Renee Zellweger explains that Bridget Jones is finally happy with her body
If you’re a fan of the Bridget Jones movies (and let’s be real: Who isn’t?), then you likely remember the scenes where Bridget obsessively checks her weight. It’s not a minor part of the movie, either: She checks her weight every single day. This speaks very true to life for so many people, especially women, as we live in a diet and weight obsessed culture. If there is something “wrong” with your weight or body, it can often feel like society is pushing you to obsess about it until you’ve “fixed” it. That’s why the new, empowering perspective on Bridget’s weight in Bridget Jones’s Baby is so inspiring.
According to Marie Claire, Renee Zellweger definitely expected to put on some weight when she resumed the role of Bridget, post-baby. The film’s director, Sharon Maguire, had a different perspective. Instead of having Bridget obsess over her weight, Maguire wanted the film to depict her as finally embracing an “ideal size,” which is, according to her, between an 8 and 10 in the United States.
As Zelleweger shared in a recent interview on the subject, “Sharon was hoping we could show that Bridget had achieved her ideal weight, but at the same time it didn’t mean her life was perfect.” We think this is a pretty honest and fair point of view. After all, it can be easy to obsess over aspects of our lives that “need” changing, but there’s no guarantee that those changes actually lead to happiness. Self-acceptance and self-love, though, almost always do.