Renée Zellweger was happy to return as Bridget Jones: ‘Her story is not finished’

Renée Zellweger attends an event in Atlanta in September 2024. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images/File via CNN Newsource)

Renée Zellweger is about to appear as one of her most iconic characters for a fourth go-round, and couldn’t be happier about it.

In an interview with her “Bridget Jones” costar Hugh Grant published in British Vogue on Wednesday, the double Oscar-winner explained why she was ready to return to the franchise for next month’s sequel, “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.”

“I love her. And her story is not finished. As long as Helen puts pen to paper, she’s alive,” Zellweger told Grant, referencing Helen Fielding, author of the “Bridget Jones” novels.

When Grant asked her to expand on the “seemingly never-ending appeal” of Bridget Jones, Zellweger said that she thinks people can “relate to her struggles and feelings of self-doubt.”

“Bridget is authentically herself and doesn’t always get it right, but whatever her imperfections, she remains joyful and optimistic, carries on and triumphs in her own way,” she added. “She seems to make her quirky individuality and shortcomings charming, lovable and acceptable – and, in turn, she makes us feel lovable and acceptable too.”

“Mad About the Boy” catches up with Bridget after 2016’s third entry, “Bridget Jones’s Baby,” and costars franchise newcomers Leo Woodall (of “White Lotus” fame) and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The new film will see Bridget as a widow and single mom who is being pursued by a younger man, according to the film’s IMDb synopsis.

Elsewhere in their Vogue chat, Zellweger discussed the hiatus she took from acting between 2010 and 2016, explaining to Grant that she “needed to” get away from her work in Hollywood, which felt like “a regurgitation of the same emotional experiences.”

When Grant asked her what she did with her time off, she listed an impressive amount of activities: “I wrote music and studied international law. I built a house, rescued a pair of older doggies, created a partnership that led to a production company, advocated for and fundraised with a sick friend, and spent a lot of time with family and godchildren and driving across the country with the dogs. I got healthy.”

“Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy” begins streaming on February 13 on Peacock.