Although Renee Zellweger left the acting world from 2010 to 2016, she remained busy. “I needed to step away and grow as a person, learn some things that were not related to work,” she said on “Today” on March 7. This led Zellweger to further her education, but in an area that many fans might find surprising. “I went to UCLA for a little while to study public policy,” she said on the daytime show. “International law, very interesting, just interested in politics,” she added. The actor joked that while she enjoyed engrossing herself in studying politics, she had no clear-cut plan on how to apply the knowledge she gained outside of “[boring people] to death” at parties.
Besides furthering her education, Zellweger looked back on her acting sabbatical as being crucial in her personal development. “I had a good five-year period when I was joyful and in a new chapter that no one was even aware of,” she told New York Magazine (via Vulture) in 2019 when reflecting on that contemplative time away from Hollywood. “It’s a quieter life, and I love it,” she added.
During a rare public appearance in 2014, while Zellweger was still on her acting break, the “What/If” star made headlines for how much her looks had changed. “I’m glad folks think I look different! I’m living a different, happy, more fulfilling life, and I’m thrilled that perhaps it shows,” she told People at the time.
