What actress first spoke the often-repeated movie line: "You had me at 'Hello'"?

What actress first spoke the often-repeated movie line “You had me at ‘Hello’”? The answer is Renée Zellweger. She delivers the line as Dorothy Boyd in the 1996 romantic sports film Jerry Maguire.

Near the end of the film, Jerry Maguire, played by Tom Cruise, gives Dorothy an emotional speech explaining why he needs her. Dorothy interrupts his lengthy declaration with “Shut up… you had me at hello,” turning a private romantic moment into one of cinema’s most recognizable lines.

The film was written and directed by Cameron Crowe and also stars Cuba Gooding Jr., whose character Rod Tidwell supplies another famous line: “Show me the money!” Zellweger’s role as Dorothy helped establish her as a major leading actress in Hollywood.

The wording is sometimes shortened to “You had me at hello,” but the quote’s movie origin is unchanged. The American Film Institute ranked it No. 52 on its list of the 100 greatest American movie quotes.