Here's why Renee Zellweger walked away from Hollywood

In the early '00s, Renee Zellweger was an unstoppable Hollywood force --- playing Roxie Hart in the Best Picture-winning Chicago, starring alongside Jude Law and Nicole Kidman in the Civil War drama Cold Mountain, and nabbing the titular role in Bridget Jones' Diary, where she brilliantly played one of our very favorite on-screen heroines.

Fifteen years later, Zellweger is reprising her beloved character for Bridget Jones's Baby, due on Sept. 18. But the actress' place in Hollywood is much different, as she returns to the role after a half-decade break from the spotlight, her comeback accompanied by neck-craning headlines speculating whether she underwent plastic surgery.

In an insightful new cover story in British Vogue, Zellweger opened up about her Hollywood hiatus. "I found anonymity, so I could have exchanges with people on a human level and be seen and heard, not be defined by this image that precedes me when I walk into a room," she said. "You cannot be a good storyteller if you don't have life experiences, and you can't relate to people."

Every time Zellweger plays the refreshingly normal-sized Bridget Jones character, she's also forced to talk about gaining weight for the role, which she acknowledged in the interview. "I put on a few pounds. I also put on some breasts and a baby bump. Bridget is a perfectly normal weight and I've never understood why it matters so much,"' she said.

"No male actor would get such scrutiny if he did the same thing for a role."

Read the whole cover story excerpt here, and stay tuned for Bridget Jones's Baby in September.