Renee Zellweger "makes friends every day" after playing Bridget Jones.
Renee Zellweger
The 51-year-old actress will always be known for her portrayal of author Helen Fielding's beloved character - who she played in three films but it's something she'll always be happy about.
She said: "I make friends every day because of Bridget. Someone comes up and says, ‘I learned this from Bridget’ or ‘She means so much to me’. What a gift.”
And Renee admitted she can still see a lot of herself in Bridget - even if sometimes she'd rather she didn't.
Speaking on upcoming TV special 'Being Bridget Jones', she said: “All the things that you would most like not to have in common with Bridget are the things that I find I relate to most closely.
“I’ve had moments when I feel like I’m sitting beside myself watching my Bridget alter ego just spiralling, circling the drain.”
The 'Judy star sympathises with the pressures played on women to always look good and to have a family of their own, and thinks Bridget's troubles in those areas struck a chord with many women.
She said: "Ridiculous things, like how much we weigh or what we look like in a dress or our hair or whether or not we’ve achieved this list of things that others value by the time we’re 30 or 40 or 50.
“She struggles with it and she tries and she fails, like all of us. What it boils down to in the end is self acceptance.
“I think it’s appreciating that being imperfect is what you’re supposed to be.”
And Renee thinks women feel more of a pressure to have children than men do.
She said: "It’s one of those things that makes us human, isn’t it? We hope to be loved and hope to love someone and share our lives in some capacity. For a lady, sadly, there’s this pressure and this sort of unspoken judgment.
“If you’re not cherished by someone, if a man doesn’t find you and treasure you, then your worth somehow comes into question. It’s just the reality of being a lady.”
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