Renée Zellweger revealed in a recent Harper’s Bazaar cover story that a producer once offered her alcohol on set before she was supposed to perform a nude scene. The two-time Oscar winner did not name the project, and she stressed she was not a victim in the situation. Instead, Zellweger was detailing the battles she faced during production as a young woman in Hollywood.
“There have been times I have been in, you know, on set, where a producer’s ready for me to go ahead and take my clothes off: ‘Here, drink this wine, ’cause then you’ll do it,’” Zellweger said. “And, you know, I’m not gonna take that wine, but I would like a phone. ’Cause I have a phone call I need to make right now.”
Zellweger has spoken out against nude scenes in the past, telling Premiere magazine in 2001 (via IndieWire) that she turned down Cameron Crowe’s request for her to appear topless during a scene in the Tom Cruise-starring “Jerry Maguire.”
“It’s not like Cameron’s big plan was to have this sleazy, gratuitous boob shot,” Zellweger said. “That’s not in him, and I’d do anything for him — with the exception of that.”
Zellweger added at the time that nude scenes too often distract from the plot. “When a woman stands naked in a room, unless that particular moment is held up by the subject matter, all you notice is that there’s a naked girl,” she said.
Following her 2020 Oscar win for “Judy,” the second Academy Award of her career, Zellweger pivoted to television as the star of NBC’s dark crime comedy “The Thing About Pam.” The series airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on NBC. Episodes stream on Hulu the following day.