Hugh Grant Rewrote ‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy’ Role Before Joining Cast
Although he couldn’t make it to her baby shower, Hugh Grant is back in Bridget Jones’ life.
The Golden Globe winner will return for the upcoming fourth installment of Renée Zellweger‘s romantic comedy franchise, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, after carving out a spot for his womanizing character Daniel Cleaver.
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He recently explained to Vanity Fair why he opted not to reprise the role for 2016’s Bridget Jones’s Baby. “I really couldn’t fit my character in—he just didn’t belong, so I stepped aside,” he said.
The third installment featured Zellweger’s titular character unexpectedly pregnant at 40, trying to determine whether the father is her ex Mark (Colin Firth) or handsome American stranger Jack (Patrick Dempsey). Although Grant did not return for that movie, Bridget attends a memorial for her ex, who is presumed dead after a plane crash.
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, which is scheduled to premiere on Valentine’s Day in 2025, is based on Helen Fielding’s third novel in her series.
“I loved the script—it made me cry, and I wanted to help with this one,” said Grant. “But really there’s no part for Daniel Cleaver in it at all. They wanted him in it, and in the end, they’d done something I wasn’t crazy about.”
Grant noted that he “wrote some scenes,” which made it into director Michael Morris’ upcoming film.
“It’s absolutely the best [Bridget Jones book], and I think it’s very funny and very, very moving. I’m not in a lot, I did a week’s work, that’s it…. But when you see the film, you’ll be very moved,” added Grant, who previously appeared alongside Zellweger and Firth in Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004).
Along with Grant, Emma Thompson and several other returning stars, Mad About the Boy also features Leo Woodall, Chiwetel Eijofor, Isla Fisher, Josette Simon, Nico Parker and Leila Farzad.
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