Renée Zellweger Says She Took a Break to ‘Allow for Some Quiet’ and Reconnect with Herself

Renée Zellweger is back from a decade-long break from Hollywood with the newest installment in the Bridget Jones saga called “Mad About the Boy.”

Although she was at the top of her career success, the “Jerry Maguire” star says she had to take a break to save her own mental health.

“I was sick of the sound of my own voice,” recalls Renée, 55. “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.”

The actress says it took her years out of the Tinseltown spotlight to recover her joy. “One of the things I learned is that I didn’t know how to establish a healthy balance,” she explains. “I felt an obligation to say yes, whenever I was asked to do something on behalf of my work.”

Because of her “say yes” attitude, she missed a lot of birthday parties, weddings and milestones with her family and friends.

“I needed to stop so I could reassess and figure out how to allow for myself in my own life,” reveals Renée, who’s been involved with British TV star Ant Antstead, 45, since 2021.

“I wasn’t healthy. I needed to not have something to do all the time, to not know what I’m going to be doing for the next two years in advance,” she says. “I wanted to allow for some accidents. There had to be some quiet for the ideas to slip in.”