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Renée Zellweger may be decorated with countless awards like any other celebrity but she doesn't live like one.
The Texas-born actress isn't fond of the glitzy glamorous life of Hollywood. In fact, she left it for nearly a decade and feels more like an impostor who's faked it throughout most of her career. She was able to leave it all behind because she felt like she was never really a part of it, to begin with, but she needed the time off to recuperate.
When she did return, it was with a reprisal of one of her most famous characters, Bridget Jones, which, for all her hard work on becoming a single British woman, earned her her first Oscars nomination. But even when she did come back her lifestyle stayed the same. She likes a simpler life, one that many in showbiz would categorize as frugal.
She isn't frugal exactly. She has a very extensive real estate portfolio, having houses in parts of the country where she works and where she likes to unwind from the pressures of the industry. She's also forked out the big dollars, of course, for her botox treatments over the years, even though she denies ever having work done.
So while Zellweger might not live in a huge McMansion in Hollywood or buy outlandish things, but she doesn't live like Bridget Jones either.
Zellweger Has A Couple Of Homes In Remote Areas
One of the biggest things that Zellweger's spent her $90 million net worth on is her real estate portfolio.
But in usual Zellweger fashion, most of these homes and properties are humble dwellings in remote places around the country, instead of lavish mansions in celebrity neighborhoods in California.
She did have a couple of homes in California at one point though before she realized they weren't for her. In 2002, she moved from her $1.8 million Hollywood Hills home to a bigger home in Bel-Air, which set her back $6.8 million. It was built in 1937 and has 6 bedrooms, 8 baths, an office, gym, library, a guesthouse, and a pool. Zellweger only stayed there a year before selling it to Debra Messing in 2003 for $7 million.
Zellweger wound up buying a 1900-built home in East Hampton, New York for $2.15 million shortly after. The modest 4 beds and 3 baths had been kept up with and renovated over the years as well. She listed the home in 2014 for $4.45 million and sold it for $4.65 million.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Zellweger also previously owned a complex of apartment units in New York City, but she sold them in 2011 for $7.4 million.
One of her most prized properties is a 1700s-built 39-acre farm, called The Cotton Tavern, located pretty much in the middle of nowhere, Connecticut. In 2004, she paid $1.32 million for the Colonial which features three bedrooms, seven fireplaces, a cozy library, a country-style kitchen, a swimming pool, a guest home, a 2,000-square-foot barn, beautiful gardens, and a spectacular view of the Quinebaug River.
The outside of the house looks like any colonial house but the inside boasts modern renovations which Zellweger has done over the years. In 2014, she decided to put the home on the market for $1.6 million, but after going through a couple of price adjustments, it looks like she decided to keep her little sanctuary after all.
Along with her impressive real estate portfolio, Zellweger has also been seen driving impressive cars too. She's had a Mercedes E63, a Mercedes G500, and more modest models like the Toyota Prius and a Mini Cooper.
Zellweger Spends On Vacations And Cosmetics
During her six-year hiatus where she took time to "go away and grow up a bit," Zellweger also paid for therapy, traveled a bit, and took classes at the University of California in Los Angeles. She also wrote a pilot for a Lifetime show but was ultimately turned down.
"I took time off so I wasn’t regurgitating the same old emotional experiences to tell stories. I lived some new ones, and all of it is informative," Zellweger told the Irish Times.
She also told Vogue U.K. back when she resurfaced that she'd felt fatigued and overworked. She took her time off to explore, to do those things that she always said she was going to do but couldn't with her very busy career. Leaving was a no-brainer for her because she never led that Hollywood lifestyle in the first place.
"I wasn’t around it. I don’t hang out like that," she told New York magazine. "I don’t go to the party. It’s part of my work: There’s a premiere, there’s an event, there’s a red carpet, there’s the hotel-lobby dinner. That’s my relationship to Hollywood. I don’t live in that. That’s my job. I visit it."
When she resurfaced, the press were quick to notice how well-rested Zellweger was...and how different she looked. Despite Zellwegger's fierce denial of getting work done on her face, she probably has had some Botox, which had to have cost a pretty penny.
"I'm glad folks think I look different," she told People. "I'm living a different, happy, more fulfilling life, and I'm thrilled that perhaps it shows."
As for her overall humble lifestyle, that might come from her immigrant parents who instilled a hardworking ethic in Zellweger.
"I've never gotten my self-esteem from having the newest, most spectacular thing." Zellweger told Glamour. She admitted her only indulgences are sushi and wine. When she ate on the set of Bridget Jones she didn't have grand trailers where she could be pampered. She ate around on boxes like the rest of the cast.
So Zellweger shouldn't really be on the list of most frugal celebrities because she's just really humble. Judging by her real estate portfolio she's definitely not frugal, but she's not quite in the Kardashian caliber. She's somewhere in the middle. Zellweger, we like you just as you are.