No one would suggest that Renée, who made her way from small-town Texas to Hollywood's A-list, lacks the drive and determination to be a star. But Zellweger doesn't want to live a star's life. In 2004 she stopped calling Los Angeles home and moved East, to get away from the paparazzi. In New York, where she's not always recognized, she can live a simpler life. Still, the Oscar-winning actress, 38, doesn't mind the cameras on a movie set, where she always welcomes a challenge. Zellweger adopted a Civil War-era North Carolina accent and was acclaimed for her portrayal of a rural drifter in 2003's Cold Mountain, learned to sing and dance as Roxie Hart in Chicago in 2002, and famously packed 20 pounds onto her five-foot-four frame to play the pudgy, romantically challenged publicist in 2001's Bridget Jones's Diary.

Now, the actress is the voice for a florist named Vanessa in Bee Movie, an animated film created by Jerry Seinfeld (who costars as, naturally, a bee). On the eve of the movie's release, Zellweger sat down with Reader's Digest to talk about being single (her 2005 marriage to country singer Kenny Chesney lasted just four months), those pesky celebrity photographers and her favorite form of humor.

RD: Given all that you've achieved, does Katy, Texas, seem far, far away?
Zellweger: Mm, yeah, I guess it does. The person that I was at that time in my life is still here; it's just, there's been such a journey from that place.

RD: You always said you didn't want to go Hollywood, but how do you avoid that, being in the business you're in?
Zellweger: That's a different job altogether: going to the scene and getting your picture taken. It all has its place, I'm sure, and it can be a lot of fun sometimes to find yourself in an unusual scenario. But it's not the motivating factor. I don't need to be in the eye of the storm. I love acting, I really do love it, but I have a very hard time. It's a strange thing to call a job.

RD: Do you get used to the fame?
Zellweger: You don't. I'm affected by it every day.

RD: You live in New York City now, with a second home in Connecticut.
Zellweger: Connecticut was actually meant to be home, but I just am too busy to make it a home. It's the same town where my girlfriend and her kids live – they're the extended family. So when I go home, I go there.

RD: Why did you leave Los Angeles?
Zellweger: I wasn't really into being followed around everywhere by six guys in six SUVs with two-way radios.

No Regrets
RD: You're talking about the paparazzi?
Zellweger: Yeah, there's this whole network. You start to recognize them, and it's like, "You're not invited." I have a fitting, then I have to go meet this director to discuss the next project, then I have an interview, and I'm going to go for a run. And you're not invited. But they'll come with you all day. I don't want to feed the fishes. I also don't want to be one of those people who are sour about it. So I decided I'd just leave.

RD: Since the last time we talked, you won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Cold Mountain. Did it make you feel more secure in this business?
Zellweger: Oh, no. I didn't think, If only one day that happened, then I'd know. It still feels like video playback that doesn't belong to me.

RD: Did it make it easier to say no to things?
Zellweger: Before I earned the right to say no, I said no because I knew what it would lead to.

RD: So you said to yourself ?
Zellweger: I don't want the first shot of the movie to be a close-up on my naked breast because what that leads to doesn't have a place in my life. "[Older brother] Drew, Dad, Mom, there's a premiere tonight. You want to come?" I have to keep that in mind. I knew what I didn't want my life to be about, and that's all you can control.

RD: Have you regretted any of your choices?
Zellweger: In work? No, because I've never compromised myself. Has something been not really quite what I had hoped for? Of course. But do I regret spending the time? No. Do I regret the relationships that have developed as a result? No. So no regrets.

RD: Do you feel the same way about your personal choices? No regrets?
Zellweger: You always have that moment where you go, Oh, God. But in the long run, no way. A friend of mine once wrote, "I embrace my mistakes. They put me in the right direction." And I think, Well then, they're not really mistakes, are they? They're learning experiences. And thank God for them. Because who wants to leave as dumb as you started?

RD: The other big thing that occurred since we last talked was that you married. You're not married anymore. What do you say to all those people who want to know what happened?
Zellweger: I don't say anything, because there's nothing to add. I got married, and I'm not married. Not everything works out like you might hope, and I'm not the first person to have disappointment in my life.

RD: You have said that though it wouldn't be your first choice, you'd be okay with being single your whole life.
Zellweger: I don't want to sound cavalier by saying that I'm okay with my situation, because I'm not a frivolous person and don't take on something of such significance lightly. But there's good in every situation. It sounds simplistic, but I still have the good things that have always been in my life.

Doing Voices
RD: Have you always seen the glass as half full?
Zellweger: I don't see the point in the alternative.

RD: You've played serious and comedic roles. Does humor play a part of your personal life?
Zellweger: Every day. I think funny comes from recognizing the ridiculous elements of a situation. I love it when a bad day is really funny.

RD: What do you mean?
Zellweger: For instance, my friend's wedding. It started with getting ready: the hair falling because it's humid. She then has to go to the bank, get cash for the caterers. Then the cash is stolen ?

RD: Oh, no.
Zellweger: The DJ plays "Who Let the Dogs Out" for the couple's first dance. And the floor in this sweet old church in the country falls through. Everybody just went phoomph. Everything that could go wrong does. You're trying so hard to have this be your perfect day, and it's not working out. But no one will ever forget it.

RD: Were you the one who made her see the day as funny?
Zellweger: Oh, no. She saw it as funny too. She's my friend for a reason.

RD: You recently costarred with Jerry Seinfeld in his Bee Movie.
Zellweger: I had the best time working with him. Talk about looking forward to going to the office. To watch as he's coming up with something, you can see it: Oh, it's brewing, it's happening. Ah, what's it going to be? And then out it spills, and it's brilliant.

RD: You also have Leatherheads coming up, with George Clooney directing. Did you know him before?
Zellweger: Oh, for ten years or more. He's a good friend.

RD: You two should get together.
Zellweger: Well, let me get my phone, and you can call him.

RD: It'd be perfect.
Zellweger: You know, we have a lovely relationship. I write him six-page e-mails about my political rage, and he writes back, and cares too.

RD: Bee Movie is obviously about bees. Bees have been mysteriously dying. They thought it was global warming, but now they think it might be a virus.
Zellweger: The global warming stuff is bizarre. What scares me is if it in some way affects the laws of nature as we know them. If the winters are so short, certain critters will do a lot more breeding. Rodents and insects, for example. Mosquito season is twice as long now, and London is fast becoming a tropical holiday destination.

RD: Bee Movie's an animated film. Is it easy to do a voice?
Zellweger: With voice, you don't have all the other things to lean on that you have in traditional filmmaking. You show up in your sweats and basically create it in your mind.

RD: Does it take less time?
Zellweger: Oh, no – it takes years. Jerry started four years ago. It's a time-consuming process. Especially with Jerry. Everyone kept asking, When's it going to be finished? And I'd say, When he stops waking up at four in the morning with ideas, which is never. When Jerry gets bored. Not going to happen!

Click here to listen to the sound clip.