interim to Bridget according to Helen’s [Fielding] experiences in her books and how that might change who Bridget is or her perspective, her values, how she carries herself, all of those things. It’s fun to kind of find a way into her psyche again and what that might look like. And how she may not have changed is equally interesting, you know? So, yeah, it’s always a process of rediscovery.
You took an hiatus from acting for several years. What did that teach you and would you ever consider doing that again? Oh, oh, certainly. If it feels necessary or if there’s something else that seems important to explore - certainly. And I wasn’t wrong. I have no regrets about it. None at all. I feel like it’s really useful. I mean, I don’t think it’s anything new. Daniel Day-Lewis does it all the time and nobody says he’s making a comeback! You know, he just went away and lived life and grew as a person and learned something new and probably became a more interesting person as a result of it. And that was my experience. Those were my hopes from it. You know, I was bored with myself, and I felt like I was redundant, and I couldn’t stand listening to myself talk about the same things over and over again. I needed to grow and try something new, to evolve. You know?
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So Renée, how has it been to step back into the shoes of Bridget Jones once again? It’s the best job in the world. I love Bridget Jones. I’ve always loved Bridget Jones, and I love her more with every reunion. I think she’s just so much fun, and the relationships that I’ve made over the course of experience – it gets richer and richer with time. So spending time in her world and surrounded by the gang – it’s just the best. I mean you get to come to work with great people creatively and personally.
Dating has changed a lot since the first Bridget Jones movie with social media, etc. What is your take on that? My thoughts on it? Well, I try not to make up opinions about things that I don’t understand. So, I kind of tend to stay away from deciding whether or not it’s a good or bad thing. But I imagine that it’s made a lot of lonely people who are too shy or don’t have time to go out and look around every night and see if they make a connection with somebody, you know, very happy.
I’m sure it’s made them very happy. And then on the other hand, I’ve always thought when it first was introduced, I thought, ‘Boy, that opens you up to so many vulnerabilities.’ Do you know? And I don’t mean personal, I mean, physical [laughs] – ‘Hey! Come meet me at such and such corner.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know if that’s a good idea.’ [laughs] But, ‘Okay. What should I wear?’ [laughs joking] Oh, anyway, you know, we’ve got to adapt. Right?
Did you find it easy to slip back into Bridget after almost a decade away? Yeah. It’s the best job in the world. It really is. And revisiting a fictional character who’s sort of evolved in a parallel universe in real time, alongside your own experiences, is so unique. It’s really unique. And meeting up with her again, along, you know, throughout the years. Each time is a reconnection and a rediscovering process - because none of us are the same person in different chapters in our lives. And trying to figure out how what’s happened in the
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Your chemistry with Leo Woodall and Chiwetel Ejiofor is fabulous in this movie, were you involved in any of the decisions on who your male co-starts were going to be? And what did you find interesting about them - Obviously they are fine actors, but also their Abs, Maybe? This is very awkward. I’m not going to confirm or deny a thing! [laughs joking] I think there was very little conversation about who was going to play these roles. It was pretty inevitable from the beginning. We all had our fingers crossed that there would be a couple of ‘yeses’ and hurrah!
Bridget absolutely understands the concept of ‘Fake It ‘Till you make it’ very well, be it at her job or just to wiggle out of uncomfortable situations. Can you talk a little bit about when you were starting out in the business - Did you ever exaggerate a skill of just straight lied about doing something? Yes! [laughs] I was just thinking no, while you were going through that, I was like, ‘Yeah no, I never did that’ because I kind of just go into an audition to have a good day. And I know what I want to try to achieve that day, and it’s not really about anybody else’s or what happens from it. It’s just about having a good time, you know? And feeling good about the creative process. And that was it. You know, never, like, ‘Hope I get this part’, but more, like, ‘Hope it goes well today.’ You know? So it never felt necessary.
Except! When I was asked to audition for a beer commercial when I was in college [laughs]. And they were like, ‘So, can you rollerblade?’ And now this was a new thing, right, when I was in college, the rollerblades. Because we all grew up going to the skating rink in Texas for birthdays and things like that. So I figured, ‘How hard could it be! You just move the wheels around. This is going to be the same sport.’ You know? So I went and rented some rollerblades, gave it a shot, thought, ‘I’m definitely going to die’, and went to the audition.
‘Here, put on this bikini. Here, put these skates on. Here, carry this 12-pack on your shoulder and can you start at the top of that hill?’ [laughs] Thank god they blocked the street below because if there was oncoming traffic, we would not be having this conversation today. But, I mean, it’s a really good way to leave the world if you’re going to exit. You know what I mean? Buried under a pile of beer.
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