With yet another installment of the Bridget Jones film franchise coming to our screens on February 14, stars Hugh Grant and Renée Zellweger perfectly explained why we’re still obsessed with the bumbling, awkward British character over two decades after we first met her.
Grant interviewed his longtime co-star and friend for British Vogue‘s January 15 issue on which Zellweger appears as a cover star. For the pair, Bridget’s enduring popularity is all down to her relatability.
“In a nutshell, I say it is the antidote to Instagram,” Grant, who is reprising his role as Daniel Cleaver in the franchise’s fourth installment Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy. “Instagram is telling people, especially women, “Your life’s not good enough.” It’s not as good as this woman’s or this woman’s, making you insecure. Whereas what Helen [Fielding, author of the original book series] did with Bridget is to celebrate failure, while making it funny and joyful.”
Zellweger, who has played the film’s titular character in the film and all of its sequels, had a similar response, reflecting on the many women she’s met who relate to her iconic role. “What I think is, don’t you meet a lot of people who say, ‘I am Bridget Jones’!?” the Oscar winner said.
“I think maybe folks recognize themselves in her and relate to her struggles and feelings of self-doubt. Bridget is authentically herself and doesn’t always get it right, but whatever her imperfections, she remains joyful and optimistic, carries on and triumphs in her own way.”
Zellweger continued, “She seems to make her quirky individuality and shortcomings charming, lovable and acceptable – and, in turn, she makes us feel lovable and acceptable too.”
“And she celebrates originality, which I think is pretty special too, especially now everybody conforms because they want to be the thing that gets the most approval. Although I don’t have Instagram, so I don’t have that in my brain, personally.”
Over the last two decades, fans have lived with Bridget through love, with Grant’s Daniel, Colin Firth‘s Mark Darcy, and some other characters along the way, heartbreak and loss. In the film’s fourth iteration, fans will meet Bridget as a single mom raising her son alone after the death of Firth’s character.
Before you go, click to see actors who revealed their best on screen kiss.
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