Renée Zellweger is riding high with the release of her latest Bridget Jones movie, Mad About the Boy – and her co-star Leo Woodall can’t stop raving about her!
In the film, now showing in New Zealand cinemas, hapless mum-of-two Bridget finds herself widowed and dating a much younger man, played by Leo.
The British actor, 28, was wracked with nerves when he was introduced to Renée, 55, a week before filming.
“I was terrified,” he tells. “I got on a Lime bike, but it was a rookie error because it was a hot day. I’d just cycled for 25 minutes, and was so hot I drank two pints of water the second I arrived. I was sweating terribly.”
Renée didn’t bat an eyelid. “She’s so iconic,” says Leo. “It would be easy for her to have this gravitas and intimidation about her. But she’s so humble, lovely and kind, and sort of just goofy, that it cuts through all of that.”
While some critics have argued Bridget is dated for not wanting to be single, Renée loves the character she’s played for almost 25 years, explaining she’s someone many women relate to.
“She’s cute and there’s nothing at all wrong with her, or her experiences or where she is,” says the actor. “She’s never defeated, she’s self-scrutinising and self-deprecating, but she’s still laughing.”
Off-screen, Leo met his actor girlfriend Meghann Fahy, 34, when they filmed the second season of The White Lotus in Sicily in 2022 and went official with their relationship early last year.
Renée, meanwhile, is still happily ensconced with Ant Anstead, 45, whom she met when she appeared in an episode of his Discovery+ series Celebrity IOU: Joyride.
Bridget Jones Mad About the Boy is out in cinemas now.
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