You will not be surprised to read that I love this cover but that her one hank of hair there in the middle of her forehead is making me slowly insane.
The story is fairly diverting, as is Renee herself, I suspect. (Renee seems fun.) It’s in aid of promoting The Thing About Pam, which I honestly already forgot happened; I will note that the Dateline podcast about that case is fantastic, and I can see why they wanted to option it, but Renee was not good casting, and I would hope we’d be past the era of fatsuits in 2021. (I think Renee decided it was not good for her to gain weight for a role after Bridget Jones and I understand why she didn’t want to go down that road; I think they should have cast another actor.) The profile directs that controversy thusly:
Now, all of these years later, they’re talking again—or tweeting, anyway—calling the padding and prosthetics she wears in The Thing About Pam “fatphobic.” It’s a fair point, but maybe Zellweger isn’t the best place to direct that anger.
I don’t think anyone needs to direct actual anger at her, obviously — but she’s an executive producer on the piece and she took the part, so the criticism isn’t wholly misdirected, and I think it’s okay to note that perhaps this is a project where Renee could have EP’d and given another actress a gig. When I saw the ads for the mini-series, my first thought was, “oh, that podcast was great,” and my second one was, “Renee is terrible casting for this!” so I don’t even know that I think her on-screen involvement was a bonus for them. Having said that: I really like Renee as an actor and I do think she would be well-served on a juicy miniseries. Renee could absolutely have her own Mare of Easttown.
ANYWAY! Here’s your subscribers cover:
Don’t you feel like Gwyneth Paltrow owns that coffee table?
I’d also note that I actually really like the editorial snaps accompanying the profile. They feel like the heyday of the J.Crew catalog, and I know that sounds like a backhanded compliment but I truly loved that catalog when it was in its prime and that style honestly feels so refreshing and clean at the moment — and it also makes me want to buy clothes, so.
[Photographed by: Mel Bles]
