You weren’t 'valuable as a woman’ if you weren’t ‘partnered up’, says Renée Zellweger as she reflects on changing attitudes

Renée Zellweger met with Hugh Grant and opened up about women, society, and the enduring power of Bridget Jones.

Spanning 24 years, the Bridget Jones franchise never gets old, but it does evolve - which is a good thing, considering the pretty sizeable gaps between the movie instalments. After Bridget Jones's Baby released in 2016, that seemed the perfect place to end Bridget's story, despite how much we love her. Our heroine had finally married her Mr Darcy and had a baby (with a little drama thrown in over who'd fathered the child), and that was the neatly wrapped-up-with-a-bow ending Bridget deserved.

However, author Helen Fielding had other ideas, and with the next chapter of Bridget's life in her 50s already written, of course Bridget Jones 4 was going to be on the cards - however upsetting the storyline might be for those who'd waited the best part of two decades to see Bridget's happily ever after play out. Now widowed after the death of her Mark Darcy, Bridget is left navigating grief and life as a single mum in the latest film, set for release on Valentines Day this year.

Reuniting once again after the original Bridget Jones movie released in 2001, Renée Zellweger and Hugh Grant met to chat all things Bridget, in a conversation for British Vogue. A lot of discussion has been given to the original film in recent years, when cancel culture slammed it for themes of body shaming, fat shaming, and now-outdated expectations placed on women.

Renée points out how fantastic it is that the culture to push women towards marriage and children has changed, offering some refreshing insights into Bridget's character, and just how enduring she remains despite some of the controversies surrounding her.

"I love her. And her story is not finished," Renée says of Bridget's return, adding, "As long as Helen [Fielding] puts pen to paper, she’s alive." Enthusing about the joys of the character, Renée continues, "I think maybe folks recognise themselves in her and relate to her struggles and feelings of self-doubt. Bridget is authentically herself and doesn’t always get it right, but whatever her imperfections, she remains joyful and optimistic, carries on and triumphs in her own way."

Tapping into just how special Bridget is that women identify with her decades after she first appeared, the actress had the words to succinctly sum up just how women feel about her.

"She seems to make her quirky individuality and shortcomings charming, lovable and acceptable – and, in turn, she makes us feel lovable and acceptable too. And she celebrates originality, which I think is pretty special too, especially now everybody conforms because they want to be the thing that gets the most approval," she says.

During the interview, Hugh brings up a lot of the earlier themes covered in the films, now vilified by some parts of society. Asking how Renée feels about the concept of ticking body clocks and the pressure to settle down, the actress responds, "Well, our mothers definitely had that imposed upon them in a much more regimented and socially reinforced way. These were prejudices you couldn’t escape."

Delving into this a little more, she continues, "You were not valuable as a woman if you were not partnered up and beginning your own family by a certain age. But I don’t think that women my age are imposing that on their daughters."

The star also beautifully reflected on how body and beauty standards have changed over the last 25 years, gradually moving away from equating thinness with perfection. "I remember I went to a New Year’s Eve party at a supermodel friend’s house. She’s a mom now. She’s stunning. The six-foot-tall, lanky, long hair, just zenith prototype beauty standard for my generation. And there was a little girl with me there, and she was probably about 11 at the time, and she was so floored at how beautiful this woman was," she remembers.

Renée concludes, "And she said to me, 'Oh, my gosh. You don’t have to have big boobs and a big round behind to be gorgeous.' And I thought, 'Oh, that’s interesting.' Because her idea of the beauty standard was the complete opposite to what had been sort of imposed on my generation. So this strikingly beautiful woman for her was the exception."