Eating, drinking, smoking -- acting is tough

Zellweger gains insights, pounds as 'Bridget'

Renee Zellweger put on nearly 20 pounds for her role as Bridget Jones. "It was really important to me that the character physically reflect the lifestyle that she leads," she said

By Sherri Sylvester
CNN Showbiz Today Reports

HOLLYWOOD, California (CNN) -- Imagine a scenario in which a film's male stars starve themselves on salads, while its leading lady is tanking on the pounds.

Hollywood fiction, you say? That's what happened on the set of "Bridget Jones's Diary," a chronicle of one woman's struggle with alcohol, cigarettes, self-help books and a lousy love life.

In bringing Helen Fielding's bestseller to the big screen, filmmakers cast the usual British suspects -- Hugh Grant and Colin Firth as the men in Bridget's topsy-turvy life. But for the title role they chose Texas-born Renee Zellweger. The actress, who turns 32 later this month, gained an English accent and nearly 20 pounds for the role.

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In an interview with CNN's Sherri Sylvester, the actress said she worked hard to gain that weight, and, yes, she's proud of that celluloid cellulite.

CNN: About that weight. The guys were eating salads, and you got to have all the fun. How did you gain the weight?

Renee Zellweger: It was pretty boring, actually, and really regimented and mathematical. I went to a doctor and he said, "Here's what you're going to have to add in order to achieve this," and so that's what I did. It was really important to me that the character physically reflect the lifestyle that she leads. It was like changing the way she speaks -- I had to work every day with a dialect coach.

It was a process, that's all. But every now and then I would throw in an extra Kit-Kat bar for the good of the film.

CNN: About those rear-end shots. How close was the camera to your ...

Zellweger: "Butt-cam," we called it. They had what looks like a Chinese rickshaw, and the cameraman would sit on it -- seriously -- and they would pull him along while he got an ECU (extreme close-up) of my rear. I would run in front of the rickshaw constantly.

CNN: That's so anti-actress, so anti-woman to say, "Shoot my cellulite. Here it is, boys, come and get it."

Zellweger: Not for me. I was so excited about it. We went to the first wardrobe fitting, and I was elated. I'd say, "Can we make this a little tighter so it (the fat) scrunches up a bit?" It was an amazing challenge as an actress and creatively satisfying to completely be someone else.

CNN: You also worked undercover at a publishing house as part of your research. What did you learn from that experience?

Zellweger gained the weight for the role under a doctor's supervision, but she would occasionally "throw in an extra Kit-Kat bar for the good of the film"

Zellweger: Well, that experience was invaluable. It was really important in terms of understanding what this character's day was about, what her responsibilities were. I didn't want to just sit behind a desk and just play with things there. It also helped me become familiar with her cultural and social references, the daily lives of working women in England.

CNN: Did you have any Bridget-style experiences?

Zellweger: I had ongoing Bridget experiences. I practiced (working) with a cigarette, and I was working with one of my girlfriends. She was showing me how to hold it, and she didn't mention to me about the smoke in your eyes and how it burns your eyes. So I was walking around with them, I had them in my purse -- I got comfortable with them. But the only thing I didn't do off-camera was light the cigarettes.

Comes the day (when) we are shooting this party scene, and I have a cigarette hanging out of my mouth. Hugh Grant is in the middle of this really important speech, and he's doing a brilliant job, and I know I'm going to spoil it. I can't keep my eyes open for the cigarette smoke.

CNN: Have you ever kept a diary?

Zellweger: Yeah I do, but I'm very jealous of people who can keep them and stay true to them for years and years. I have friends who've had them from the time they're 10 years old. Mine have about 20 pages. Each time I start a new one, I write on the first page, understanding full well that this could be the first and last entry of this journal. I keep a different kind of book. I keep a "things I'm grateful for" book.

'Nurse Betty' -- sick in the Head
September 7, 2000

'Bridget Jones's Diary' - official site

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