Actor Rene Zellweger is shown in a scene from the film "Judy." THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Entertainment One MANDATORY CREDIT

TORONTO - Even after playing Judy Garland in the new biopic "Judy," Renee Zellweger struggles to relate with much of the musical icon's tragic life.

The Oscar-winning actress doesn't, for example, share Garland's troubled childhood that was spent mostly in front of Hollywood cameras filming "The Wizard of Oz" and a conveyor belt of silver screen entertainment.

Nor has Zellweger faced the troubling spiral into drugs and alcohol that led to Garland's untimely death at 47. But to play her, the actress found common ground in some of the familiarities that pushed Garland towards her darkest days — in particular the blinding spotlight of international fame.

"The vast gulf between a public persona and the truth of a person's life... I understand that," Zellweger explained in a recent interview.

"That sense of needing to deliver was her identity."

Zellweger knows those pressures as well as any famous performer. In 2010, it drove her to a point where she slammed the brakes on her career, taking a six-year hiatus from acting to focus on regenerating herself, both personally and creatively.

"I just needed to take a minute, step back and take inventory," she said at the Toronto International Film Festival, where the film screened.

"You can't sleep three hours a night for a decade. It's not good for you, they say, and it's not a pretty look either."

Since her return, she's starred in a handful of smaller films, a Bridget Jones sequel and most recently "What/If," a Netflix show that garnered both praise and befuddlement from those wondering why a major Hollywood star would downgrade to a campy villain.

For that reason, "Judy" marks a comeback of sorts for Zellweger. She's riding high on awards buzz that suggests her embodiment of Garland is a lock for a best actress nomination at the Oscars, and almost certain to win the hearts of Golden Globe voters as well.

When the film opens nationwide on Friday, Zellweger will invest even deeper into the role by releasing a full-length soundtrack of Garland covers that includes staples "Over the Rainbow" and "The Trolley Song."

She's also recorded a punchy version of "Get Happy," with pop singer Sam Smith, while Rufus Wainwright appears on "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," a holiday song perfectly suited to slip onto streaming playlists in the crucial weeks before Oscar voters submit their nominations on Jan. 2.

It's a strategy that's pure showbiz, and one that'll remind audiences that before Zellweger's break, she won a best actress Oscar for "Cold Mountain" and was nominated twice more, for "Chicago" and "Bridget Jones's Diary."

Set in 1968, the year before Garland's death, "Judy" opens with Garland in trying times. She owed $4 million in government taxes and was effectively pushed into a five-week London engagement, away from her young children, in an effort to get her life back on track.

The film spins a fictional take on this period as the singer contends with a fractured romantic partnership, alcoholism, homesickness and her legendary status. Most of the public experiences are real, but some of its most powerful emotional scenes in private are fantasy, in particular one where Garland is invited to the flat of a middle-aged gay couple who were inspired by the singer's fighting spirit.

Embodying a version of Garland that glides between truth and imagined events fascinated Zellweger. She was interested in the opportunity to "contextualize" the private life of a famous person with very public struggles.

"It's not as simple as 'drunk,' or 'sad.' It's so much more than that," she said of Garland's later years.

"I wanted to fill in the blanks between the public record and speculation, because there's always more to a story than the tragedy."

Zellweger, who turned 50 this year, shared a few other connections with Garland while playing the part.

She was practically the same age as the late singer during the shoot, and committed to performing all of Garland's songs with her own voice, rather than lip-synching to old tapes. Many of Zellweger's songs were recorded live on the set.

Rising to that challenge wasn't easy, even though Zellweger carried a few tunes in "Chicago" and the romantic comedy "Down with Love." Before filming began, she often practised her performances in her car as she barrelled down the freeway in Los Angeles.

"(That's where) nobody could hear me make those sounds for the first time," Zellweger said with a hearty laugh and blast of her trademark smile.

"I can't imagine somebody driving next to me and seeing me contort my body to get that note out."

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News from © The Canadian Press, 2019