Top 10 Best Renée Zellweger Movies

When a Texan was cast as the most British heroine of all time, the criticism was harsh. But Zellweger silenced everyone. She didn't make Bridget a caricature but a woman of flesh and blood everyone could identify with. Her timing is perfect, but it's the vulnerability that makes the film timeless. The scene in which she lip-syncs 'All by Myself' alone is funny and sad at once.

As Roxie Hart she shows a side we hadn't seen yet: the ruthless narcissist. She sings, dances and manipulates her way through prison and the courtroom. Her breathy singing voice perfectly suits a woman desperate to be famous. Zellweger plays Roxie as a wolf in sheep's clothing, using her innocent look as a weapon, a great contrast with Catherine Zeta-Jones' hard energy.

Perhaps the most physical role of her career. As fallen star Judy Garland in the final months of her life, Zellweger is barely recognizable. She captures the exhaustion, the pill addiction and the despair of an icon burning out. The clever thing is that she doesn't imitate Garland but interprets her. Especially during the songs, you feel the pain in her voice. It deservedly won her an Oscar.

Here she disappears completely into the role of Ruby Thewes, an unpolished survivor during the American Civil War. With a heavy accent and a walk like she's worked the land all day, she steals every scene from Nicole Kidman. It's a role that could easily have become annoying, but Zellweger gives Ruby a big heart. It won her an Oscar.

The film that put her on the map. Opposite the energetic Tom Cruise, she's the calm, loving safe harbor. Her line 'You had me at hello' is film history, but it's her subtle acting throughout that really impresses. She plays Dorothy Boyd with so much warmth and integrity that you understand why the cynical sports agent falls for her.

In this dark comedy she walks a tightrope. She plays a waitress who, after a traumatic event, slips into a delusion and believes she's a character from a soap opera. It's a bizarre role demanding total commitment to the character's crazy logic. Zellweger plays it with a radiant smile that slowly becomes more and more uncomfortable to watch.

As Beatrix Potter, creator of Peter Rabbit, she returns to a British accent, this time far posher. It's a sweet, gentle film that relies entirely on her charm. Zellweger portrays Potter as a woman living in her own fantasy world to escape stiff Victorian society. Her chemistry with Ewan McGregor is infectious.

It takes courage to face Meryl Streep, especially playing her daughter. Zellweger plays a career woman forced to return home to care for her sick mother. In this restrained drama she shows she can move you without frills or accents. A forgotten gem in her filmography.

In this western she plays a widow who knows exactly how to survive in a man's world: by attaching herself to the strongest man. Not a sympathetic role, but an interesting one. She plays Allie French as someone who isn't evil, just opportunistic out of necessity. Between heavyweights Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris, she holds her own as the disruptive factor in their friendship.

In this courtroom drama she plays the mother of a boy suspected of murder. It's a role that mostly requires reacting and absorbing, but she does it with flair. She portrays a woman who seems broken and fragile but hides much more than you'd first think. Her interplay with lawyer Keanu Reeves gives the film the tension it needs.