Yahoo MoviesBridget Jones' Hugh Grant thought Renee Zellweger casting was "a stretch"
Bridget Jones' Diary star Hugh Grant has admitted that he wasn't entirely convinced by Renée Zellweger's casting when he first joined the movie adaptation of Helen Fielding's novel of the same name.
The actors shared the screen in the beloved romantic comedy back in 2001, before reuniting three years later for its sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.
Zellweger played the titular character, while Grant portrayed one of Bridget's love interests, charismatic commitment-phobe Daniel Cleaver.
"There was a whole scandal about why isn't this a British actress?" Grant recalls in new documentary Being Bridget Jones, which is available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.
"I didn't know Renée Zellweger, and a Texan playing a British character? It did seem like a stretch," he added before laughing about how her first attempt at an English accent, while "good," sounded like a member of the Royal family.
Related: Renée Zellweger answers if she'd do fourth Bridget Jones movie
"It was startling. She was told to kind of, well she thought she better loosen it up a bit. Then she came in and it was Princess Margaret having had a stroke, but a week later it was bang on."
Considering Zellweger went on to receive an Oscar nomination for her performance in the film, Hugh could say that again.
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