After taking a break from acting for four years, Renee Zellweger is getting back in the game. Next year, we’ll see the actress in legal thriller The Whole Truth, alongside Keanu Reeves, and it looks like that project rekindled her fire for performance, as Deadline reports that Zellweger has also signed on to star in Paramount’s faith drama, Same Kind Of Different As Me.
The film is based on the 2006 bestselling novel by art dealer Ron Hall and drifter Denver Moore. The pair co-wrote the novel after they were introduced by Hall’s wife Deborah at a homeless shelter where the married couple volunteered. After they met, their lives were forever changed when they become fast friends.
Zellweger is set to play Deborah, who is described as being a kind and generous woman who sought to help those in need right up until her death. It sounds like bona fide tearjerking material, especially as it’s based on a true story, and that kind of a story could definitely plant the actress back on the map.
There’s little else revealed on Same Kind Of Different As Me, except that it’s being directed by Michael Carney. There’s a lot of those on IMDB, so it’s uncertain which helmer will be in the director’s chair. Until anything new lands, you can read through the official book synopsis below and let us know if you think this is a smart move for Zellweger.
A dangerous, homeless drifter who grew up picking cotton in virtual slavery. An upscale art dealer accustomed to the world of Armani and Chanel. A gutsy woman with a stubborn dream. A story so incredible no novelist would dare dream it. It begins outside a burning plantation hut in Louisiana. . . and an East Texashonky-tonk . . .and, without a doubt, in the heart of God. It unfolds in aHollywood hacienda . . . an upscale New York gallery . . . a downtown dumpster. . . a Texas ranch. Gritty with pain and betrayal and brutality, it also shines with an unexpected, life-changing love.