Why Renée Zellweger Thinks People Were Obsessed With Bridget Jones' Looks

Renée Zellweger is looking back on the legacy of Bridget Jones as she reflects on how playing such a "normal girl" resulted in a public "fixation."

The Oscar-winning actress, who first took on the iconic romantic comedy character in 2001's Bridget Jones's Diary, opined during a 25th anniversary cast reunion at the Tribeca Film Festival on Friday, June 12, that it was her character's normalcy that drew such attention.

"Most romantic comedy heroines are polished, and they fit a particular paradigm for beauty in that moment, and this was not the paradigm," Zellweger, 57, said during the event, as per PEOPLE.

"She was a normal girl, and she looked like her lifestyle," she continued of Bridget's appearance. "She liked to have an extra helping, and she liked her Chardonnay, and she didn't go to the gym every day, and she's gorgeous anyway. She gets the guy anyway. Maybe more so, because she's so very herself that it makes her more attractive."

The character "sort of broke a norm" in a way that made her iconic, despite the "fixation" on her weight when the film first premiered.

"I love this character, and when people talk about the weight, I don't think of her as a person who is… There's nothing to fix," Zellweger said, noting that her portrayal of Bridget "sort of shifted our expectations for what a leading lady can look like."

The Cold Mountain star also found it "liberating" to play such an unconventionally "messy" character in the rom-com, which sparked three sequels and also starred Colin Firth and Hugh Grant.

"It was so liberating to play someone who's having authentic experiences authentically," she explained. "It became one of my favorite things to return to and have to remember every time, 'We don't have to worry about that. I don't have to think about that. We're not doing the makeup, pimples-great.'"

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This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 6:50 AM.