Bridget Jones is back. Although she is not the prettiest nor the smartest, this lovely and attractive girl is many single girls’ “hope”. The first Bridget Jones movie was released in 2001, and the second one was in 2004, so it has been 12 years since the last one. And in this year’s movie, Bridget Jones is pregnant. And the thing is, she doesn’t know who the dad is. Is it her ‘ex-boyfriend’ Mark Darcy, who she accidentally slept with when they were reunited at a friend’s wedding? Or, is it Jack (Patrick Dempsey), the guy she had an one-night-stand with at a music festival? The audience doesn’t know either, so it is another fun to solve the problem during the movie. Prior to the release of the movie, we have met two leads, Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth at the Universal Studios.
Renée Zellweger
– How did you feel when you heard you would act the Bridget Jones’s character again?
“I was very excited. New ideas constantly came up in my mind when I was reading the script, and they made me laugh a lot. I was so happy that I could come back to this world, and it was like a reunion with old friends for me. As time has passed a lot since the last movie, It was also a great experience for me to find out how Bridget changed and grew up in between.”
– In preparation of this movie, did you watch the first and second movies again?
“Of course. It was like reading my old ‘visual diary’. You know the feeling like ‘Oh, I was like that during this time’. Although it was more than ten years ago, the time period in the movie and the problems that a lot of women face in their late 20’s all looked so pure. I think I was like that too. I was so young, unfamiliar with the world of Hollywood or show business, and had only few experiences. I was so naive. Like I didn’t even think about the fact that I need to give up parts of my private life as I become known world-wide. But, through this movie, I was so happy that I could feel that the movie is still suitable now and can appeal to a lot of current audience.”
– How did you decide upon Bridget Jones’s change during the 10 years?
“I talked a lot with the director, Sharon Maguire, about how to portray Bridget in this movie. We both agreed that Bridget has achieved a lot in between, so she is more confident and less naive. For example, we thought she would be more economically stable so we set an improvement in her fashion. However, she is still optimistic and clumsy, but never easily shaken up.”
– You temporarily took a break from the film world. How have you been?
“I took most of my time doing things that are not related to movies. It’s because I needed time to find out my other interests or personalities, and I simply needed time to grow up as a human. If you stay in the cycle of film business, you almost have no time to explore those unknown things and you never experience new stuff. It doesn’t mean that I am not satisfied with my life as an actress, but it just means that I needed to try other things. You know, I thought it was important to live like that at some moments of my life. Also, such experience can serve as a foundation of my acting, I believe. If you don’t have experience, I don’t think you can be a great storyteller, either. But that doesn’t mean that I totally ‘retired’ and left the film business. I have been writing a script about the TV show that I have been thinking about since college, and I also learned producing.”
– I heard you danced ‘Gangnam Style’ in the movie.
“Ok, let me tell you one thing. Never wear kitten heels and dance ‘Gangnam Style’ for two days. It’s crazy. I know I wasn’t good at dancing ‘Gangnam Style’, but I really enjoyed shooting the scene. Plus, the children I danced with were so adorable.”
Colin Firth
– What was it like to return as Mark Darcy?
“It wasn’t easy for sure. Of course it wasn’t the hardest challenge either, but I had to put a lot of effort into it. Although I have been playing many conservative British male roles, but each of them differs a lot, so I needed some time to recall Darcy’s ‘soul’. So I watched the first movie and tried to remind me of things like Darcy’s tone.”
– How did you develop the tension between you and Patrick Dempsey’s character, Jack?
“I liked him as soon as I first met him. He is such an intelligent, approachable, and funny man. If you have this kind of intimacy with your co-actor, some necessary dynamics naturally follow. Jack is not really a cynical, bad guy. I mean in the two previous movies, we had a bad guy character that was so attractive, intelligent, and loved Bridget but was not honest to her (Daniel Cleaver played by Hugh Grant). But we don’t have that kind of guy this time. So it’s an even more challenge for Darcy. In some ways, Jack is similar to Mark. He is successful in his career, intelligent and he loves Bridget and even tries his best to give her the best things. It’s a totally new character. However, Mark is a man who constantly disappoints Bridget. Confronting this sexy and romantic guy, he is trying to get Bridget back although the only things he can give her are obvious familiarity and disappointing memories.”
– But still, I think many female audience will support Darcy.
“I think it’s gonna be half and half. This is not just a competition between an attractive, but bad man, and a boring, but nice man. People will decide depending on their experiences and love styles. There will be people who support Jack, not just because he is romantic and attractive, but because they hope Bridget won’t make the same mistake and move on. So In such sense, Jack means a new start. People who are dreaming of optimistic future will be more attached to Jack’s character. Yet, love is like a comfort that you feel when come back home. So in that kind of sense Mark Darcy symbolizes unchanging consistency. Despite all the time and emotional conflicts, if you need someone by your side, you may support Darcy.”
– Why do you think people love Bridget Jones?
“I think it’s kind of like an ‘escape’. Because it’s light and comical, but at the same time it is painful and melancholic. Also, I think the movie is sympathized especially by specific age groups because they know what it’s like to find a partner as a professional who lives in a large city. The movie understands what it’s like to be judged by people only because they are single. Actually, I am very curious that if the people who grew up watching Bridget Jones since 15 years ago will still sympathize with the movie.”
Original article available at http://www.koreadaily.com/news/read.asp?art_id=4602608
Translated by Audrey Joung
