MANILA, Philippines - With her new movie New in Town, Renée Zellwege reveals that she’s eager to try her hand at a traditional romantic comedy as she plays a head-strong career woman who must grapple with sub-zero temperatures, small town values and unexpected feelings for a man she doesn’t even like.
In New in Town, she plays Lucy Hill, an ambitious, upcoming executive living in Miami. She loves her shoes, she loves her cars and she loves climbing the corporate ladder. When she is offered a temporary assignment — in the middle of nowhere — to restructure a manufacturing plant, she jumps at the opportunity, knowing that a big promotion is close at hand. What begins as a straightforward job assignment becomes a life-changing experience as Lucy discovers greater meaning in her life and most unexpectedly, the man of her dreams (Harry Connick Jr. of Hope Floats, P.S. I Love You).
“I thought the script was a refreshing romantic comedy set in a community with a lot of heart and old fashioned values,” says producer Paul Brooks. “Renée was absolutely our first choice for the role of Lucy Hill!”
Zellweger relished the opportunity to demonstrate her skills as a physical comedian, taking full comic advantage of perfectionist Lucy Hill’s clash with the sub-zero weather and New Ulm’s quirky values. She was provided with a stuntwoman, but on the first day of filming, Zellweger realized that she wanted to perform her own stunts, even if it meant falling repeatedly on cold, hard ice.
“That’s the fun part, you know?” she says excitedly. “The fun part is making a jerk out of yourself in the snow and face planting and getting to be creative with it and ridiculous. And there’s no way I was going to miss out on that. No way! I laughed myself silly watching what an idiot I was. It’s so funny because Lucy is so determined to be perfect.”