that someone has of who you might be, that’s who they meet,” she said during the interview.
Poor mental health is a well documented side effect of being famous, but this and the constant public scrutiny about her appearance wasn’t Zellweger’s only reason for disappearing from our screens for six years.
She said that her 30s felt “compressed”, and that she was so busy she barely had time to enjoy it. We’re talking about the era of classics like the Bridget Jones franchise, Chicago, Cold Mountain – roles that earned her enormous critical acclaim.
It’s a tale as old as time; getting so caught in your youthful success that you end up regretting it down the track. That’s why Renée Zellweger’s advice to her younger self, to “have more fun,” is a message we should all be hearing.
Life gets hectic for everyone after landing your first full-time job, living away from family, and finding yourself in a steady relationship for the first time. It’s easy to forget to relax and have me-time, so think of Zellweger’s advice as a self-care intervention.
Make some memories, go on a road trip, experience things whenever you can. Most importantly, don’t let the daily grind become your whole existence because that is going to suck to look back on in twenty years.
Whether it’s your teens, twenties, or thirties and beyond, we all need to value our precious time on this Earth. After all, how else are you gonna make Renée Zellweger proud?