Renée Zellweger Cried Shooting Colin Firth’s Scene in ‘Bridget Jones’

Renée Zellweger  admitted she had “a hard time” when she first met her costar Hugh Grant in “Bridget Jones’ Diary” because she was “such a fan.”

“I was so nervous, I just didn’t want to make a jerk out of myself,” she revealed. “I didn’t succeed.” She noted that in college, she lived above an independent movie theater and would see all the British film that came through, including “Maurice” and “Impromptu.”

“I just thought, ‘Gosh he’s so handsome!’ And now I’m going to do a movie with him?” Zellweger said.

Zellweger was speaking on Saturday to an audience following an FYC screening of “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,” the fourth and final installment in the rom-com series adapted from Helen Fielding’s novels, now streaming on Peacock. The two-time Oscar winner reflected on 25 years of playing the beloved character and her chemistry with her fellow actors. She also remained nearly two hours post-Q&A to speak to attendees at a reception including tea sandwiches and shepherd’s pie. Also present was director Michael Morris, who spoke about casting Chewitel Ejiofor and Leo Woodall as Bridget’s love interests in the latest film.

“I was absolutely laser-focused on trying to get Leo and Chewitel in the film,” said Morris, who also had the challenge of casting Jones’ children with her late husband, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), with newcomers Casper Knof and Mila Jankovic. Morris detailed how Zellweger first met the kids during a rehearsal that was held on her birthday. “They’re English children, they can be quite reserved,” said Morris. “At the very beginning it was like, ‘Hello’ and then, literally, within about 45 minutes, they are crawling all over you. Mila was putting slime in your hair and Casper’s trying to play chess with you. I knew instantly that they were going to be a family.”

Asked about the secret to good chemistry, Zellweger replied, “I’ve been really lucky, and I love the people that I’ve gotten to work with. There’s always something that I admire so much [about them], and we always seem to have a great time.”

Though Firth’s character has passed when the film opens, the actor does make a return appearance in the movie as a vision to his widow. Wondering how Zellweger didn’t cry when they shot those scenes, Morris revealed, “She did!”

Zellweger added that it was a hard scene to shoot because her character shouldn’t be crying, having lost her husband four years prior and made her peace with it. “Yet seeing him there on the sidewalk in his Mark Darcy finery with his briefcase and coat, it just got to me,” she admitted. “I didn’t expect to be so emotional about the end of this shared journey with my friend, recognizing, ‘Oh, wait, he’s gonna wrap today, and that’s it.’ And this is the finality of it just really was a gut punch.

“Isn’t that crazy? Because when you get lucky, beyond getting to work with your friends, once you know, it sounds so silly, but it felt very profound in the moment.”  Zellweger said before laughing, “Maybe I’m crazy because maybe I love a fictional character!”