Renee Zellweger wants Bridget Jones producers to make character skinny

60th Berlinale - Opening Ceremony - Berlin
Last summer, we heard that Renee Zellweger was bulking up in preparation to shoot Bridget Jones 3. Then Renee was photographed out twice in suspicious circumstances in which her top just happened to be billowing open to show her completely flat, still skinny stomach. After that, the news was that she was lobbying to wear a fat suit so that she wouldn’t have to gain weight. Renee was in a new relationship with Bradley Cooper and she was said to be scared to jeopardize things by getting heavier. She later denied that she had signed on for the third film, saying “I get asked that every single day and I don’t know anything. It’s like a rumor!

According to Mike Walker in the National Enquirer, the third Bridget Jones film is a go, and Renee is trying to skirt around all the weight issues by asking that her character be made thin just like her. Walker broke the news of the Wall St. sequel and he sometimes has accurate tidbits ahead of the other outlets. Some of his stories have the strong stench of PR releases and he does run some doozies, so it’s hard to tell if this is accurate. What sounds true to me is the fact that Renee blames the demise of her relationship with rocker Jack White on the fact that she had to gain so much weight for the last Bridget Jones film: The Edge of Reason.

Renee Zellweger’s driving producers crazy over negotiations for her third “Bridget Jones’s Diary” flick, claiming docs warned her it’s unhealthy to pack on up to 30 real-life pounds again – as she famously did for the first two films – so Renee’s… insisting that this time, instead of being a zaftig everywoman, Bridget should be a diet-conscious skinny-minnie like… Renee herself! Folks, here’s the real skinny: Renee’s nagged by fear that going plump might get her butt dumped by… Bradley Cooper – just like it killed her romance with White Stripes rocker Jack White. But producers are balking, saying audiences won’t buy a skin and bones Bridget.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, Mike Walker’s column, March 1, 2010]

I sort-of feel sorry for Renee. She’s so worried about staying perfect for her new boyfriend that she’s afraid to gain a few much-needed pounds for a role. If a guy is so superficial he’ll leave you for some weight gain – especially if it was part of your job and you got paid millions for it – he’s not worth keeping! Plus, we all know that Renee will drop the weight again in less than three months.

The last Bridget Jones movie was ridiculous, but I admit that I’ll watch another one. I also agree with the alleged stance of the producers that a super tiny Bridget Jones isn’t believable. Maybe Jones can be about 15 pounds heavier than Renee and not 30, though. It’s conceivable that she would be thinner but not a super toned waif like Zellweger.

In other news, the tabloids did pick up the “Zellweger could be pregnant” story based on how she filled out a little at the Berlinale. In Touch asks “Is Renee pregnant?” and to their credit they don’t claim to have a source that she is and just point to the photos. I could go either way on that one. You can see why Renee works to stay so tiny.

Photos are from 2004’s Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason thanks to AllMoviePhoto

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

42 Responses to “Renee Zellweger wants Bridget Jones producers to make character skinny”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. prettytarheelfan says:

    I really, truly thinks she looks pretty with more weight on her. Maybe not 30 lbs, but 15 or so wouldn’t kill her.

  2. Dorothy says:

    PLEASE let there be another movie! I flipping love those super silly movies. Colin Firth is amazing and Hugh Grant is amazing.

    I agree she could be thinner, how about the weight she was for Jerry McGuire? I still think she has never looked better that she did in that movie.

  3. Erin says:

    if they make Bridget skinny they will lose their entire audience. There’s nothing more unattractive than a woman of Renee Zellweger’s age who is so terrifically insecure…

  4. Lway says:

    I agree with renee though. As you get older your body gets stubborn and it’s more difficult to lose the weight. Nobody likes to be overweight and battle to fit into their clothes

    Of course she wants to look good for her man – don’t we all? Even if it’s part of her job – it’s a new love interest – give her a break 🙂

  5. BeckyR says:

    Renee’s weight doesn’t matter. Bridget Jones III is something to look forward to. I LOVE the characters.

  6. nycmom10024 says:

    She should just pass on the movie. Skinny or normal bodied is her personal issue. Constantly gaining and losing weight is not healthy on the heart.

  7. clare says:

    The first Bridget Jones movie was perfect. I love that movie. Everything about it!

    The second Bridget Jones bugged me because I had read the books, and she was not supposed to have been so fat. She really waddled like a duck in it!

    She’s really a petite girl in real life, and she is getting older, so I can see where she wouldn’t want to go through the heavy discipline of gaining and losing weight again at this time on her life.

    I do hope she can do a third one without putting on so much weight. Long live Bridget Jones…and get Colin F and Hugh G back with the original cast! What could be better.

  8. QB says:

    Renee is a tiny person and having to gain weight to loose it again in 3 month is not healthy for her.

  9. bella says:

    And yes, a skeletal Bridget Jones would alienate fans. I say “skeletal,” because Renee is not merely thin. She is skeletal, and while weight loss like hers may exist in Hollywood, it doesn’t exist in Bridget Jones’ world.

  10. princess pea says:

    If they have to rewrite Bridget Jones to suit Renee, she’ll have an awful lot of angry women after her. I think Renee thinks she’s bigger than the books, and I don’t think that’s true. She doesn’t seem to inspire a lot of devotion in her fans, but Bridget does. I also think that she can’t stand to be seem as less than skinny… she’s always struck me as vain.

    If she doesn’t want to do the necessary for the role (weight gain or special effects) she shouldn’t take it.

  11. Alecto says:

    she looked so much better in the first movie. i agree that in the second she looked heavier. but she looks better with a little more weight on her.

  12. dread pirate cuervo says:

    I find it hard to believe that Jack White dumped her b/c she gained weight for a movie. If she had some powdery help to lose the weight, that I could see. Hungry + strung out = unpleasant to be around.

  13. Sunnyjyl says:

    I don’t think she should have to gain 30 pounds for anyone. What I really care about is her hair and skin. Does she have to look so greasy in the third movie?

  14. Jill says:

    She shouldn’t have to gain any unhealthy amount of weight for a role and she has common sense and health sense on her side. I cringe every time I watch BJ movies, knowing she had to manipulate her body that way for her role.
    We’ve seen enough of the ‘fat’ butt going down the firehouse pole type of gags. The character SHOULD develop anyway because a third movie reworking the same stuff would be a bore.

  15. Me says:

    Love her, love the movies. I don’t see why she should have to gain the weight again. I’ll watch regardless. It’s not healthy for her to put her body through that again.

  16. sickofit says:

    well if she wants the “character” to be thin, she didnt get the story at all, right? the whole BJ thing is about BJ being chubby and insecure about it…
    and why a third movie? there is no third book as far as i remember…

  17. TG says:

    Clare you said exactly what I was thinking Bridgete Jones I was great, but II was horrible, she was so fat and unattractive. In the first one, I thought she was adorable and cute and I could see Colin Firth getting with her but not in the second one and also in the books she wasn’t as fat either. I laughed by a.** off in both books.

  18. monkey says:

    lemon face is sooo much cuter with a bit of weight!

  19. celandine says:

    Bridget Jones is not (necessarily) fat. The diary constantly mentions her weight, but not her height – deliberately so, so that we never know if BJ is actually overweight, or just obsessed with being so. I think this makes her more relatable as we all know someone (or are someone) who constantly worries about losing the last half stone, but it actually perfectly attractive and healthy. It’s the modern disease, y’know!

    The films aren’t exactly Raging Bull, so if Renee will only do it if she gets to wear a fat suit then it’s a small price to pay for a third film.

  20. PJ says:

    They could strike a compromise: Renee could gain 10 pounds — enough to not be super-skinny as she is now — and they could wardrobe her to look fatter.

    Bridget losing weight could even be part of the plot.

  21. trollydolly says:

    I’m with Celandine on this one, Bridget is “everywoman” – well most women who feel that if they just lost half a stone their life would be better somehow. I always thought she was a UK size 12-14 (US 8-10) which is Ms Average.
    It’s so common now for women to dislike their body it’s apparently known as normative dissatisfaction – normal to not be happy with how you look!

  22. Stephie says:

    Love the first movie, hated the second; if there’s a third I hope they do it more like the 1st. I agree she shouldn’t have to gain so much weight but a couple pounds would do her current frame good in general. No one will buy a skeletal Bridget. And regarding losing her man? Um, if he’s so particular, he isn’t worth her time. No one should dictate how his/her partner looks.

  23. kelbear says:

    She may not have even said that. If she does do the movie I bet she gains weight for it but just not as much.

  24. nikki says:

    she looks better when she’s less skeletal!

    Bridget Jones is a normal girl and she looks better in the first movie

  25. simplicity says:

    She’s done it twice, appears to be opting out of weight gain and willing to wear a fat suit or play a thinner woman.

    Bridget was deliciously insecure, IMO, that is what made the film for me.

    Hold your own Renee!

  26. TXTX says:

    I wouldn’t want to see anyone else in the role, and I’d love a third movie. I don’t care if Bridget is skinny- Renee IS Bridget to me, so it will still work.

  27. fizXgirl314 says:

    Zellweger must really be a decent actress because I find her endearing in Bridget Jones, but in real life, she has one of those faces and demeanor (the way she carries herself) that makes me want to punch her lights out… lol

  28. anon says:

    she’s never looked as good as she did when she was in the first movie in my opinion. she wasn’t fat then, she just wasn’t a waif who looked like she’d keel over. if i remember correctly she;s supposed to be like 125lbs in the movie and renee looks about 5’8 or something so that’s not fat unless you have some kind of brain malfunction

  29. Lady Jane says:

    Is it me, or is her face way cuter when she is not so skeletal? She is much less squinty in these stills from the Bridget Jones movies. It is so weird how we women have such a skewed view of ourselves. And just in case a Bridget Jones producer is reading this, a pencil thin Bridget would alienate all the existing Bridget Jones fans, including me.

  30. les says:

    Losing and gaining weight over and over again is not healthy. She is a marathon runner so maybe she is looking after her health and not her boyfriend.

  31. Elanenergy says:

    Ok, this is stupid. She is an actress in a HUGE money making franchise, and she’s too vain to do what an actor does—play the role. Give to an actress who will. Bridgett Jones is a zaftig character, many actresses would kill to play it, and I would pay to see it without squinty, ungrateful vain skelton Zellwegger, who apparently doesn’t want the millions. Fine. Go away.

  32. cio says:

    um elanenergy… it’s unhealthy to gain and lose that much weight in a short period of time. It was unhealthy the first two times she did it. It’s bad for all of your organ systems, for example it’s hard on your heart (quite an important organ). It’s one thing to play a role, quite another to jeopardize your health. I think she should go with a fat suit. And I doubt this rumor is true. She obviously knows that the movies are endearing because they are about a woman who struggles with being overweight, like a lot of other women do on a regular basis.

  33. kelly says:

    they should get a new actress to play her, lets be honest… we never really liked her in that role

  34. RoXie says:

    This story is not true. Her reps made a comment to Gossip Cop and here it is http://www.gossipcop.com/renee-zellweger-weight-not-causing-bridget-jones-wait/ and it states … “So not true,” a rep for Zellweger tells Gossip Cop about the purported poundage impasse, adding, “Renee more than anyone would be true to the character” should a third film get made.

  35. artbitch says:

    Bridget is an indentifiable character with many women because she’s so certain that she’d look better if she loses weight, and has a skewed perspective of herself as being overweight when she’s probably nowhere near it. A (British) size 12 is not fat at all, and if she continues to hint it is then she’ll piss off a lot of healthy, sexy, size 12 women =/

  36. JM says:

    She should do the movie, if for no other reason than that she NEEDS to gain a little weight. She is unattractively thin!

  37. luckystarr says:

    I think Renee has a point, even though it sounds silly to pass on a role b/c of weight. But in Hollywood, men can be as large as they want, pack on pounds, and they get roles. They are scarce for women, and you’re competing with waifs. But on the other hand, Renee HAS this role and she shouldn’t lose it. She’s caught between a rock and a hard place. And she’s single and trying to keep her man. It’s tough.

  38. fizXgirl314 says:

    a lot of people gain and lose weight for free… she’s getting a few million for it… what’s the big deal?

  39. Luci says:

    renee looks better with the bridget jones weight

  40. baygirl says:

    I think she looks much better with some weight on her! She looks disgusting all skinny like that. She does not look healthy, but haggard and hungry! yuck – Eat a sandwich girl! Why not just gain back to a normal weight instead of disgustingly underweight. Besides her skinny-ness looks due to drugs (and probably overworking out), it does not look natural and its just sad that she thinks she looks better this way.

  41. Bearie says:

    Bridget Jones was never fat to begin with. 138 is not fat, and I thought she looked cute. Sorry, but people should stop worrying about this stuff!

  42. Thank you for the well-written content. I greatly valued your generosity and support you offer through the cost-free tips on your blog, specially the ones provided by this article. I know Alice would love to learn more of your blog post. I’ve sent your website url to her. We appreciate your thoughtfulness during this difficult time.