Renee Zellweger is "very gracious" to work with.

Renee Zellweger

Renee Zellweger

The 50-year-old actress swept the board during awards season for her portrayal of the late Judy Garland in 'Judy' and director Rupert Goold couldn't have asked for anyone better to take the lead in his movie.

He told Grazia magazine: "The best thing about Renee is that she's really funny.

"She's also very hard-working and, as a director, that's what you want.

"Every shot she was hungry for notes. She's very gracious."

The 47-year-old filmmaker previously explained he cast Renee because she had the same "fragility" as Judy.

He said: "Garland has such incredible emotional immediacy. You feel like you're getting a spirit that has the innate innocence and hopefulness in it, and I wanted someone who had that kind of fragility."

The 'Jerry Maguire' actress found shooting 'Judy' a demanding process but she learned the importance of breaking up her work schedule to still make time for her private life.

She previously said: "Instead of saying 'Boy, I sure hope I can make that special person's birthday party', I needed to say, 'I'm going to the birthday party', and I didn't feel like I had the right to make that decision because of the blessing of this work.

"It made me appreciate my little bit of experience with having to navigate your way around a public persona that's a ball hog in your life."

Renee also revealed that she had to be "literally sewn" into her costumes for the film because she had to perfectly recreate Judy's posture in every scene.

She said: "Judy slouched a little and the dresses were made so that I couldn't have stood any other way. I was literally sewn into them.

"It was a great reminder during the day if you got lazy because you had no option but to stand like her. The sequins were very strict!"


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