-> 

v

"I had to fend for myself from the time I was 17 years old. I was a high-school dropout. I wasn't quite living on the streets, but I didn't have a lot of hope." Rene Russo came into this world as someone with very little to her family name. Despite the circumstances of her birth and the hardships that arose due to her family's financial situation, Rene managed to become a celebrated artist with an incredible resume.

 -> 

v

Despite admitting to the fact that she was never in love with acting, Russo has still managed to develop a career that any performer would kill to have. With a laundry list of iconic roles, a fascinating personality, and a unique look, Rene Russo is definitely worth learning more about. With a recent resurgence in her career due to her work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is a good time to look at where Russo got her start.

Wrong Side of the Tracks

Rene Russo was born February 17, 1954, in Burbank, California. Her mother was Shirley Russo, a barmaid, and local factory worker. Her mother worked multiple jobs in order to keep the family afloat.  Nino Russo was Rene's father, and he worked as both a mechanic and a sculptor. Nino would abandon the family when Rene was only two-years-old. As a result, Rene was raised exclusively by her mother as well as her sister, Toni.

 -> 

v

As a child, Rene didn't have the easiest of lives. Without her father around, her mother and sister were forced to work harder to support the family. Not only did Rene deal with financial issues at home, but she would run into problems at school. She would attend Burroughs High School in Burbank, California, where she would meet her classmate and future Hollywood icon, Ron Howard. Despite the status of the alumni at Burroughs High School, classmates were often mean to Rene. Rene was tall for her age and that earned her the nickname, 'Jolly Green Giant'. Already a geek, Rene struggled even more after being diagnosed with scoliosis. She was forced to wear a full-torso brace to school. As a result of the constant bullying, Rene would drop out of school in 10th grade.

While many other future stars were honing their skills as children, Rene was simply trying to survive. She has stated many times that she didn't have the privilege of having any sort of ambition. According to Russo, she was simply trying to survive while helping to keep her mom and sister alive, as well. Rene would begin taking on as many part-time jobs as she could, working in factories and movie theater cashiers. Eventually, Rene would luck out after being scouted for a modeling contract at a Rolling Stones concert in 1972. This would be the odd beginning to a storied career.

 -> 

v

From Burbank to Blockbuster

John Crosby was at a Rolling Stones concert in 1972 while scouting for potential models as part of his work at International Creative Management. Crosby encouraged Russo to apply for management at the Ford Modeling Agencies. Russo would land the agency, and she would quickly become a mega-star in the modeling world. Russo would appear on every major magazine of the period, including Cosmopolitan and Vogue. Russo was quickly lauded for her quirks and praised for the spark that she emitted in all of her pictures.

As her 30th birthday began to grow nearer, Russo came to the realization that ageism was catching up with her. Russo started to notice that fewer commercial modeling gigs were coming her way. As a result, she decided to switch gears in order to focus on acting. At 30-years-old, Russo began to train as an actor. She would appear small theaters throughout while honing her skills with lessons from Allan Rich, a seasoned actor. Eventually, Russo would make her way to the mainstream with a role on the ABC series, Sable (1987). Sable was quickly canceled but it would give Russo enough rope to continue climbing the entertainment world's ladder. Russo would end up getting cast in her breakthrough performance in the film, Major League (1989). The film was a hit and Russo fully arrived in Hollywood.

 -> 

v

After Major League, acting work began to come quicker and easier for the novice actor. Russo would end up getting cast in Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) as Lorna Cole and, as a result, she would land one of her first major blockbuster roles.  Lethal Weapon 3 would go on to become one of the highest-grossing films of 1992 as well as the highest-grossing film in the entire Lethal Weapon series. Russo would parlay that work into a string of major projects throughout the 90s including In the Line of Fire (1993) with Clint Eastwood, Outbreak (1995) with Dustin Hoffman, and Get Shorty (1995) with John Travolta. 

Following her action-packed schedule in the 90s, Russo would take her foot off of the gas pedal. She began to appear in fewer and fewer films. During this period, Russo readily admitted that acting wasn't her only passion. She would appear in the critically panned Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle along with Robert De Niro and Two for the Money (2005) with Matthew McConaughey and Al Pacino. Following Yours, Mine and Ours (2005), Russo would take a long break from acting. 

 -> 

v

Russo would re-emerge from her hiatus with starring roles in the hit Marvel films, Thor (2011) and Thor: The Dark World (2013). Russo would play Frigga, mother to Thor, and she would instantly be thrust back into the limelight. At the time, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was still in its infancy. Russo would reprise her role in the film, Avengers: Endgame (2019) which would go on to become the highest-grossing movie of all time.

Russo most recently has appeared in Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) alongside Jake Gyllenhaal as well as Nightcrawler (2014). Both films received positive critical reviews.

Outside of the entertainment world, Russo has begun to build her own family. She married Dan Gilroy, a screenwriter, back in 1992. The two had met while working on Freejack (1992). Russo and Gilroy have one child together, a daughter named Rose (born August 31, 1993). Rose has since become a model. Rene has also been open and honest about her own issues in life, candidly discussing her poor childhood, her struggles with bipolar disorder, and her experiences being bullied.