Stars who could have played Bridget Jones if Renee Zellweger didn’t land the role

In the fourth movie, Mad About the Boy, which is scheduled for release on February 14th, Renee Zellweger triumphantly reprises her role as Bridget Jones. There were once rumors that several actors could have taken on the role, though it’s difficult to imagine anyone else playing the iconic Bridget as she navigates dating and societal pressures.

Helen Fielding’s immensely successful column in The Independent, which became Bridget Jones’s first debut. Just one year later, in 1996, she published her own book series about the character. With popularity growing, the movie adaptation was confirmed, and the hunt for the lead role began. Before Renee, who is now 55, was chosen, director Sharon Maguire previously disclosed that several names were in the running for the lead role.

Kate Winslet was one of the British names chosen for the Bridget Jones role just a few years after the release of Titanic. She was reportedly six years younger than Renee when she was cast, and she was only 24 years old when the filming began.

Helena Bonham Carter, who is well-known for her role as Bellatrix Lestrange in the final four Harry Potter movies, and Emily Watson were other names in the mix. Rachel Weisz’s name reportedly also came up, but she was claimed to be “too beautiful” to be Bridget.

With her success in the likes of There’s Something About Mary and Charlie’s Angels, Cameron Diaz was reportedly in the running to take the part. Cate Blanchett, who won a BAFTA for a British role as Queen Elizabeth I in the film Elizabeth, was also said to be considered for the role.

Since Cate is well-known for playing Lady Galadriel in Lord of the Rings, which was shot at the same time, it’s possible that the schedule prevented her from becoming the recognizable Bridget. Toni Collette, who is renowned for her roles in Little Miss Sunshine and About A Boy, is another Aussie who received a lot of attention.

Toni claimed that because of her commitment to Broadway, she was playing in the role of Bridget in Michael John LaChiusa’s musical The Wild Party. Little did Toni know that failing to accept Bridget might have prevented her from getting a role in the film Chicago in 2002. The actress told Miami Herald in 2006, “While I was doing Wild Party, I turned down Bridget Jones’s Diary, because I didn’t know when Wild Party was going to close”.

She added, “And that movie was a huge success for Renee Zellweger, and Harvey Weinstein was producing Chicago, and he was keen for her to do it. And that’s the way it went”.

Source: Mirror