Renee was born on April 25, 1969, in Katy, Texas, a small town outside of Houston. She is the daughter of European parents, her mother Norwegian and her father Swiss. Renee has an older brother that she greatly admires.

Renee graduated from Katy High School in 1987, where she was a cheerleader, gymnast and participated in the drama club. She went on to the University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in English. Renee took a drama class only because she needed a fine arts credit to complete her degree. Never having planned on becoming an actress earlier, Renee knew by the time that she graduated from college that she wanted to pursue a career in acting.

Renee immediately began auditioning for commercials and films that were being shot in Texas. Renee's first roles were bit-parts, but the films did well and she co-starred with respectable actors such as Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke and Matthew McConaughey. Renee has appeared in many films such as "The Low Life", "8 Seconds", "Reality Bites", and "Empire Records".

It was her starring role in "The Whole Wide World" which, not only won her praise at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival, but also led to her breakthrough role in Cameron Crowe's hit "Jerry Maguire". Her role in "Jerry Maguire" earned her many awards and a lot of recognition, including a Screen Actor's Guild Nomination for Best Supporting Actress, as well as being named Entertainment Weekly's Best New Movie Actress.

Renee also landed the title role in the film "Bridget Jones' Diary", beating out popular British actresses to play the role of a single British woman in her 30s. Renee was chosen by 'People Magazine' in 2001 as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. It is reported that Renee's salary in the "Bridget Jone's Diary" was between $3,000,000 and $5,000,000.