Laundrettes and Lovers
From Storyboard to Billboard

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MICHELLE GUISH

Casting Director, Bridget Jones's Diary

With Bridget Jones's Diary we have the enviable task of casting one of the most popular literary heroines of the nineties. Aagh! Everyone, including newspaper journalists, had something to say about the process. When the decision was made to offer the role to Renée Zellweger it felt absolutely right even though she was not British, Renée has what I can only describe as an adorable quality which, for a character with as many phobias as Bridget, seemed to be a perfect balance. Then there we were again, casting that 'disparate group of characters' which this time were based on real-life characters. Aagh! No pressure then! At the read-through of the film we were fìlled with admiration when Renée, who had spent at least two months acclimatising herself into London and its literary world, read her entire role in a near-perfect British accent. When you consider that actors are not required to speak more than the dialogue in a single scene at any one time, it was a remarkable achievement. I also think we were incredibly lucky to have Colin Firth play Mark Darcy. The case rests.

DEBRA HAYWARD

Head of Film, Working Title Films UK

Bridget Jones's Diary: From Development Hell to Cinema Heaven

A meeting with author Helen Fielding, resulted in our dissuading her from developing her cult diary as a sit-com for the BBC, and making it as a feature film. With that decision made, we were then confronted with the problem of how to bring her utterly original voice and the escapades of her eponymous heroine to the screen. (Double Expressos drunk: 5,000.) We were lucky enough to work with Helen Fielding, Andrew Davies and Richard Curtis on the screenplay, under the guidance of hilarious director; Sharon Maguire - the original inspiration for the character of Shazza. (Pret-A-Manger Tuna Wraps consumed: 2,500.) As the script neared completion, panic set in about the casting of Bridget - who would ever be able to play this character beloved by women the world over? (Marlboro Lights smoked: 10,000.) A petite blonde American with the strongest Texan accent imaginable was mad enough to take on the challenge. (Pounds gained by Renée Zellweger for role: 20. Pounds gained in sympathy by Jonathan Cavendish: 20.) As in so many films, the script continued to evolve during shooting. Hugh Grant's fantastic improvisational skills led to the creation of the movie's most infamous scene, namely the 'Big Pants' seduction in Daniel Cleaver's apartment (Swooning Singletons and Smug Marrieds around the world: 100,000,000.) After much laughter and some tears and many, many hours of work by the best possible cast and crew, Bridget Jones's Diary emerged and has gone on to become one of Working Title's most admired and successful films.

Flashforward three years and we are once more into the breach with the sequel Edge of Reason, where we will find out what has become of Bridget Jones after the end of the happy ending. (Days of therapy required by all involved in order to undertake this crazy enterprise: 200 and counting...)

JONATHAN CAVENDISH

Producer, Bridget Jones's Diary

It had been a particularly long haul - months (actually years) of script development, months (and then more weeks) of shooting and what seemed like several decades of editing. We were all nervous, any reactions of amusement at the film long since anaesthetised within the clinical confines of the cutting room. Now we were sitting gloomily in a New York cinema. A test audience was about to watch the film and give us a verdict. Thumbs up or thumbs down? We were in a roped off area, surrounded by glowingly healthy Universal executives. I sat between the film’s director Sharon Maguire and Working Title's development supremo Debra Hayward. We were in this mess together. Sitting behind me, glowering dangerously, was the pulsating bulk of Harvey Weinstein. The lights dimmed, logos flashed onto the screen. The film started, but I saw nothing as I had my head in my hands. I heard painfully English references - doylies, turkey curry - and felt the audience's bemusement. My mind flicked over a barren landscape of alternative careers. And then it happened. A laugh. And then a roar. And applause. I looked up - Mark Darcy's reindeer jersey was the cause. Debra Hayward squeezed my arm with extraordinary power. Harvey laughed gigantically, flicked up his feet and kicked me solidly on the back of the head. I was in great pain, but we had a hit.

SHARON MAGUIRE

Director, Bridget Jones's Diary

What I remember about this is that it was around 3am, on a night shoot and was taken just after a bout of girlie wrestling on the stunt mattresses on which we're perched.