The Whole Wide World Of Renee Z.

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By Newsweek Editors

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RENEE ZELLWEGER was terrified when she played her first lead role, but then she was being stalked by a psycho with a mechanical leg. The movie was "Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre." The killer was a buddy from the University of Texas, Matthew McConaughey. "It was a blast," says Zellweger, with a whispery twang. "I'd run and scream and fall down, and run and scream and fall down. I still have scars. See my knee?" Now when Zellweger makes a movie--Cameron Crowe's "Jerry Maguire," or Dan Ireland's unexpectedly powerful true romance, "The Whole Wide World"--she's still terrified. "I'm never quite sure I've got what it takes," says the actress, 27. "Tom Cruise is a superstar and I'm, like, a dork and a faker. It's like, Don't they know what they're doing?!"

Trust us, they do. Winona Ryder and Mira Sorvino reportedly lusted after the girlfriend role in "Maguire." But Crowe handed it to Zellweger, who handed back an uncommonly nuanced performance. Her work has won her a National Board of Review award, and now "Wide World" is poised to give us the only thing we could ask for: more. Zellweger plays Novalyne Price, a Texas schoolteacher who falls for Robert E. Howard (Vincent D'Onofrio), creator of "Conan the Barbarian." Howard gets violent, but Zellweger's Price is so tough and self-possessed you figure she could give even Conan a thrashing if need be.

The role changed Zellweger: "I had to pull that strength out of myself, that assertiveness." She grew up in Katy, Texas, the daughter of a Norwegian nurse and a Swiss engineer. Like many actors, she can use the words growth, blessing and journey in the same sentence. But, thanks to waitressing in bars, she can also use awesome, killer and dude. Zellweger recently had a ball playing a prostitute in "Liar," with Tim Roth--"Oh, man, it rocked!"--and she'll be Hasidic in "Price Below Rubies." She may get scared making movies, but audiences get enchanted.

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