Why did Renée Zellweger stop acting? Bridget Jones star explains why she quit because of her voice

Renée Zellweger got candid about the real reason why she spent years away from Hollywood, saying that she quit acting because she couldn't stand hearing her voice. Between 2010 and 2016, Zellweger took a break from the acting scene and instead stayed behind the camera writing music, amongst other things.

In a new interview with British Vogue, published on January 15, 2025, the actress reunited with her Bridget Jones's Diary co-star Hugh Grant, who asked her about her acting hiatus from 2010 to 2016. Zellweger explained that the acting break was something she "needed" at the time, adding:

"I was sick of the sound of my own voice. 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."

However, despite not being in front of the camera, Renée Zellweger remained busy. When the Heretic star asked her what she did during her time off all those years ago, she said that she did a lot of things, saying:

"I wrote music and studied international law. I built a house, rescued a pair of older doggies, created a partnership that led to a production company, advocated for and fundraiser with a sick friend..."

Zellweger also admitted that she took her time away from the spotlight to get "healthy" and spend a lot of her time with family and godchildren and "driving across the country with the dogs."

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Renée Zellweger previously said that fatigue was one of the reasons why she left acting

In 2010, Renée Zellweger famously paused her acting career after making the movie My Own Love Song. She only returned to Hollywood in 2016, reprising her iconic role as Bridget Jones in the film Bridget Jones Baby.

At the time, she admitted that she was fatigued and it caught up with her years ago, hence the hiatus. She told British Vogue in a June 6, 2016, feature titled Renée Makes a Return:

"As a creative person, saying no to that wonderful once-in-a-lifetime project is hard. But I was fatigued and wasn't taking the time I needed to recover between projects, and it caught up with me."

Similar to what she told Hugh Grant in her latest British Vogue interview, she also told the magazine in 2016 that she "got sick of the sound of [her] own voice" and thought that it was "time to go away and grow up a bit." Renée Zellweger further admitted that she "found anonymity" while away from the cameras during her hiatus.

Furthermore, she revealed that this hiatus had allowed her to have "human level" exchanges with other people. The Jerry Maguire actress also considered her hiatus essential for her as an actor, saying:

"You cannot be a good storyteller if you don't have life experiences, and you can't relate to people."

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Since her return to Hollywood in 2016, Renée Zellweger has worked on the movies Bridget Jones's Baby, The Whole Truth, and Here and Now. She also joined the cast of the TV miniseries What/If as Anne Montgomery in 2019, played the legendary performer Judy Garland in the docudrama Judy, and starred as Pam Hupp in the series The Thing About Pam.