Renée Zellweger reveals she had to be sewn into costumes for 'Judy' role
Renée Zellweger has spoken about the drastic measures she took to play the late Judy Garland in the new biopic Judy.
The 50-year-old actor, best known for her title role in the Bridget Jones film franchise, said she had to be sewn into every costume she wore in order to mimic Garland’s trademark hunched posture.
“Judy slouched a little and the dresses were made so that I couldn’t have stood any other way,” Zellweger said during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show on Friday night.
“I was literally sewn into them,” she said. “It was a great reminder during the day if you got lazy because you had no option but to stand like her. The sequins were very strict!”
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Zellweger previously told Variety magazine last month that mimicking Judy’s hunched posture saw her visiting a chiropractor “a few times” while shooting in London.
Garland’s posture was said to have been caused by a slight curvature of the spine, according to her biographers, a condition otherwise known as scoliosis.
Princess Eugenie has spoken about suffering from scoliosis, and had her wedding dress cut low so she could reveal her childhood back surgery scars. Garland’s daughter Liza Minnelli also suffers from the condition, mentioning in interviews that it affects how she moves on stage.
![Judy Garland suffered from scoliosis, according to her biographers. [Photo: Getty]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/l6juPkrO7.oBAGzGBIAi2Q--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTEyMzQ-/https://media-mbst-pub-ue1.s3.amazonaws.com/creatr-uploaded-images/2019-10/9497a060-e8f4-11e9-8ffb-41a02fd61f71)
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Zellweger is far from being the first actor to be sewn into her costumes on set. Olivia Newton-John wore skin-tight leather trousers for her role as Sandy in Grease that were so close-fitting she had to be sewn into them.
“It was the ’70s [when Grease was filmed, and] those pants were from the ’50s. They were old already and the zipper was gone, so they stitched me in,” Newton-John told People. “Of course, you can imagine: I’d have to pee, [so] they had to unpick it and stitch me up again!”
