London Gets into Gere with 'Chicago'

By Stephen M. Silverman And Laura Benjamin

12/09/2002 at 01:20 PM EST

Renée Zellweger and Richard Gere helped thaw the icy streets of London Sunday night with the world premiere of their sizzling new movie musical "Chicago," based on the 1975 Bob Fosse stage production, PEOPLE reports.

Wearing a short black-and-silver Chanel dress and coat that were vintage 1930s (the same as the movie), Zellweger, fresh from the freezing Romanian set of her latest movie, "Cold Mountain," said, "I don't find it particularly cold here -- believe me, it's a welcome relief from what I've just experienced."

In "Chicago," Zellweger, 33, plays Roxie Hart, a failed chorine who, after shooting her boyfriend, views her murder trial as her real shot at stardom.

Catherine Zeta-Jones, who plays another murderess, didn't attend the London premiere. The BBC reports that she chose to remain home in Los Angeles rather than fly in her pregnant condition.

Speaking of her absent costar, Zellweger said that when she first heard Zeta-Jones singing for director Rob Marshall, "I was just dumbfounded. My jaw dropped to the floor. I didn't speak for 30 minutes. Just sat in the corner in awe and watched. It's not just singing and dancing, she belts it out."

By comparison, Zellweger said of herself, "I'm like a little field mouse compared to her. Squeak, squeak, squeak."

Gere, 53, who plays Roxie's shyster lawyer, said he found rehearsing for the film's intricate tap-dancing scene the hardest part of the production.

"I was so shy about that particular aspect that no one, not even my wife, even saw me practice," he said. "But it was definitely me doing that dance up there on the screen. I take full responsibility for it."

His wife, Carey Lowell, added: "He sings and dances all the time at home, and I'm so glad he gets the chance to do it on screen now. He's such a ham."