MAD ABOUT THE GIRL

AS RENÉE ZELLWEGER REPRISES THE ICONIC CHARACTER, BRIDGET JONES' CREATOR - AND MILLIONS OF FANS, COULDN'T BE HAPPIER

- H. Alan Scott

"I'M A FAN OF BRIDGET JONES.... THAT I SHARE THAT with so many people is a really cool thing," Renée Zellweger told Newsweek in an exclusive interview. Nearly 24 years ago, the movie starring Zellweger as that young, single, British woman who started a diary was released. Its protagonist subsequently became a cultural phenomenon, a symbol of the modern British woman and an international example of liberated women everywhere. And the real-life woman who made her famous became so identifiable with the character from Helen Fielding's 1996 book Bridget Jones's Diary that it's almost impossible to imagine any other actor in the role.

Now, author Fielding is thrilled Zellweger is back in the fourth installment of the series, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. "She's so like Bridget in that she is so warm and kind. There's a gentleness about her, and it's real. There's nothing made up about that," Fielding told Newsweek in early February.

"Once Renée started playing the role, it all merged together," she said. "And from that point, I started writing Bridget as Renée, all mixed up together... I write for her, seeing her, knowing what she does." Zellweger's colleagues agreed. "No one knows [Bridget Jones] better than Renée," Mad About the Boy director Michael Morris told Newsweek. "She's just the perfect and as time has gone by-the only person who could possibly play [Jones].... She's a very warm and humble person. And I think you can't fake that." Zellweger's performance in the 2001 film earned the actress her first Academy Award nomination (she's since won two Oscars: Best Supporting Actress for 2003's Cold Mountain and Best Actress for the 2019 film Judy). It has also led to three sequels based on Fielding's novels: Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004), Bridget Jones's Baby (2016) and the latest, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (2025).

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