As ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ Turns 25, Renée Zellweger and Director Sharon Maguire Discuss the Casting Backlash and Creating a New Kind of Rom-Com
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Renée Zellweger and director Sharon Maguire reunited on the Tribeca Film Festival stage to celebrate the 25th anniversary of 'Bridget Jones's Diary,' where the audience erupted in cheering at the title card and multiple rounds of applause during pivotal scenes.
- Zellweger said the film broke the rom-com paradigm by featuring a 'normal girl' who 'looked like her lifestyle,' allowing her mascara to run and hair to be messy — a portrayal she called 'liberating' that 'shifted audience expectations' about leading ladies.
- British tabloids were 'quite vicious' in their early-2000s criticism of the casting of Zellweger, a native Texan, as the iconic British character, with Maguire recalling concerns over whether she could master the accent (she did).
- Maguire said the film endures because it 'celebrates failure' and validates ordinary lives, adding that it was 'about a woman, conceived by a woman, and directed by a woman. And heavens, it worked.'
- Maguire's next project is an adaptation of Alex Comfort's 1972 book 'The Joy of Sex,' with Colin Firth set to star as Dr. Comfort, a scientist and mollusk expert turned sex guru; Julianne Moore and Laura Linney have also joined the unnamed-role cast ahead of production starting in three weeks.
Why it matters: Twenty-five years on, 'Bridget Jones' is being recognized not just as a romantic comedy hit but as a genre-breaking artifact that made space for flawed, unglamorous heroines — a shift Zellweger says was as liberating for her as an actress as it was for audiences. The Tribeca conversation also serves as a soft launch for Maguire's buzzy 'Joy of Sex' adaptation, giving that film early cultural momentum via Firth, Moore, and Linney.
