MAD ABOUT THE GIRL

Set to make us laugh and cry as Bridget Jones once more, Renée Zellweger opens up about her beloved alter ego and the hiatus that helped her get 'healthy'

- SALLY JAMES

She's been one of Hollywood's most in-demand actresses since lighting up the screen opposite Tom Cruise in 1996's Jerry Maguire - and Renée Zellweger doesn't take that for granted. "Acting is the best job in the world," she's quick to say. But over the years, the Texan-born star, 55, has come to appreciate downtime, too - particularly the self-imposed sort.

Set to reprise her role as the flawed yet fabulous Bridget Jones in a fourth instalment of the beloved franchise, Renée is now opening up about why she took a six-year hiatus from movie making. "I needed that time to step away and grow as a person," she says.

She also kept busy – really busy. During her sabbatical, “I wrote music and studied international law,” Renée reveals in a new British Vogue interview conducted by her old friend Hugh Grant (a.k.a. Bridget Jones's on-off love interest, Daniel Cleaver).

As if that weren't enough, “I built a house, rescued a pair of older doggies, created a partnership that led to a production company, advocated for and fundraised with a sick friend and spent a lot of time with family and godchildren and driving across the country with the dogs. I got healthy.”

Oh, and she also fell in love – with British TV personality Ant Anstead, 45 (read about their love story on page 21).