That’s right, Renee Zellweger is playing Judy Garland in an upcoming biopic, and now we have our first look in the form on one still photograph. Initial shooting of “Judy” has just begun in London. The movie is set in the late 1960s as Garland arrives in the U.K. for a concert run. Garland died in London in June 1969.
Taking on the role of an iconic, much beloved Hollywood legend is no small task, and often ripe for criticism at the get-go, although actress Judy Davis received positive reviews for her 2001 portray in the ABC mini-series “Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.”
Zellweger has sung for a film before, when she played Roxie Hart in the movie “Chicago,” but this may be one role where lip synching the original artist is the only way to go. Little has been written about how they director will portray her iconic performance scenes.
Inevitably, when an actor plays a real person, the comparison of appearance begins immediately. Zellweger has become accustomed to that herself, as her appearance has been under a microscope since 2014, when a flurry of stories arose implying she had altered her looks with cosmetic surgery. In 2016 she passionately responded to those allegations.
Never one to shy against taking on a challenging role, I’m excited to see her interpretation of such an iconic, troubled performer.