Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Renee Zellweger on Almost 25 Years as "Bridget Jones"

Episode Date: February 23, 2025

Willie sits down with Oscar-winning actress Renee Zellweger who opens up about what she likes about playing the relatable title character Bridget Jones in the beloved franchise — a role she stepped into when the first movie was released in 2001.They talk about her new film, “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,”  her childhood growing up in Katy, Texas, and her road to the heights of Hollywood. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks, as always, for clicking and listening along. Got a great conversation for you today with an Academy Award winner. Her name is Renee Zellweger. She is out with the fourth, perhaps final. We get into that conversation of the Bridget Jones movies that have helped to define her career and have been such hits based on the novels by a British author named Helen Fielding. The first movie came out in 2001.

It's been almost 25 years, believe it or not, since they launched these movies. There was some talk, as you'll hear Renee say. At the beginning, why is our beloved British character being played by a Texan? She got through that once the movie came out of her and said, oh, right, she's great. She's perfect for it. People love this character. They love the books. They love Renee.

And there's a good reason it's been going on now for four movies and almost 25 years. Just so much fun to talk to. smart, funny, a sweetheart from Katie, Texas is Renee Zellweger. It's about 30 miles west of Houston. Picture Texas Friday Night Lights, there it is. Great High School football team. She was a cheerleader. She was an athlete.

Interesting, though, her parents are immigrants from Europe. So they didn't quite get all the Friday Night Lights, Texas of it all. But she was right in the middle of it. When she went to the University of Texas is when she really got interested in and hooked on films and filmmaking. One of her earliest movies was in 1995. In one of the updates, very small budget of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre horror classic, she co-starred with another young Texan named Matthew McConaughey. So that's 1995.

Imagine this. The next year. She goes from that. Jerry McGuire comes out in 96, and obviously her life blows up. She's so good in the movie. Across from Tom Cruise, everything changes from there. She's in Me, Myself, and Irene. She's in Nurse Betty.

She's in Chicago for which she earned an Oscar nomination and then won an Academy Award for Cold Mountain. Took a break in 2010 for six or seven years just because she'd done so much. She'd been going so hard for so long, stepped away from Hollywood, and then came back in 2016 for the third Bridget Jones movie. And then, of course, she played Judy Garland and won an Academy Award for Best Actress just a few years ago. Great actor. Has a great head on her shoulders. has all this Hollywood business in its place, tries to stay private and humble, and I think does a good job of both. So I think you'll enjoy getting to know a little bit better.

Renee Zellweger, right now on the Sunday Sit Down podcast. I'm so happy to talk to you, Renee. Thank you for doing this. You too, Willie. Thanks for wanting to sit down. I feel like we've already had a nice long conversation. We ought to just use that, probably. You know what?

Might be more interesting. You never know. I don't think so, because people are so. So excited about the new Bridget movie. Congratulations. Thanks so much. She's back. She's mad about the boy.

Indeed. What brought you back this time? Oh, I can say it all the time. It's the best job in the world. I love this character. Since I was introduced to her with everybody else in the mid-90s. And it's reunion with my friends. You know, friendships forged over 25 years.

You know, how do you say no? What an unusual thing, you know, to be going through life's journey in real time with a fictional character. And to check in with her every, you know, so many years and rediscover who she might be, tell stories through her perspective. That's a pretty cool job. And it's been a gap since the last one, like there was last time, too, eight or nine years this time. Yeah. So people are so excited. she came back, that you all are back.

I'm curious what you love about playing Bridget. Since 2001 when you first played her, what was it that you read in Helen's books that you said, oh, I want to be a part of that? Well, she's just so unusual. You know, you don't see a cinema heroine who's so messy. You know, she's messy and things never go to plan. And, you know, she doesn't always have the right thing to say. in fact, usually she says all the wrong things.

And it's so, I don't know, it's so inspiring. And I say that because even though things are not what she thinks they ought to be and they don't measure up to, you know, social paradigms, she still succeeds. She still triumphs. She's so happy, you know. She's a joyful, lovely person. I find her endearing.

I think people also see themselves in her, which is sometimes life looks perfect in the movies, and it certainly is not for Bridget, and they go, yeah, that's right. That's what life is actually like. Yeah, like spinning plates. Yes. And chaos. Yes. And best laid plans, you know.

Fake it till you make it. Yeah, I think that's testament to Helen's gift as writers that she mined all these experiences that she recognizes is universally relatable. And we all see ourselves in that kind of chaos and the messiness of life. Not quite getting it right. It's a nice thing to spend time with somebody who reminds us that it's okay to be a little bit imperfect,

probably especially today with Instagram and all of the messages out there about these hyper-idealized images and I guess lifestyles and always being presented with everyone's perfect version of themselves. Yeah, nice to spend some time with somebody who just doesn't quite add up to that. Yeah, it's true, isn't it? Because I don't think Instagram certainly wasn't as prevalent even from the last movie as it is now that you see, again, reality projected at you in a movie. So let's talk about where we find Bridget in this fourth edition.

Now, it's probably not what people might expect after, you know, the last film. She's a single mother, and she's grieving the loss of her, the love of her life, Mark Darcy. And so, you know, she's trying to figure out how to move on into healing and begin again and what that means, how to get there, trying to be a good parent and help her children through the grieving process. Everybody has ideas about when bereavement should end and what you should do and the best ways of getting on with things. And I guess like everything, you have to push the noise out and listen to your intuition. And taking care of yourself at the same time as you're supposed to be taking care of everybody else as well.

When do you get back on the horse and live again? Yeah, and I don't think that, I think that's probably something that parents can relate to pretty strongly, is that you've come last. Yeah. Yeah. There's that beautiful scene where you're lying with your father. Oh. And he says, promise me that you won't just survive, that you'll live. Yeah.

And that sort of sets off the action of this film. Do you see, Renee, any of yourself in Bridget, have you since the beginning? and do you see yourself sort of as you move along in life reflected in her at all? Oh, yeah, I think so. But again, that's back to Helen. You know, she's managed to capture these moments that we all recognize, you know, that make us laugh, and we laugh with her at ourselves, really, you know. And same for me, you know, when she's putting her foot in it,

that's when I relate the most. Yeah, it's... Yeah, she's, yeah, lovely. We had your old friend, Hugh Grant, was on this show a couple of months ago for a different film. Oh, I'm sad. I miss that. What did you grumble about? There was some grumbling. It's brilliant, though. He's brilliant grumbling. Brilliant grumbling. Funny grumbling.

I'm telling you, he's mastered the art of the funny grumble. And again, it's a little bit bridgety, isn't it? It is. We laugh with him. We're like, yes, yes, water bottles, yes. It's a charming grumble, isn't it? Yeah, he's kind of a charming everything, isn't he? He pulls it off. But he said in our conversation that he thought this was the best of the four scripts that he had read.

Did you feel that way when you read it? Yeah, I might agree with them. And it might be because it's substantive in a different way. It's looking at these really meaningful milestones that life throws at us, you know? and maybe it's just because more hangs in the balance at this stage in life. And, I mean, who doesn't know by this point grief and loss and what it means to adapt and start over and re, I guess, evaluating who you are because none of us are the same on the other side of the loss.

And you don't want to be. You know, your perspective changes and your values change. And, yeah, I guess how you make decisions changes. And, yeah, it's all about, you know, community and the importance of the friendships that you've nurtured for years and years and how they become part of your extended family, how you come to define yourself and your existence through these people in your life. And, you know, parenthood and trying to nurture little humans without messing up. And, and again, grief and loss and beginning again and feeling like that. Like you have permission to do that, that it doesn't mean you don't love just because you're able to laugh again, you know?

So sweet. I mean, even his character has evolved so much through the years, and there's a vulnerability to him in this one that, again, is really sweet to see for a guy who's been a rascal. That's such a good word. Putting it mildly. I think that word is underused and we need to bring it back. I like rascal. I agree. You probably heard that in Texas growing up. A little right?

100%. 100%. Yes, he is a rascal. But as he's moved to this film now, he's got some vulnerability to him, but he's still at your side when you need him. Oh, yeah. Isn't that sweet? I love the trajectory of their relationship, because it's oftentimes, and another truism about reaching this stage in life is the least likely characters who end up being your tried and truths at a certain stage, you know? and that that rascal is now this dependable sweetheart in her life to some degree.

It's so lovely, I think. Hey, guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Renee Zellweger right after the break. Welcome back now more of my conversation with Renee Zellweger. I don't want to give away anything else about the movie because people are going to be so excited to watch how it plays out. But did you have the sense when this film, wrapped that it was a version of happily ever after for Bridget or more to come?

Well, not to give too much away. Exactly. I think I knew that the intention was for there to be a period at the end of this instead of a dot, dot, dot. So I think from what I understand with Helen that this is potentially her happily ever after, yes. Wow. Mm-hmm. I know. It's a little weird.

It's hard to believe that there won't be more from her. Yeah. Yeah, I know. I have my fingers crossed because, you know, she does share her own very personal life experiences through these characters. And I can't imagine that, you know, she won't have more stories to tell at some point.

But anyway, keep my fingers crossed. Maybe she'll get back in front of her laptop and crank out another one. We'll be waiting. More rascals, Helen. More rascals, hell. Hard to believe it's been almost 25 years since this all started for you with Bridget. Do you remember those early days when you landed the role?

I know you went and worked at a publisher. And not because you're not a great actress, but because you're American. You heard some of the whispers about they're going to give this beloved character to an American. A little bit. I actually read it before I heard about it because I was working at Picador with my boss, Camille. Elworthy. Thank you, Camilla. And I had to clip all of the press clippings

that had anything to do with the Bridget Jones franchise because, and I mean, well actually it wasn't a franchise, books, because they were her publishers, Helen's publishers. And so they would, like, you know, things were a crap American

comedian who's going to play. Yeah. Take it and put it in a file. This was pre the scanning days, you know. go find the file for the crap American actress. Filed. And then, by the way, they saw the movie and they went, oh, okay, she's great. Was it hard to get back to the accent after all these years?

Or can you find it right away? You know, it's a habit. So like anything, you know, that takes a little practice. I go over there and I start pretending like I can speak like her. And it takes its time coming back. It's a little awkward at first. Sounds so stupid. Sounds like

Texan pudding on airs for a little while. And then it starts to gradually come back. No, you nail it. It's very sweet. Thank you. I'm so interested, Renee, in your sort of professional rhythm.

You famously took that break of six years or so. But even with this film, Judy was the last big project you did, for which you won the Oscar, of course. So how do you decide when it's time to dip your toe back in the water

and when it's worth it for you to go back and commit all the time and energy it takes to make a movie because you seem to have really good discretion about it. Well, this time a lot came into play. We had a couple of strikes. The world shut down.

So it was the Oscars for Gini and then bam. Lockdown. Right. Yeah. I mean, you got that Oscar like weeks before the world.

shut down in 2020, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it was quite a time. It was quite a time. So it wasn't so much choice. It was just that was thrust upon all of us. Yeah, a little bit. But, you know, with everything, circumstance comes into play, you know. When is it time to do something different?

And when is it time to walk away and nurture other things? So, you know, I have a production company and write and, you know, there's other things. How about the break from 2010 to 2016? I think a lot of people at your level in Hollywood might have been worried about going away for that long. Oh, I lose momentum, and can I afford to do that? What went into that calculation for you?

It was just necessary. It was time. I wasn't healthy. I wasn't taking care of myself. You know, I've been going nonstop at a breakneck sprint for, decades and I needed to like you know it's not sustainable yeah and uh and I was I was bored with myself you know I was repeating myself even though the work I was doing was spoiled rotten lucky creative once-in-a-lifetime material and partnerships and I'm grateful for all of it I mean really

life-enriching things but I was bored with myself and I needed to do something else in order to grow. I just, I think, you know, what is it? It was Ben Franklin, right? Write things worth reading or do things worth writing about? And the redundancy in what I had learned from my experiences was making it not worth reading or write it to go and do something else to grow as a person, that's all. But everybody reaches that moment at some point in their, you know, in their work where you have to shake it up a little bit, whether it's that you have the courage to go in there and say, I want my promotion, or you shift and take a side step,

or do you know? Yeah. Yeah, everybody, I think, reaches that point. Was it a bit to, Renee, of the celebrity aspect of it? Everyone wanted to talk about your every move and take your picture when you walk out of a restaurant and all those things. Did you want to step away from that? Yeah, I did.

I did. I wanted to have conversations with people that were, on a human level. And I wanted to have human experiences, you know, because you can't be, in my opinion, a storyteller if you don't have experiences to draw from, you know, and going from set to set to set, you know. Yeah, you're drawing on some pretty old memories at that point, you know.

You like me are a bit of a ludite when it comes to social media and all that? 100%. Like totally, which I have great respect for. I feel to me like that has served you well, to not have to live performatively and take a selfie every time you do something. Right? I mean... Put my foot in it.

I would say you'll never regret the thing you didn't post. That's really good. But you like that. But you don't regret the thing you did post. You know, what's the upside? At some point or another. It's going to happen. It's going to happen.

It's going to happen. Yeah. You're smart about that. Well, I don't know that it's 100% self-preservation. But, yeah, I just never really took to it. I'm real busy with the things that are right in front of me. And I know I recognize the importance of it and the fun of it as well. And I know that, you know, it's changed the world and we'll continue to.

I mean, it changes the way that we communicate. It changes what we value. It changes how we consume entertainment. You know, it's all really interesting. Celebrity. Yeah. It was a really different time when I was running around and trying to hide from people chasing you and, you know, crazy. It's very different now.

Very different. You've done a good job, though, keeping that privacy close, which is not easy, I'm sure, for you to do. No, I just sneak around pretty well. Pull the hat down and sneak around. Stick around for more of my conversation with Renee Zellweger right after a quick break. Welcome back now to the rest of my. conversation with Renee Zellwecker. I want to go back to Katie just for a minute because I'm so fascinated about where the acting

thing comes for you. You had a fascinating upbringing because bored in Katie, Katie High School, Friday night lights, all that stuff, cheerleader, athlete, all those things. But your parents are immigrants from Switzerland and Norway. So was it the true Friday Night Lights experience that we all think of? Not in my house because my parents. didn't recognize the social importance of that, you know, of the homecoming game, you know? They didn't recognize that.

But it was a really nice mix because it's a dream, I mean, idyllic, idyllic growing up in Haiti at that time, which was very, very rural and a very sweet small town at that time. And to have this window to the world through my parents. So I felt, yeah, really lucky, really lucky. So then where does the acting bit come for you? Is that not totally get to UT? Drew, my brother. Yeah.

Yeah, little sister, you know, lionizing her big brother because he's so good at everything. He's the tennis star and the soccer star, and he's handsome, and all the girls like him, and he's funny and smart. And I just wanted to be like my big brother. So I got on the baseball team, which he probably hated, and I got on the soccer team, which he probably hated. And then I joined the speech and drama club, which he probably hated. Well, he did because he quit, because he's like, enough.

And I thought, oh, I kind of like this. Sorry, Drew. Likes being on that stage, having an audience. It wasn't so much that. I think I liked the community of it. Yeah. We had a lot of fun, yeah. Putting on the plays together and things like that and drama.

club and speech tournaments. It was a whole culture. Get on the bus really early on a Saturday. We're going to go take this thing, you know. Yeah. So when do you get more serious about it as this could be something I pursue as a career? When does that switch go on? University, yeah. I was finished. I went to school to write. I was going to get a journalism degree at UT, which is a great place to do it, you know, one of the always top-rated newspapers, collegiate newspapers in the country. And, yeah, some went wrong there. I had to take a art, a fine art class to get my degree to, you know, graduate, and that fit the slot to

take this drama class. And I hadn't recognized that it was important to me somehow. And I I ended up doing a thesis film with a film student. It was getting her degree. I don't know what it would be at the RTF. I don't know, but she was making her thesis film and knew I was an actress and called me to be in it. And I loved it. There were five of us running around in the sticks of Texas.

And, you know, you hold the boom when you're not on the shot. And then, you know, doing the costumes at the same time. And it was kamikaze filmmaking. And I loved it. I loved it. I loved seeing what we could make happen, you know, with very little, you know, in terms of resources and time and all of that. And I loved the creative aspect of it in terms of, you know, like storytelling. I loved getting into the head of this woman. Yeah, it's hard to explain how it came to matter to me in that way as a creative outlet. But that's kind of. kind of when I noticed that... The community again, right?

Being with a group of people and pursuing something. Yeah, I guess that's it. Yeah. Yeah. So you're knocking around doing some smaller movies. The movie starts a little bit bigger. You and McConaughey, a little Texas chainsaw massacre. That's true.

We had a lot of crossover there. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we did. Is it as obvious as Jerry McGuire was the first big break, or what felt like your break to you? Chainsaw Massacre. It was. Okay.

Yeah. Because it was somebody trust in that, you know, this leading role, you know, felt like a really big responsibility. And I've learned so much about the rhythm of filmmaking and how you recognize where you're supposed to be and what everyone's doing. And it was great. It was a great education. Yeah. And a great workout. Lots of running.

Running from the chainsaws. Running from the chainsaw. You know, natural instinct. Run fast. Fast from the chainsaw. People need to go back and watch that. Renee and McConaughey. It's an amazing, amazing movie.

Watch the, watch the corsage, because the corsage goes through quite the transformation. Oh, yeah, yeah. So that's exciting. That's kind of a big movie, right? They put some money behind it. You're the star of it. That one?

Oh, no, no. No. No. No. It was independently financed by, I think, a couple of gentlemen, and local gentleman who, Kim was the director of that, and I think he was the writer of the first original.

I think that that might be getting my story wrong. I'm sorry, but I think that that was the story. Yeah, yeah. But it was a fortune to me, you know. A few hundred bucks after taxes, yes. I've made it. Yes. I've made it.

The big time. So then a short time after that, Jerry McGuire happens, and there's an explosion in your life, I have to imagine. What was that moment like when that movie came out and was so well received and so beloved? What did that feel like to you as a young actor? It was a crazy time. And the making of it kind of spilled into going underground and making a second film.

I came here. I was here when the film came out. So I missed all of the press for it. I didn't really do that because I didn't feel. feel like I was ready for, I wanted to take it in stride. So I was here making press for a freebies, another independent film while that was all going on. So I kind of missed it. Oh, that's interesting.

So you weren't feeling the storm that was sweeping? No, no. I was in a honey wagon again. You know, which is, you know. So at what point did you have a sense that this thing is big and is really connected? with audiences? Gosh, that's a good question. It's kind of a blur.

Everything kind of spilled into the next, into the next. Maybe when people on the sidewalk would call me by my name. Maybe. You go on an incredible run of movies that include Cold Mountain in Chicago and the first Bridget movie.

I mean, just unbelievable. Nurse Betty. Nurse Betty. Nurse Betty. Me, myself, and Irene. I mean, it's just for that run. from like 2000 to 2004 or five. It's just packed with hits and Oscar nominations and all that.

So as people did start to know your name, how did you, girl from Katie, Texas, how did you deal with all that? All of a sudden, she's famous, and we want to know more about her. Well, I was just working, you know, so I was mostly going from set to an event or, you know. I was a really insular sort of time in my life.

I didn't really, I didn't, yeah, and I wasn't very good at it. I wasn't good at the paparazzi chasing you at the airport and things like that. And I always felt that, you know, I left, you know, Paul Newman in his class and how he always handled himself. You just smile and wave and get on with things, you know. And it just, the culture was changing with the TMZ thing and the conversation. and it always make me so nervous because I guess what you don't see when you see the footage is what the person walking with all the flashbulbs is seeing, which is nothing because you're blinded and there's a wall of people and you can't get to where you need to go and you really do have to catch a plane because they don't really care that you can't get that. They're like, sorry. Sorry, door closes. We're officially locked. Yeah, I just, I wasn't, I wasn't very good at it. And, and I, I hope I'm a little bit better at it now.

I think I take it with a little more, I don't know, what's the word, I'm a little more comfortable with it now, I think. But I wasn't at the time. It just felt so weird. It felt surreal. I mean, you know, because you don't think of yourself as, that, that belongs to other people. That's, that's, this is what we do with. Tom Cruise and this is Paul McCartney.

You know what I mean? This is their world and it felt so strange to me. Like somebody's made a mistake here. So, yeah, I always felt really awkward to me. Well, people say about you, and I've seen it's true already here today, that you are grounded and that you're still the girl from Katie, Texas, and you walk in the room and you say hello to everybody in the room and you shake their hands and you and I are talking about our dads.

How do you stay that way? under the spotlight you've been in for 25, 30 years now? I don't know. I mean... You still know another way. Yeah, that's... That's the answer, I guess, yeah. I don't know how you would be or why... Why would you change, do you know?

Yeah. I mean... People do, though? Yeah, but... But do they? Or is it just an amplified reaction to something? You know? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I just want to have fun and make my friends. And, you know, just want to have a, yeah, have great experiences and meet interesting people. And did that already this morning. Pretty great day. Yeah. Before I let you go, I'm curious about what you're thinking about next, because like I said, you are so careful with what you do.

Is there anything on the horizon that you're excited about or you're thinking about or something different? There's a few things and we'll see what lands, you know, because now all the variables have to come into place and there's so many of them. Every film is a miracle, even ones that don't turn out like you hope they will. Yeah, there's several things busy with and some things that are developing that don't have anything to do with me. and yeah, Ridley sent a little animated short that I did over, we started COVID in my kitchen

and we're just finishing it up now. So I'll be busy with that for a little while. Busy with an old dog who needs me. Yeah. Well, as usual, we can't wait to see what you do. Thank you, Renee. That's very nice. Thanks. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Louis. By big thanks again to Renee for a great conversation, you can stream Bridget Jones, mad about the boy on Peacock right now. And my thanks to all of you, as always, for listening again this week. If you want to hear more of our conversations with my guests every week, be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday today every weekend on NBC to see these interviews with your own two eyes. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit Down podcast.