Renée Zellweger Explains Why NewBridget JonesMovie Doesn't Mention Her Weight: 'An Obvious Evolution'

Mar. 15, 2025

Renée Zellweger attends the premiere ofBridget Jones: Mad About the Boyin Paris on Jan. 27, 2025.Photo:Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty

Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty

Renée Zellwegeris reflecting on Bridget Jones' journey since she first played the character onscreen more than 20 years ago.

“There’s going to be an obvious evolution, because [Bridget has] moved on in her life and she has a lot of responsibilities,” said Zellweger, 55. “She doesn’t have the luxury of obsessing about certain things that she might have in the past.”

The two-time Oscar winner went on to say she believesHelen Fielding, who wrote theBridget Jonesnovelsand co-wrote the scripts, “was speaking back to all of the noise at that time” when it came to weight-related talk in Bridget’s story.

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Renée Zellweger and Leo Woodall inBridget Jones: Mad About the Boy(2025).Jay Maidment/Universal Pictures

Jay Maidment/Universal Pictures

Particularly, it was the noise “that women of a particular age were being bombarded with, through social messages and media and from family and friends, about expectations for what you’re supposed to look like and what you’re supposed to achieve on what timeline,” Zellweger said.

“I never thought of [Bridget] as a person who needed to change herself at all,” she told the outlet. “There’s nothing wrong there.”

“It may not be weight for some people, but there is something that we feel like we ought to try to change about ourselves,” Zellweger explained. “And it’s liberating that, when she eschews that and she’s her most vulnerable and authentic messy self, she triumphs. It’s inspirational.”

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Renée Zellweger on the poster forBridget Jones: Mad About the Boy(2025).Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures

Zellwegerrecently told PEOPLEthat this iteration of Bridget Jones felt different than the others, and it was — in both this book and film, Jones is still reeling from the loss of husband Mark, who died four years previously during a humanitarian trip to Sudan.

“We were familiar with how emotional the material was because thenovel had been out for a while,” says the actress, of knowing Darcy had died. (Firth, 64, does show up as Mark in this movie, but only in Bridget’s mind.)

“But the script was so beautifully written that the emotion just sneaks up on you," Zellweger continued. “You think you’re heading in one direction that feels familiar, and then yeah, it just gets you. It’s wonderful when that happens and actually really rare.”

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boyis on Peacock Feb. 13.

source: people.com