Two-time Academy Award winner Renée Zellweger feels like returning to Bridget Jones, even after all these years, is like coming home. “In the books, on the screen, it feels like you’re having a reunion with your friend,” Zellweger says. “It’s such an interesting thing for a fictional character to move through life at the same pace as the folks who relate to her and love her. People feel that they can see themselves reflected in Bridget’s life experiences. They want to meet up with her again to see how she’s grown and how her life has changed—how she’s dealing with her current challenges. This is felt universally by those who have grown up with Bridget.”
Watch the trailer: https://tinyurl.com/2b69nzny
For director Michael Morris, Zellwegger is captivating and has always embodied the charm and wonder of Bridget Jones, and was excited to work with her for Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. “Renée is one of these people who is absolutely herself,” Morris says. “She’s wildly friendly and bursts through any preconception you may have about what a Hollywood star is like. This woman has been in all my favorite films. For as long as I can remember, character after character—from comedies and dramas to musicals, there’s nothing that she doesn’t do. But when you’re talking to her, she’s completely present. I think that’s why she’s so wonderful in this role.”
Director Morris also feels like seeing Zellwegger back in this role is a blessing in itself. “What Renée brings to Bridget is this wonderfully relentless optimism and positivity,” Morris says. “You get the sense that Bridget cares about the people that she’s with…and that Bridget wants things to be perfect for everyone. Renée radiates that.”
In the continuation of Bridget Jones’ story, her life has completely changed, and it comes with its own struggles. Zellwegger feels like it’s a chance to connect with the audience that grew up with the film, and the universal experience of falling in love and forging relationships with people. lf. “It’s funny, I can chronicle my own decades and life experiences around making these films with the extended Bridget family,” Zellweger says. “It’s always very emotional when we get back together with true friends, and more so when we leave. There is a correlation between Bridget and me that is strongest with people who love her…but it’s within themselves. We had the opportunity to create Bridget on screen, but people were already in love with her. Bridget reminds us that it’s okay to be imperfect. You can still get the guy, still succeed and be happy when you’re just yourself. You’re okay being imperfect.”
Set your Valentine’s Day movie date with your loved one and Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy as it opens in Philippine theaters on February 12. Follow Universal Pictures PH (FB), UniversalPicturesPH (IG), and UniversalPicsPH (TikTok) for the latest updates.
About Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Two-time Academy Award® winner Renée Zellweger returns to the role that established a romantic-comedy heroine for the ages, a woman whose inimitable approach to life and love redefined an entire film genre.
Bridget Jones first blasted onto bookshelves in Helen Fielding’s literary phenomenon Bridget Jones’s Diary, which became a global bestseller and a blockbuster film. As a single career woman living in London, Bridget Jones not only introduced the world to her romantic adventures, but added “Singletons,” “Smug-Marrieds” and “f—wittage” into the global lexicon. Bridget’s ability to triumph despite adversity led her to finally marry top lawyer Mark Darcy and to become the mother of their baby boy. Happiness at last.
But in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Bridget is alone once again, widowed four years ago, when Mark (Oscar® winner Colin Firth) was killed on a humanitarian mission in Sudan. She’s now a single mother to 9-year-old Billy and 4-year-old Mabel, and is stuck in a state of emotional limbo, raising her children with help from her loyal friends and even her former lover, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant).
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Michael Morris (To Leslie, Better Call Saul), from a screenplay by BAFTA nominee Helen Fielding, based on her novel, with contributions from Emmy winner Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady, Eric) and Oscar® nominee Dan Mazer (I Give it A Year, Bridget Jones’s Baby).
The film is produced for Working Title by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, whose films, including The Danish Girl, Darkest Hour, Fargo, Les Misérables and The Theory of Everything, among others, have earned 14 Academy Awards® and six Best Picture nominations. The film is also produced by Jo Wallett (Wicked Little Letters, Catherine Called Birdy). The film is executive produced by Helen Fielding, Renée Zellweger, Amelia Granger and Sarah-Jane Wright. Working Title has produced all the Bridget Jones films.
