Colin Firth in Bridget Jones's Diary Colin Firth in Bridget Jones's Diary
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FIRTH ACCENTUATES THE POSITIVE. Colin Firth has been defending the honour of his Bridget Jones's Diary co-star Renee Zellweger. Again. Richard Curtis's adaptation of Helen Fielding's novel is currently shooting in London, and Firth calls Zellweger "a gem to work with. She's generous, friendly, professional and sounds like she comes from North London." The Me, Myself And Irene star's accent has, of course, been the subject of much discussion, and Firth admits that Zellweger's pitch-perfect English accent is causing him some consternation. "I've never heard a peep of the [natural] Texan accent out of her yet," Firth says, "so I've got to know her as this person who comes from down the road. "And it's actually a little bit confusing sometimes," he adds, "cos there's a great incongruity when she tells you something about her childhood in Texas. She says something like 'Dad lassoing mustangs and taking me to the rodeo.' And you think, 'What, in Croydon?' " [Popcorn, June 2000] It remains to be seen how much Mr Darcy will be sent up in the character of Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones's Diary. Very much an actor, if an unusually clever and articulate one, Firth insists that,'I have to forget his origins and play him as a character in his own right.' The day after our meeting is the first day of filming:'It's a scene where I meet Bridget by the dustbins.' Lucky old Bridget. [The Evening Standard, June 9, 2000]Read the full article here. Pride and Prejudice actor Colin Firth shed two stone for his new film role so he could look better than rival Hugh Grant. Colin plays Mark Darcy in the film version of best-selling book Bridget Jones's Diary. In the movie he fights Hugh for the affections of Bridget, played by Jerry Maguire star Renée Zellwegger. A film source told me: "Colin obviously figured he needed to lose some weight to look more the part of the romantic lead. He looks fantastic and I'm sure he'll have all the ladies rooting for him in the film." Bridget author Helen Fielding has clearly been impressed by Colin's new look - I hear the two have a lunch date next week. Nothing too fattening now, Colin! Read more on Colin's work-out here. [The Sun, June 2000]
To say that Sally is self deprecating is an understatement. She seems hell-bent on running herself down, dismissing her comic talents as 'bad acting' and her looks as 'weird'. She is lumpen, boss eyed, unfit, lazy - by her account. It's very Bridget Jones, she agrees. /.../ Ninety per cent of her humour is by accident, not design, she insists. Take the time when she and Colin Firth (who plays Bridget's potential lover, Mark Darcy) got chatting. 'He said: "Shall we sit in your trailer? Do you have a table in there?" I didn't, because my trailer was really small. He had a huge trailer almost as big as Kansas and said: "Well, let's retire to mine." So we went and had this incredibly erudite - on his side - conversation about theatre. When I came out of his trailer I was flustered because I could see the other "friends" [from the film] peeping out from behind a tree, pointing and whispering. I said: "Thanks for having me in your trailer." I realized it was a double entendre, but it was too late because it was out of my mouth. Do you say: "Oh, I didn't mean that", or do you just sort of wink and sashay as if to say, "I'm the kind of girl who makes those kinds of comments"? So I did just that, really deceitfully.' /.../ Phillips' comments about Renée Zellweger, who plays Bridget, are also vintage Jones. Zellweger was 'winning'; so intelligent ('she would spout sociology and anthropology and current theories of evolution') but, 'most impressive of all', she hardly wore any make-up. 'I had it on with a trowel - I don't mean I went to bed with a trowel. She just had a bit of lip stain and still looked great at four in the morning. She'd put on so much weight for the role and looked just about my size.' [By Clare Garner, The Evening Standard, 30 Nov. 2000]
London was sweltering - but the script called for arctic conditions. So the team adapting bestseller Bridget Jones's Diary for the big screen shipped in tons of fake snow and transformed London's St Pancras into a winter wonderland. The fake chill provides a cool contrast to the two hot male stars. [TV Times, July 6, 2000] THAT'S SNOW BUSINESS AS SNOWHILL TURNS V. WHITE FOR BRIDGET JONES MOVIE So while residents of the village on the outskirts of Cheltenham bask in mid-summer temperatures and look forward to the beginning of Wimbledon fortnight, stars including Hugh Grant, Colin Firth and Rene Zellweger, who plays the title role, will be wrapped up against the "cold". Yesterday must have seemed extremely odd for churchgoers as they made their way to to the parish church of St Barnabas in the village centre. As they strolled, dressed in shirt sleeves and summer dresses, they could be forgiven for being a little confused to see the churchyard covered in artificial snow ready for filming which begins tomorrow. The movie features a year in the life of neurotic 30-something Bridget, as she keeps a diary of her obsessions over her weight and her love life. In her notes she even comments on her attempts to cut back on cigarettes and alcohol with phrases like v. good. Most of it is filmed in London, but location managers chose the picturesque Cotswold village as the setting for Bridget's parents' home--where she escapes the stresses and pace of London life for a Christmas break. And so to conjure up a traditional White Christmas scene, film-makers insisted that more than 12 tonnes of fake snow be dumped in the village to add authenticity. Specialist firm Snow Business, based in Nailsworth, Glos, made the fake flakes from cellulose, and spent three days creating the wintry scene. The "snow" was ferried to the valley in 350 blocks and 50 drums, and was spread over two acres of the set over the weekend. The rest of the Christmas scene will be created after location filming has finished using computer wizardry to make the set even more believable. /.../ The actors will spend tomorrow filming in the beautiful valley before Snow Business gather up every flake from the set and return the village to mid-summer. And the makers have made every effort to produce the right kind of snow. Yesterday Snow Business boss David Crownshaw said: "It is special English snow. It is made of cellulose to produce large, wet snowflakes, but very lightweight. "We only covered about two acres. The valley beyond will be done on the computer." It took three or four days to lay and it will take the same time to pick up again. "Some people enjoy it and some people find it inconvenient. There is always someone who moans." Bridget Jones's Diary is due to be released nnext year. The film will recount a year in the life of a woman publisher. During the year she gains 74lb, loses 72lb, smokes 5,000 cigarettes and has an affair she later regrets. All in all, it's simply blizzard. [The Express Monday, 26 June 2000]. Pic strip right shows Renée Zellweger and director Maguire on set. [Empire Online June 2000] BIG CHILL GREETS THE JONES'S This is not another quirk of the English climate - this is Hollywood doing the Cotswolds, and Bridget Jones has arrived. For three days the chocolate-box village of Snowshill in Gloucestershire has been the location for a winter shoot on the film version of the bestselling book, Bridget Jones's Diary.The buzz is considerable. The film is, after all, from the team that made Notting Hill, and the village is very excited. It will star Hugh Grant, and he was rumoured to be dropping in on Snowshill for the shoot.
The impact on the village, with a population of around 100, is considerable, and the effect on this quiet valley is surreal. The residents love it. "They went to 40 villages before they chose this one," said Pete Wilkes, an electrician whose home overlooks the steep slope of the churchyard. "Everyone I have spoken to is thrilled. Some of the locals have taken part as extras. This is the Cotswolds and you won't find anywhere better than this." This may be the biggest event in Snowshill since the only village shop closed 12 years ago, but it may be that the village's starring role turns out to be a blink-and-you'll-miss-it one. The film makers are shooting just three scenes. Stars have so far been conspicuous by their absence. Grant, who is expected in the village for shooting today, plays Daniel Cleaver, Bridget's boss, with whom she has an on-off passion. (To quote from her diary, "Yessssss! Daniel Cleaver wants my phone number. Am marvellous. Am Irresistible Sex Goddess. Hurrah!") Bridget is played by the Texan actress Renee Zellweger, best known for starring opposite Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire. But her part was being played yesterday by a stunt driver. Ms Zellweger's absence was not a great loss to everyone. There are still pockets of England, apparently, which resist the Bridget Jones phenomenon. "The Diary of Bridget who?" asks a middle-aged woman studying a sign on the church notice board warning that filming was taking place. However, Dolly Maude, 28, who lives with her husband Chris and their two children in a home overlooking Barnabas Church, said: "Chris is quite keen on what's-her-name, Renee, so he is quite excited." The village was snowed in last winter, so their children, 10-month-old Nell and Billy, three, were prepared for the fake version. "I don't know when anything this exciting last happened here," said Mrs Maude. The film, which also stars Colin Firth as the smouldering Darcy, is due to be released next February. It could do for Snowshill what Shakespeare did for Warwickshire. Imagine the signs as you enter Gloucestershire: Welcome to Bridget Jones Country. [This is London website, June 2000]
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Colin about the first day of filming:"Day 1: 12 stone (reportedly), no cigarettes, alcohol units 2, no arguments or hitches, filming going well (fingers crossed)"... [Daily Telegraph 4 May, 2000].
Jeffrey Archer mentions his cameo in the film : "Salman Rushdie and I appeared in a cocktail party scene for the upcoming Bridget Jones movie. It took two days and I didn't speak. I now really want a speaking part. I enjoy acting intensely. And I concentrate on it fully. I am literally not thinking about anything else at the moment." [
FILMING LOCATIONS
All day yesterday and the day before a small army was busily transforming the village. Sheets of fake snow were laid around the churchyard and a giant snow machine blasted authentic-looking flakes on to rooftops and trees. Festive wreaths, tinsel and baubles were hung on doors and windows of many of the cottages. Some homes even have plastic Father Christmas statues in their gardens. Meanwhile, tourists and locals wander around in shorts and shirt sleeves.