Renee Zellweger Speaks About Six-Year Long Break From Hollywood: Why Did She Away From Acting Career!

Nikki Attkisson | Last Updated : March 11, 2022

The two-time Academy Award winner stars in the new NBC series The Thing About Pam revealed to Today’s Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie on Monday that she took law classes during her hiatus from Hollywood from about 2010 to 2016.

During Renee Zellweger’s Break From Hollywood, What Did She Do?

She told me that she needed to take a step back and grow as a person, learning some things unrelated to work. One of her favorite needs of the job is learning new things that you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to learn otherwise. She went to school and just took a break and decided that she wanted to participate in a different way.

When asked about going to school, Zellweger clarified for Kotb, saying, ” She was snuck into UCLA for a few hours to work on public policy. It is governed by international law. Politics fascinates her. She says she wanted to grow as a person and was able to learn new things about the law without having to deal with the pressures of Hollywood.

Renee Zellweger Speaks About Six-Year Long Break from Hollywood

Is this part of a larger plan, or just something you wanted to do in the meantime? At first, Kotb inquired. Judy’s response was, “I’m not certain. It is, however, one of my favorite things. At a dinner party, I promise I’ll bore you to death. Don’t even get me started. It’s true — just ask any of my pals!”

Zellweger told PEOPLE in 2019 that she took a break from acting and discovered “that I like being privately creative very much” while she was away from the spotlight.

In the same year, the actress told New York Magazine that she had to put her mental health first when she decided to take a break from acting. “I wasn’t healthy,” she admitted at the time, emphasizing the importance of the break. “I wasn’t looking after myself at all. I was at the bottom of my priority list.”

Renee Zellweger attended UCLA for a few hours to study international law. She says she wanted to grow as a person and was able to learn new things about the law. The actress took a break from acting life and discovered “that I like being privately creative”.

As a result of that realization, Zellweger decided to try therapy for the first time in her life. Her therapist then assisted her in navigating the emotions she was experiencing during her time away from work.

“He recognized that I spent 99 percent of my life as the public persona and only a tiny fraction of my life as myself,” she said. “I needed to have nothing to do all of the time and not know what I was going to do for the next two years. I wanted to leave room for some mishaps. There had to be some silence in order for the ideas to come to me.”

Zellweger continued, “I had a good five-year period when I was happy and in the middle of a new chapter that no one knew about. It’s been six years. It was crucial at the time. It’s a more peaceful existence, and I enjoy it.”

Read More:


Nikki Attkisson

With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, health etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.

Sign Up For Our Daily Dose Of Hot News