The Bridget Jones star on packing pounds, ducking the Globes and getting Brits' knickers in a twist
by Chris Schlegel | April 10, 2001
Renée Zellweger is in the middle of the biggest cross-Atlantic casting flap since Brit Vivien Leigh was picked to play southern belle Scarlet O'Hara in Gone with the Wind.
And frankly, Zellweger doesn't give a damn.
That's because playing the title role in the big-screen adaptation of the bestseller Bridget Jones's Diary proved to be too juicy a part to pass up. The novel--and now the movie--chronicles a year in the life of a neurotic, single thirtysomething London woman and her comical efforts to improve herself and find a good man.
Zellweger threw herself into the role with gleeful abandon, moving to London, packing on 15 pounds and turning a Texas twang into a British accent that would make the queen mum proud.
For a Texas girl, you do a pretty good British accent. Costar Hugh Grant joked that it was a work in progress and that at one point you sounded like Princess Margaret and later on as if you had had a stroke.
Stroke victim, eh? That was probably him coming in from a really late night to an early-morning call. I have a feeling he was the one doing a little slurring. But, yes, I did have a Prince Margaret phase and what I would call a South African phase for about five minutes.
You took a lot of heat from the British press over landing this role. The general feeling was: How dare you? Was that outcry intimidating?
I had moments of laying in bed at night wondering what I had gotten myself into. I missed my dog, my friends and my house. But it didn't last long. I had too much fun throwing myself into the character.
Could you understand what all the fuss was about?
I completely understand why they would question me in the role. The film market there is much smaller and therefore, opportunities--especially like this one--are few and far between. There are many wonderfully talented British actresses they could have cast. So, I was as surprised as anyone when the phone call came.
People weren't just upset that you were an American. They were upset that you were a skinny American. Did you feel like you had to gain the weight to play Bridget Jones?
I loved gaining the weight. It was fantastic to have that opportunity to transform. It's a weird job, and I guess it says a lot about who I am that it appeals to me in such an incredible way. But the more removed you are from a character, the greater the challenge and the more creatively satisfying it becomes.
Most people probably wouldn't mind the challenge of gaining 15 or 20 pounds, as long as it involved lots of Häagen-Dazs and cheesecake.
Well, I couldn't waste any meals on just a spinach salad with balsamic. I put on thousand island dressing and added a couple of croissants with butter. But, mostly, it was pretty boringly technical.
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