Super size me; Diminiutive Renee Zellweger tells Eileen Condon why she loved
 putting the pounds back on to reprise her role as Bridget Jones

By Eileen Condon, Daily Post - November 5, 2004

FORGET curvaceous, Chardonnay guzzling, grub-loving Bridget Jones - in real life, Renee Zellweger would almost disappear in just one leg of Bridget's famous big knickers.

She is tiny. A size six to eight at a guess, so you might assume the actress would have been more than a little hesitant to pile on almost two stones for the Bridget Jones sequel.

However, the truth is far from it. The star says she loved her fuller figure - and so did the opposite sex!

"I got a lot of positive comments," she giggles.

"But I wasn't surprised by that. It's almost a cliche isn't it? That you have to go and buy larger undergarments is considered to be a positive thing. What an unfortunate thing to not be able to wear those undergarments anymore. It really is a lot of work to make your body do something it just doesn't want to do and I've seen the work that goes into making those assets a part of my everyday life experience. It's just too much to do year-round."

So instead of buxom, blonde, British Bridget, Renee is back to her petite physique and, currently sporting long brunette locks and, speaking with her distinctive Texan drawl, she couldn't be further from her big screen alter ego.

Yet she maintains that hapless Bridget is one of the characters she's most loved playing - and her initial reluctance to do the sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason, wasn't fear of getting fat, but that she wouldn't be able to do her justice in a second outing.

"It was a privilege to play a character like Bridget," she enthuses. "It's not martyrdom to change your body a little bit to play a character you love, it's a creative adventure - no hesitation. My fear came from being really scared to do something that compromised how people felt about this character by doing something cavalierly - being part of something that might disappoint people."

In fact, Renee was so worried that she'd let Bridget fans down, it took her three years to finally agree to make the sequel to Bridget Jones's Diary, only after deciding there was indeed more mileage in the role.

"It's rare to have the opportunity to revisit a character who has in some way evolved," she explains. "This Bridget has grown up in certain respects - she is less naive, a little more worldly, and yet she is still wonderfully flawed, which is, in large part, why people relate to Bridget and what makes the character beloved."

In the latest instalment, based on the best-selling novels by British author Helen Fielding, Bridget thinks she's finally found her happy-ever-after with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) until her old womanising boss, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), brings her crashing back to harsh reality.

"I'd never seen a day-to-day account of all the challenges that surface when a person finds that her idealised, perfect relationship is, in reality, not so perfect after all," says Renee . "I thought it could be very amusing to watch Bridget explore these experiences."

Much has been made of 35-year old Renee's own single status. She's just split from rock star Jack White of The White Stripes and it's been suggested she's as unlucky in love as Bridget, but she insists finding her own Mr Right isn't a priority.

"I'm concentrating on maintaining close friendships right now," she says, coyly. "I'm slow to get attracted to a man and sheer physical attractiveness isn't that important to me. Short affairs just don't interest me."

Although she sounds like the archetypal singleton, you get the feeling this is one woman who doesn't spend endless nights sitting in her pyjamas crying over love songs. She's currently one of the most successful and bankable stars in the world. She's been Oscar-nominated three times, including winning Best Supporting Actress for her role in Cold Mountain. For the past few years she's barely stopped, so it's hardly surprising that the busy actress says her next project is to take some time out.

"I have never felt the drive to keep going, going, going until I've achieved something," she says. "I am pretty particular and cautious. I know what it takes from your life to commit to a film, so I'm not flippant," she laughs. "I need to sit still for a second and think what it is I would do with the day having not promised it away."

One possible plan, it seems, could be to find a permanent English base. Renee spent months filming both Bridget Jones movies here and now sees herself as a confirmed anglophile. And, as for treading the boards like so many of her Stateside colleagues, there's one long-running West End show that has her name all over it.

"Chicago," she laughs. "I haven't been invited, but who knows," she grins mischievously.