Renee Zellweger wins Best Actress Oscar for portrayal of Hollywood legend Judy Garland
This is the second Academy Award for Renee Zellweger who previously won a best-supporting actress Oscar 15 years ago for her role in 'Cold Mountain''.
Renée Zellweger has won Best Actress at the 92nd Academy Awards for her portrayal of Judy Garland in Judy. This is the second Oscar and fourth nomination for Zellwerger.
The 50-year-old actor was a frontrunner in the Best Actress category at the Academy Awards despite competition from stars such as Charlize Theron (Bombshell) and Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story). Cynthia Erivo of Harriet and Saoirse Ronan of Little Women were the other contenders in the category.
In Rupert Goold's Judy, Zellweger not only captured the spirit and voice of the Garland, but also offered a captivating account of what happened in the last few months of her short life.
Judy Garland, who started her career as a child artiste and best known for her roles in The Wizard of Oz and A Star is Born, was exploited by the studio executives who controlled many aspects of her life, including eating habits. Her personal life was also full of upheavals, with five marriages. She died at the age of 47 in 1969.
Zellweger portrayed the vulnerability and strength of Garland.
Judy, which is based on the West End-to-Broadway stage play End of the Rainbow, had a modest start in August last year when it premiered at the Telluride Film Festival.
The overwhelming response from the critics had catapulted Zellweger to frontrunner position for the award season and she went on to claim trophies at the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, and the SAGs.
Like Matthew McConnaughey and Ben Affleck, Zellweger debuted with Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused, but it was Cameron Crowe's Jerry Maguire that established her as a Hollywood star.
She found wider success with Bridget Jones Diary, a reinterpretation of Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice, and Chicago. Both the films earned Zellweger her first two nominations at the Academy Awards.
Zellweger was nominated once again for playing chatty farmer in the epic drama Cold Mountain, also starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law, but this time the actor was able to lift the trophy.
Judy was a return to form for Zellweger as the actor had only returned to acting after a gap of six years in 2016.
