Renée Zellwegeris back!
The actress, 50, received two standing ovations on Tuesday night after the premiere of her filmJudyat the Toronto International Film Festival.
Zellweger brushed away tears as she stood onstage next to her costars and director Rupert Goold, telling the audience, “OK, quit! You’re messing up my makeup.”
The Oscar-winning actress stars as Judy Garland near the end of her life when the famedWizard of Ozstar arrived in London to perform sold-out shows at the Talk of the Town nightclub.
While there, Garland meets and falls in love with her soon-to-be-fifth husband Mickey Deans.
George Pimentel/Getty Images
Critics at the festival shared their thoughts on Twitter after the premiere, singing praises for Zellweger’s portrayal of the icon.
“In 15 years at#TIFFI have never seen a standing ovation like the one for Renee Zellweger atJUDY,”Varietycritic Jenelle Riley tweeted. “I started this about a minute into it and it only stopped because she made us.”
Toronto Starreporter Tara Deschamps tweeted, “A standing ovation forJUDY. Lasted about two minutes and only ended because Renee Zellweger got teary-eyed and requested everyone sit before she messed up her makeup.#TIFF19.”
Entertainment Weekly‘s Joey Nolfi wrote, “Renée Zellweger is crying. I’m crying. Everyone is f—ing crying andJudyis a soaring, emotional wallop of a comeback for its star.#TIFF19.”
Siegel followed it up with a video of the standing ovation, writing, “Here’s a sample of the SECOND standing O for Renee Zellweger following theJUDYQ&A.#TIFF2019.”
Zellweger has been nominated for an Oscar three times, winning one for her performance in 2004’sCold Mountain.
The actress spoke with PEOPLE at TIFF about how she became Garland for the movie.
“I tried not to think too much about the obvious which is how adored Judy is and has been through generations and how she’s an icon for the ages,” Zellweger said.
She continued, “I looked at it as an exploration of trying to understand the human experience on the other side of that stardom. I think otherwise I would have just run away.”
The film also stars Finn Wittrock as Deans, Rufus Sewell as Garland’s third husband Sid Luft and Michael Gambon as her manager Bernard Delfont. Bella Ramsey plays Garland’s daughter Lorna Luft while Gemma-Leah Devereux plays her daughter Liza Minnelli.
Judyhits theaters Sept. 27, and the soundtrack is set to be released the same day.
source: people.com
