Zellweger Wows Critics

Renee Zellweger is no stranger to critical acclaim, and the praise keeps coming.

Time magazine says "As for the Best Supporting Actress, voting is officially closed; Zellweger should win by acclamation" for her portrayal of can-do mountain gal Ruby Thewes in the civil war epic "Cold Mountain."

Zellweger stops by The Early Show to discuss her performance in the movie, which is based on Charles Frazier's novel.

She tells co-anchor Harry Smith at one point she wanted to the buy the rights to the book before anybody really knew what it was about. But after a review in Newsweek, the price went considerably higher and made it impossible for her to buy it.

So the next bext thing for her was playing a part in it, though she didn't picture herself in that particular role. She says, "I did have my fingers crossed for about five years about hoping that Anthony Minghella would give me a call."

And he did. Minghella says Zellweger basically told him, "you let me come to work on this film, I'll do whatever you want. I'll push a broom on the set."

Zellweger says, "Isn't that shameless? I did. I said I love this book so much. I just recognized it when I read it. I understood it when he's talking about the climate, when he's talking about the smells. I understood it. I knew it."

She adds, "I don't know why it was really personally important to me and I'm such a fan of Anthony as a filmmaker. I remember sitting in a theater a few years back and seeing the trailer for 'The English Patient' and just being mesmerized. I knew there would be no compromising in the material."

And it proved to be a good choice for Zellweger. Her co-star Nicole Kidman has praised her work, saying Zellweger was very brave in her role.

For her part, Zellweger says, "I can say the same thing about Nicole, that's for sure. I enjoyed working with her so much. It was such a quiet, really intense time and being on the side of that mountain in that crazy weather and sharing ideas about it."

The film was shot in Transylvania, Romania, which Zellweger says helped make it a better movie.

"I think it was a really important part of the experience," she says. "On the way to work, you didn't see telephone wires; you didn't see billboards. You saw carts being pulled by horses and people wearing traditional dress, handmade wool sweaters and you'd see shepherds on the side of the road."

Fast forward, Zellweger is now in the middle of filming "Bridget Jones II." She says, "It's interesting to play a character a second time and revisit that experience because that, in itself, is new, and I haven't done that before."

And she is having a good time doing it as well. She notes, "I can't say it's a bad day at work with Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. It's not a hard morning to get up and head to the office, you might say."

Some Facts About Renee Zellweger