An
American in England:
Zellweger Is Jones
Once
upon a time, before Bridget Jones the movie became such
a global success, fans of the book were aghast when the role was given
to an American actress with an incumbent southern drawl. Today, it is
unthinkable to imagine anyone else playing Bridget. Quite simply, no
Zellweger, no Bridget. “Renée, more than anybody, knows what Bridget
would say or do,” lauds Hayward. “She has an innate understanding of
this character, how she would behave, what she would say, what she
wouldn’t say.”
“You simply can’t make Bridget without Renée!” exclaims Maguire.
When it comes to fans, Zellweger has as many fans behind the scenes as
she does in front of it. Lauds Fellner: “Renée is the greatest
comedienne of her generation. On top of that she’s also a brilliant
actress; we’ve seen that through her dramatic work. Although we
admired her enormously from afar when we were casting Bridget
Jones 15 years ago, we never considered Renée Zellweger should
play Bridget Jones because she’s American. When we met with her, she
blew us away. Now she owns this character, and it’s impossible to
envisage anyone else playing her.”
It was with Maguire that Zellweger first embarked on Bridget’s
cinematic journey 15 years ago, and their coming together for the third
installment felt like a fait accompli. “Renée has always loved the
role and she, like us, was keen to revisit Bridget,” explains Hayward.
“It’s a brilliant evocation of a literary character. Together, Renée
and Sharon have created that character on screen. It’s a complete
collaboration.”
“Renée has the ability to totally inhabit Bridget and also bring a
softer side and emotion to that character,” continues Maguire. “She
doesn’t just do comedy. It’s everything about her; the way she acts
brings an extra layer of emotion and heart. She’s not afraid to
project and unvarnished version of herself and has no vanity whatsoever.
Combine that with a kind of Lucille Ball physical comedy that she has
and loves. If there’s anything physical, she will wholly get behind
it.”
“I can’t imagine a more exciting collaboration than the one that
Sharon and I have shared,” agrees Zellweger. In the time that the
performer has been playing Bridget, she has developed a deep fondness
for the character. “I love her humanity” she says. “I love how
authentic she is, how awkward her experiences can be. People relate to
her because she is so imperfect, and somehow still manages to triumph in
challenging situations. She refuses to give up. She’s self-effacing
and faces her dilemmas with humour.”
For Zellweger much of the joy of returning to the world of Bridget was
in revisiting not only Bridget herself, but the characters around her.
“I wanted to know what happened to all of her friends and what Mum and
Dad are doing, as well as where Bridget would be at this time in her
life.”
Zellweger simply embodies Bridget, down to her impeccably genuine Home
Counties accent. It is only when you see the performers at work that you
appreciate how much work goes into becoming the character. The art of
being Bridget lies in the subtle physical comedy, of which Zellweger is
a master.
What first gave the performer the method to inhabit Bridget was the idea
that her character’s thighs rub together and made a swishing noise
when she wore tights. For Zellweger, that was a big cue for getting in
character and getting her Bridget’s walk – slightly splay footed –
down. It came with all sorts of clues as to how she would react.
“Clumsiness comes naturally to me for some reason,” laughs
Zellweger. “The intentional clumsiness that is scripted is a lot of
fun to play, especially when Sharon is around the corner laughing and
shouting out how I might make it clumsier.”
She rightfully earned that respect from her co-stars. “Renée is
possibly, more than any other actor I’ve ever known, a trouper,”
says Firth. “She’s perpetually buoyant, indefatigable. She’s got
long monologues, difficult bits of physical comedy and yet her
preparedness is astounding. You’re not supposed to review what your
fellow actor has just done; there’s a danger it can throw them off
their game. But sometimes I was itching to tell her that what I just saw
was genius.”
Becoming Bridget, however, is not an overnight transformation. Aside
from weeks of rehearsals, Zellweger had intense vocal practice with her
voice coach, BARBARA BERKERY. “She talks like Bridget, while she’s
on set all the time,” shares Firth. “It’s very confusing at times
to talk to Renée about anything from her own life back home. When she
starts talking about life in Texas, with an accent as if she comes from
Surrey it’s very hard to process…”
“A lot of work went into developing my accent with Barbara,” says
Zellweger,” and I had to gain a little weight, but not as much as
before. Sharon and the producers felt that it would be good to see
Bridget having achieved one of her goals in life and also having
evolved. She might not have it together in other areas of her life, but
she’s making healthy lifestyle choices.”
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