--- title: First Look of Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland in New Biopic description: Zellweger channels the Wizard of Oz star in an upcoming biopic canonical: https://time.com/5206599/renee-zellweger-judy-garland-biopic/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-20T02:25:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:57:59.661Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: See Renée Zellweger Transform into Judy Garland in Biopic og:description: A first look photo shows the actress channeling the screen legend og:url: https://time.com/5206599/renee-zellweger-judy-garland-biopic/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb66bd60aa4fe65f2/69892b4e4ee26259623113db/gettyimages-861807150.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Premiere Of Paramount Pictures And Pure Flix Entertainment's "Same Kind Of Different As Me" - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See Renée Zellweger Transform into Judy Garland in Biopic twitter:description: A first look photo shows the actress channeling the screen legend twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb66bd60aa4fe65f2/69892b4e4ee26259623113db/gettyimages-861807150.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Renée Zellweger Is Unrecognizable as Judy Garland in Upcoming Biopic by [Stephanie Petit / PEOPLE](/author/people/) ## Stephanie Petit / PEOPLE Mar 20, 2018 2:25 AM CUT  Actress Renee Zellweger attends the premiere of "Same Kind of Different as Me" at Westwood Village Theatre on Oct. 12, 2017 in Westwood, California. Actress Renee Zellweger attends the premiere of "Same Kind of Different as Me" at Westwood Village Theatre on Oct. 12, 2017 in Westwood, California.Jason LaVeris—FilmMagic/Getty Images by [Stephanie Petit / PEOPLE](/author/people/) ## Stephanie Petit / PEOPLE Mar 20, 2018 2:25 AM CUT Renée Zellweger is known for her ability to shape-shift for different roles, but her latest transformation is worth a double-take. A first look photo from [_Judy_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YCNV79J/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07YCNV79J&linkId=51afef83c11a2f7591939ad66df904d3 "undefined"), a biopic about Judy Garland, shows the actress completely transformed into the screen legend. In the shot, Zellweger channels the [_Wizard of Oz_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0091XHTHE/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B0091XHTHE&linkId=3ceb9da18c5d80697be1abbe16197d0b "undefined") star and renowned singer in a black dress with floral details and dark locks. Zellweger — who won an Oscar for her work in [_Cold Mountain_ ](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006T9Y278/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B006T9Y278&linkId=6c8b4512bdc9c2c0613314f0209ebd8d "undefined")— gazes upwards as she sings into a microphone. According to [_Variety_](http://variety.com/2017/film/news/renee-zellweger-judy-garland-1202596271/ "undefined")_,_ the biopic by Pathé and Calamity Films will follow Garland’s final sold-out concerts in London in 1968, despite her exhaustion and deteriorating health. The movie, based on a script written by _The Crown_‘s Tom Edge, will also focus on Garland’s management problems and her various relationships, _Variety_ reported. [Production of the film](http://people.com/movies/renee-zellweger-to-play-judy-garland-in-biopic-about-icons-last-years/ "undefined") is currently underway in London. > [](https://twitter.com/JudyGarlandFilm/status/975676395438444545) In addition to Zellweger in the title role, the film will also star Finn Wittrock as Garland’s fifth husband Mickey Deans, and Michael Gambon as manager Bernard Delfont. Bella Ramsey will portray Garland’s daughter Lorna Luft while Gemma-Leah Devereux will play a young Liza Minnelli. British stage director Rupert Goold will direct.  inger and actress Judy Garland appears in concert. Hulton Deutsch—Corbis/Getty Images S Garland died of an accidental barbiturate overdose months after the tour ended in June 1969 in London. She was 47. Deans and Garland [were only married for three months](http://people.com/celebrity/judy-garland-husbands-sid-luft-david-rose-vincente-minnelli/ "undefined") when she died. The marriage was her fifth. In 2017, PEOPLE excerpted [_Judy and I: My Life with Judy Garland_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1613735839/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1613735839&linkId=9964bbd692c9f0ed03922a712e829717 "undefined"), which was crafted from notes that Sid Luft, Garland’s third husband, left unfinished before his 2005 death. Among the revelations from Luft was that Garland’s life [had been dominated by a constant pressure to be “camera-slim.”](http://people.com/books/judy-garland-struggle-with-food-drug-addiction/ "undefined") Luft wrote, “Most of her teen and adult life, she had been on either Benzedrine or a diet or both.”  Close up of the actress Judy Garland. Mondadori Portfolio—Mondadori/Getty Images Of Garland’s death, Luft — from whom she was then long divorced — wrote, “She was totally burned out. Destroyed. I couldn’t save her.” _Judy_ is expected to released later this year. _This article originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://people.com/ "undefined")_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5206599/renee-zellweger-judy-garland-biopic/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5206599/renee-zellweger-judy-garland-biopic/"},"headline":"Renée Zellweger Is Unrecognizable as Judy Garland in Upcoming Biopic","datePublished":"2018-03-20T02:25:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:57:59.661Z","description":"Zellweger channels the Wizard of Oz star in an upcoming biopic","url":"https://time.com/5206599/renee-zellweger-judy-garland-biopic/","keywords":["movies","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb66bd60aa4fe65f2/69892b4e4ee26259623113db/gettyimages-861807150.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Stephanie Petit / PEOPLE"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb66bd60aa4fe65f2/69892b4e4ee26259623113db/gettyimages-861807150.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Premiere Of Paramount Pictures And Pure Flix Entertainment's \"Same Kind Of Different As Me\" - Arrivals","caption":"Premiere Of Paramount Pictures And Pure Flix Entertainment's \"Same Kind Of Different As Me\" - Arrivals","creditText":"Jason LaVeris—FilmMagic/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5206599/renee-zellweger-judy-garland-biopic/","name":"Renée Zellweger Is Unrecognizable as Judy Garland in Upcoming Biopic"}}]}] ```