Renée Zellweger: 'Fingers crossed' this is not the end of Bridget Jones

“Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy” is being promoted as the fourth and final film in the series, but star Renée Zellweger says she “hopes” that isn’t the case. Zellweger has been playing our favorite hapless heroine for over 20 years, and she still seems attached to the character, calling her an “old friend.”

At the film’s premiere in London’s Leicester Square on Wednesday night, the actress said she was “in denial” and “hasn’t quite processed” that this could be the end of the series. “Let me just live in denial for a bit longer,” she said, laughing. While there are currently no plans to continue the Bridget Jones story, author Helen Fielding hasn’t entirely ruled out the possibility.

The new film sees Bridget as a widow, single mother, and navigating modern dating. The story is partly inspired by Fielding’s own experiences. Her husband, Kevin Curran, died in 2016. Zellweger said the film is a “beautiful story and the most personal for Helen. She's sharing her experience with loss and grief and finding new happiness, and it's a very special story.” She also added that she has always felt “very, very lucky to have this character” and was “just trying not to get fired.”

There’s clearly real affection between the cast, with Zellweger and her on-screen father, Jim Broadbent, sharing a hug on the red carpet. Hugh Grant also attended the premiere. In “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,” Grant’s roguish anti-hero Daniel Cleaver returns. He was declared dead at the start of the previous film, “Bridget Jones’s Baby,” but was revealed to be alive before the end credits. In the new film, we also see a slightly softer side to the notorious womanizer and cad.

But Bridget’s love interests in the film are all-new characters. Leo Woodall of “One Day” plays her Tinder match, who at 29 (ahem) is a little younger than Bridget, who is 51. BAFTA-winner Chiwetel Ejiofor plays a buttoned-up teacher Bridget meets while dropping off her kids at school and during a rainy outing. Woodall said that while he felt “a lot of pressure” coming into the project, as soon as he met Zellweger, he knew it was going to be “relatively easy” because she’s “joyful, generous, kind, wonderful, and obviously a brilliant actor.”

Asked if he’s had any clumsy “Bridget Jones” moments himself, Woodall said that he “falls over a lot.” Ejiofor, primarily known for serious roles in films like “12 Years a Slave” and “American Gangster,” said that this film was a “different pace” from his usual projects. But he added that filming was enjoyable: “Even on set, it was warm, and everyone was excited to be telling the story.”

For Fielding, the success of Bridget Jones is down to its “emotional truth.” She said, “When I first wrote Bridget, it was an anonymous column in The Independent, and I thought it would get stopped after six weeks for being too silly.” “It allowed me to be honest in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise, and I think that’s why people have connected with it.” “I thought I was the only person who felt like that, but it turns out there’s a huge gap between how a lot of people think they should be and how they actually are.”

Bridget was a character created in the 1990s, and Fielding said she was “really touched” that Gen Z has also embraced her. “When I do signings, half the audience is Gen Z. They’re the first generation to have lived through a long-term global crisis. They’re very similar to Bridget in their emotional vulnerability, their ability to share, and to cry on TikTok.” “They have their own little rituals too; Bridget has ice cream and vodka, and they have their sleep routines and so on.” “I think they’re a very interesting and lovely generation. I can’t wait to see them start writing more novels.”

There have long been rumors that the character of human rights lawyer Mark Darcy in the books (played by Colin Firth in the previous Bridget Jones films) was based on lawyer-turned-Prime Minister Keir Starmer. So is there any truth to this? “All I can say about that is, if you look at early pictures of Colin in the films and pictures of Keir Starmer with a wig, they’re very similar,” Fielding said, laughing. So we may never know for sure, but will there be another Bridget Jones book and film? “Never say never,” Fielding added.

“Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy” will be released in UK cinemas on Valentine’s Day.