Judy is the new biopic following the life of Hollywood royalty Judy Garland. The film is set over the course of a five week stint in London in which Garland performed at the Hippodrome. But fans are shocked at how star Renee Zellweger has been able to transform into the star.
Both Zellweger and the film’s director, Rupert Goold, have opened up on how much effort it took to transform Zellweger into the star.
Zellweger has said it took “20 people” a day to transform her into Garland, but did not reveal exactly what they did to create it.
On the red carpet of the European premiere, she said: “It was such a process.
“It was this ongoing fluid process of experiments that was shared by so many different departments.
“I was wearing 20 people’s job at one time – all the time.
“So I didn’t really think about it in terms of challenge. It was just this exploration and celebration of her legacy.
“Some things took more time.
“I would build up to certain things that I didn’t know how to do, but we had time to do it.
“Every bit of it was joyful so it’s really hard to look at it in terms of difficulty because everything was joyful.”
Clearly she enjoyed the process, no matter how many people were helping her to turn into Judy.
Rupert Goold, the film’s director, said Zellweger did a huge amount of research to get to the point where they could do the film.
Speaking to ETonline, he said: “It’s so many tiny, little changes – physical changes, hair and makeup, voice – you don’t notice the pattern in a way.
“But I do remember being in my kitchen before I’d even met Renée thinking, ‘Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland… what’s that going to be like?
“‘Like, Bridget Jones? I can’t see how it’s going to happen.’
“I mean, she’s a great actor, but I do remember thinking that just seems odd but exciting.
“The thing that was great, I suppose, is that ‘69, the period that Renée’s Judy is, is a period of TV, and [Judy] did a lot – she was a star by that point – so there were a lot of interviews, a lot of home footage, cassette tapes she made, audio recordings.
“There’s actually a lot of stuff to work with.”
One thing that Renee nailed, according to Rupert, was how Garland stood and held herself in that final year of her life.
He added: “What I will say is that Renée had really worked out her posture and how her spine was shaped.
“Louis B. Mayer called her his little hunchback – which is one of the many abusive terms he used – but it was true that she had this rather distinctive curvature of the spine.
“And the teeth were a really big part.
“As soon as the teeth went in, her lips became more foregrounded and I think the feel of them in the mouth, I could tell Renée really lent on that.
“That was part of the mask.”
Of course, Zellweger’s performance has captivated audiences, so it seems the research and attempts to take on the character of Judy paid off.
Judy is in cinemas from October 4
