• June 13, 2005
• Vol. 63
• No. 23

The Newlywed

By Karen S. Schneider

With a New Husband and Raves for Cinderella Man, Renée Zellweger Heads for Her Own Happy Ending

Okay, so because of the time constraints of country rocker Kenny Chesney's tour—with a show in Little Rock, Ark., just a few days after his May 9 wedding in the Virgin Islands to Renée Zellweger—there wasn't much time for a leisurely honeymoon. And her four-day cross-country road trip from her old home in L.A. to her new home in Connecticut later in the month was marred by the reaction of her cat. "She didn't take to it very well," Zellweger, 36, told Jay Leno on the Tonight Show on May 24. "Look at my arms and you'll see all the residual scarring." Still, a few scratches have not gotten in the way of the star's giddy glow. A week after celebrating her husband's Entertainer of the Year win at the Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 17, Zellweger went through another rite of passage: receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. "I'm dying now," she told the crowd.

A figure of speech, thankfully. Because judging from the reviews she's getting for her role as the wife of world heavyweight champion boxer James Braddock (Russell Crowe) in her current drama Cinderella Man (see box), she's got awards shows to attend. As ABC critic Joel Siegel said, "Two-word title, two-word review: Oscar time." Who knows? She might even show up with Chesney. So far, the couple have not shared the spotlight. She was nowhere to be seen at the CMA awards, joining him only at an afterparty at the Bali Hai Golf Club. And he did not accompany her to the L.A. premiere of Cinderella Man on May 23. "They're not living the marriage in public," says his rep. Maybe so, but Zellweger's new happiness is obvious. "This girl is glowing in the dark," says Cinderella Man coscreenwriter Akiva Goldsman. "No one deserves it more."

Karen S. Schneider; Kelly Williams; Julie Jordan; Marisa Laudadio in Los Angeles

• Contributors:
• Kelly Williams,
• Julie Jordan,
• Marisa Laudadio.

More From This Article

How They Met

Their wedding (above) was a long time coming. Years earlier, long before they met, kenny Chesney had made "a really thoughtful gesture" to her, says a source. Renée Zellweger eventually wrote a thank-you note, which she had given to her manager. When the stars both pitched in at a tsunami relief telethon on Jan. 15, her manager told Chesney that he had a missive for him from Zellweger. After the telecast, Chensey finally introduced himself to the actress, "I heard you have a note for me," he said. That led to e-mails, phone calls, and—less than four months later—a wedding.

Cinderella Story

The Cinderella Man, as fans called boxer James J. Braddock, may not have had a fairy godmother. But he had the next best thing: Mae Fox Braddock as his wife. As portrayed by Zellweger in Cinderella Man—director Ron Howard's new biopic about Braddock—Mae was the plucky force behind the Great Depression's common-man hero. Her task was not easy. By 1932—two years after they were married—an injury to Jim's right hand sent his career into a downward spiral. After a loss to Abe Feldman in 1933, Mae said, "I tried to comfort him, but it , was no use. His heart was broken." Impoverished like most of the nation, he had to struggle to get work, food, money to heat the one-room basement flat in New Jersey (during the coldest winter on record) he lived in with his wife and three children. Then, in 1934, at age 29, Braddock returned to the ring with all that was left in him: the love of his wife—and the desire to support his family. As one improbable win followed another, the nation cheered on its underdog until 1935, when a collective gasp greeted his decision to face Max Baer, who had killed two men in the ring. The film's ending will not be given away here, but to Mae, he was forever a champ. "They just have a beautiful relationship," Zellweger has said of their story. "It made me feel hopeful."