Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

Timing: 1:37 (97 min)

6.74/10
5454

7.442/10
410410

6.8/10
286000

All about film

Video 6

Photo 82

Actors and characters

Release date

2001-04-13

Country

France, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States

Production

Universal Pictures, StudioCanal, Miramax, Working Title Films, Little Bird

Genre

Comedy, Romance, Drama

Budget

$25 000 000

Revenue

$281 929 795

Website

Director

Sharon Maguire

Actors

Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, James Callis, Sally Phillips, Shirley Henderson, Embeth Davidtz, Lisa Barbuscia
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Jonathan Cavendish, Helen Fielding, Angela Morrison

Operator

Stuart Dryburgh

Composer

Patrick Doyle

Artist

Paul Inglis

Audition

Michelle Guish

Editing

Martin Walsh, Brian Donovan
All team (130)

• The film is based on Helen Fielding's novel "Bridget Jones's Diary" (1998).
• Renée Zellweger gained 25 pounds for the role of Bridget Jones.
• To prepare for the role, Renée Zellweger worked for a month at a British publishing company. Using a pseudonym and easily mimicking a posh accent, she was never recognized by anyone.
• Renée Zellweger preferred to smoke herbal cigarettes during filming rather than real tobacco cigarettes.
• The names of both lead actors, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant, are mentioned in the book that the film is based on. The first actor appears in the chapter "Tuesday, October 24th," and the second – in the chapter "Wednesday, August 16th." Colin Firth is also mentioned in the book's sequel, "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," as a guest star.
• Besides the film's strong resemblance to Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," many experienced filmmakers involved in the production had previously worked on adaptations of Austen’s novels. Andrew Davies wrote the screenplay for the miniseries "Pride and Prejudice" (1995), which starred Colin Firth and Crispin Bonham-Carter. Hugh Grant and Gemma Jones appeared in the film "Sense and Sensibility" (1995). And Embeth Davidtz can be seen in "Mansfield Park" (1999).
• While audiences eagerly wanted to see Hugh Grant play a role completely different from his usual persona, one of the film’s screenwriters, Helen Fielding, ironically characterized Grant in real life as being more like Daniel Cleaver than most of his “normal” characters.
• To make her “English” accent sound more natural, Renée Zellweger continuously practiced it even in her everyday life off-set. Hugh Grant once remarked that he heard her constantly speaking only with an “English” accent, up until the final wrap party, after filming was completed, when he heard her speaking in a “very strange voice.” He soon realized that this was her natural way of speaking.
• In Germany, the film was released under the title “Bridget Jones – Schokolade zum Fruhstuck,” which translates to “Bridget Jones – Chocolate for Breakfast.”
• Among the candidates for the main role were British film stars such as Kate Winslet and Helena Bonham Carter.
• The Weightwatchers corporation offered Renée $120,000 for every pound she gained for the film and lost using their diet.
• While writing the novel “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” Helen Fielding, when creating the image of Mark Darcy, based it on the description of Colin Firth in the role of Mr. Darcy from the mini-series “Pride and Prejudice” (1995). In addition to this, the film contains several more references to Jane Austen’s novel: Mark insulted Bridget in a conversation with his mother, not knowing that Bridget was overhearing everything; Mr. Darcy insulted Elizabeth in a conversation with his friend Mr. Bingley, and Elizabeth overheard it all. Daniel Cleaver misled Bridget about the reasons for his quarrel with Mark, accusing Mark of stealing his fiancée, when in reality it was the other way around. In “Pride and Prejudice,” this is a conflict between Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy, and in turn, Wickham accuses Darcy. But, in both stories, Darcy hides the truth and is in no hurry to dispel the heroine’s delusions until it is almost too late. Also, Bridget worked at the Pemberley publishing house; and Mr. Darcy from “Pride and Prejudice” lived in the Pemberley estate.
• When Bridget arrives at the supermarket to see her mother, the scene begins with her saying: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that as soon as things start to improve in your life, something else falls apart.” This is merely a paraphrase of the famous lines from Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice”: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife!”
• The film had several different endings, depending on the country of release. In the versions for the United Kingdom and Australia, there is a short addition after the credits – an “interview” about Bridget and Mark with Daniel Cleaver, Mark’s parents, and Bridget’s boss. In the American version – a short home video showing little Bridget and Mark running around the yard and near a paddling pool.
• Upon learning that Daniel was cheating on her, Bridget was at home watching television. While flipping through channels, she saw a movie playing. It was a scene from the film "Fatal Attraction" (1987).
• The film is based on Helen Fielding’s novel “Bridget Jones's Diary” (1998).
• For the role of Bridget Jones, Renée Zellweger gained 25 pounds.
• In preparation for the role, Renée Zellweger worked for one month at a British publishing company. Taking a pseudonym and easily imitating a luxurious accent, she was never recognized by anyone.
• Renée Zellweger preferred to smoke herbal cigarettes during filming rather than real tobacco cigarettes.
• The names of both leading actors, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant, are mentioned in the book that the film is based on. The first actor appears in the chapter 'Tuesday, October 24th', and the second in the chapter 'Wednesday, August 16th'. Colin Firth is also mentioned in the book's sequel, 'Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason', as a guest star.
• In addition to the film's close resemblance to Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice', many experienced filmmakers involved in the production had previously worked on adaptations of Austen's novels. Andrew Davies wrote the screenplay for the miniseries 'Pride and Prejudice' (1995), starring Colin Firth and Crispin Bonham-Carter. Hugh Grant and Gemma Jones appeared in 'Sense and Sensibility' (1995). And Embeth Davidtz can be seen in 'Mansfield Park' (1999).
• While audiences eagerly wanted to see Hugh Grant playing a role completely opposite his usual persona, one of the film's screenwriters, Helen Fielding, ironically characterized Grant in real life as being more like Daniel Cleaver than most of his 'normal' characters.
• To make her 'English' accent sound more natural, Renée Zellweger continued to 'use' it in her everyday life outside of the set. Hugh Grant once remarked that he constantly heard her speaking only with an 'English' accent, even up to the final wrap party after filming was completed, when he noticed she was speaking in a 'very strange voice'. He soon realized that it was her natural way of speaking.
• In Germany, the film was released under the title “Bridget Jones — Schokolade zum Fruhstuck,” which meant “Bridget Jones — Chocolate for Breakfast.”
• The Weightwatchers corporation offered Renée $120,000 for every pound she gained for the film and lost using their diet.
• When Bridget arrives at the supermarket to see her mother, the scene begins with her saying: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that when things in your life start to improve, something else falls apart.” This is simply a paraphrased line from Jane Austen’s novel *Pride and Prejudice*: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife!”
• The film had several different endings, depending on the country of release. In the UK and Australian versions, there’s a short addition after the credits—an “interview” about Bridget and Mark with Daniel Cleaver, Mark’s parents, and Bridget’s boss. In the American version, there's a short home video showing little Bridget and Mark running around the yard and near a paddling pool.
• After finding out that Daniel is cheating on her, Bridget was at home watching television. Flipping through the channels, she saw a film being shown. It was a scene from *Fatal Attraction* (1987).