I don't know if any one else check with "Click TV" on the internet, but when I searched for "Breakfast with the Arts", it did not list Colin as on of the guests. It just mentioned that they were to have a orchestra playing on their show. Did anyone else notice this on their website? On a side note... Last night was just one of those nights were you are sleeping in bed and you suddenly come up with an idea... I know everyone was wondering if they ever did make a second BJ movie, how would they incorporate the whole Bridget interviewing Colin Firth scene. But, I was thinking, couldn't they make Bridget practice her interview on Mark Darcy (which would allow Colin Firth not only to say the same things he did in the interview in the book), but he could even poke fun at himself. Then, they could make it wear the "real" Colin Firth will not be able to have the interview with Bridget, thus solving the casting problem for a Bridget-Colin Firth interview! As you can tell, I spend waaayyy to much time thinking about fictional events - but, hey...aren't they more fun than what's happening in the real world ;)

Ela, I don't think most BWTA's listings ever show the interviews. In this case, the orchestral component is, for most people, the main part of the show. There can be two interviews, an Artist of the Week and something else. As far what would happen in a sequel, there's no reason Colin couldn't play himself. He would really look different in his Oxfam clothes, black trainers with white laces, and anorak--things Mark Darcy would never be caught dead in. Besides the entire sequel could take place in LA if it comes to pass... Of course, there's no reason to have any Daniel Cleaver in that one.

Monday, April 2 Bridget Jones's Diary World Premiere Ziegfeld Theater 141 W. 54th Street (54th between 6th and 7th Aves.) New York 212-765-7601 (Eileen)**Very old ladies alert! Very old ladies alert!** ;-D In a nod to our Oscar fashion discussion, let's call ourselves "vintage.";-) (Karen) No real emphasis on the two guys: one right, one wrong. Maybe they thought that would make it too close to the commershills for Someone Like You (which is getting some pretty mediocre reviews, heh, heh, heh;-)

(Mari) Maybe they thought that would make it too close to the commershills for Someone Like You No, that would require Colin to strip to the waist and show us those abs, as Hugh Jackman does. One can only dream... ;-D Way too much Hughie in the commercials...beginning to end.

(Karen) Have just seen my first TV commercial for BJD. Saw my first one last night too - was V.V. excited. :-) Missed the beginning though. Thought i heard RZ's voice and came running in from the kitchen and caught the butt pat. Wish i would have seent he wedding fantasy. Was it to Mark or Daniel?

Speaking of which, from Ananova: Dina Carroll to release new single, Someone Like You Dina Carroll releases her new single Someone Like You on May 21. The track is featured in the forthcoming film Bridget Jones's Diary. It is also included on the soundtrack album to the movie, which is available from April 16. Dina's version of the classic Van Morrison song - which appeared on his 1987 album, Poetic Champions Compose - is one of two new tracks to be featured on her first greatest hits collection, The Very Best Of Dina Carroll, released on June 11. The other new track, which is so far untitled and which features a mystery guest star, is currently being recorded and is scheduled for a single release on July 30.

I can't believe this just happened. I was talking to a friend I don't see very often, and out of nowhere he says: "I went to the cast&crew screening of Bridget Jones' Diary the other week." What??? Turns out he's Sharon Maguire's accountant. And has nothing useful to pass on, except: "It's very good actually, more of a girlie's film of course..." So still no premiere tickets burning a hole in my pocket.

(Mari) Maybe they thought that would make it too close to the commershills for Someone Like You (which is getting some pretty mediocre reviews, heh, heh, heh;-) Waddaya expect, given the great 'acting' *cough* 'talent' of Ms. Judd? ;-) Very old ladies alert!** ;-D (Mari) ...let's call ourselves "vintage." ;-) Gaah! I'll call myself neither. All those CF fans without grandchildren, raise your hands! *waving mine* (SB) Saw my first one last night too Were you watching Ally also? If not, what were you watching? And how the he** have you been? ;-D

Colin on Today show - Tuesday, 10 7:00 AM Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick perform a song from Broadway's �The Producers.� Also: Jane Seymour; Colin Firth; cooking �lite.�

Donna, what was the date? April 10th? And what is your source? :-)

Fantastic, Donna! Am all for more wild goose chases. Eileen, it shows up *again* on ClickTV as well now. *also raising hand*

Could be the Today Show was amazed by the all calls asking for Colin after his nonappearance last week.

Maybe they thought that would make it too close to the commershills for Someone Like You (which is getting some pretty mediocre reviews, heh, heh, heh;-) But a lot of press. On everyday on morning TV "Romantic Comedy of the Year"... Could be the Today Show was amazed by the all calls asking for Colin after his nonappearance last week. They know him *now*.No longer do they say: "Who"?

oooh, and on my birthday, no less.. Maybe he'll be in NYC the weekend I'm there... (Staying at the Plaza or Four Seasons???) think I can talk him back to brooklyn???? ;) I, too, saw the BJD commercial during Buffy (whilst folding laundry, Rebecca's response was priceless.... "oh dear, here we go again..." ;)) Actually, she thought it looked funny and laughed out loud when BJ answers phone and it's her father...;)

(raising hand) Just marked April 10 on the calendar. Not sure I can wait....

(Karen) Am all for more wild goose chases. Yes, so am I. I'll be more optimistic when I see it on the Today Show site (even then, it's still not a given until you hear it straight from Matt or Katie).

Quite true. Those other sources are *NEVER* right. :-)

Hey, Eileen, I'm raising my hand too! Have only a couple of years on that whippersnapper Firth. And what a cheeky fellow he is; needs some discipline, IMO.;-) ;-) Could be the Today Show was amazed by the all calls asking for Colin after his nonappearance last week. Maybe Elliott Forrest told him about his pushy fans; God bless us, every one.;-)They *did* say within the next 2 weeks. Super news, Donna, thanks! Evelyn, you're right about Someone Like You getting tons of press. Judd, Jackman, and Kinnear are all out there blitzing the talk shows. I've never seen Ashley in anything, to tell you the truth, but I thought she came off very well in her interview on Today, er, today. Articulate, nice. I still hope her film sucks.;-)

Great review in the May Empire. Many thanks to Martine for bringing it to us! Bridget Jones's Diary The cinematic adaptation of Helen Fielding's chick lit classic was an endeavour fraught with pitfall: the first person narration was never going to be an easy crossover to movies; the potential to alienate the male cinema-goer was massive; and the selection of Texan Zellweger to play Britain's favourite neurotic raised further suspicions. However, what first-time director Maguire, the writers and the perfectly-pitched cast have created is another great British rom-com that manages to be even funnier and more romantic than Notting Hill. The film's success is thanks in no small part to the three leads. Grant, as the deliciously dastardly Daniel, has never been better - far sexier as a posh cad and bounder than the usually foppish sweetie. Devilish and charming in equal measure - and with a dash of the Rupert Everetts about him - it's easy to see why Bridge can't resist his sleazy charms. Firth, meanwhile, is less of a showman, but appropriately revisits the haughty yet smouldering Mr. Darcy of the BBC's Pride and Prejudice, the subject of so much girlie lusting in the original diary; as aloof barrister Mark Darcy, he's six-foot of repressed passion just waiting to be unleashed. Zellweger, meanwhile, who rarely lets the accent slip, more than answers her critics, lurching from one disaster to the next, but still managing to balance her endearing daffiness with an irresistible sauciness - no wonder Daniel and Mark are fighting to get into her control-top knickers. Admittedly there are moments when her more embarrassing gaffes make you cringe, yet her character is in a sense the victim of her own success; it's easy to forget that, as much as she is an icon of modern womanhood, she is also a satirical, albeit deeply affectionate, take on that same creature. Large tracts of the diary - and no doubt many readers' 'best bits' - have, by necessity, been omitted. Moreover, Bridget's wonderful "urban family", Tom (James Callis), Jude (Shirley Henderson) and Shazzer, are greatly underused, and a sub-plot featuring Bridget's parents' troubled marriage seems truncated. But these are minor quibbles, and with at least one laugh-out loud moment every five minutes, several stand-out scenes (Geoffrey and Una's tarts'n'vicars party and Daniel's boating accident, to name but two), a swooningly romantic denouement and the sort of top-class support that you only seem to get in British comedies, what you have is an above-average chick-flick that even blokes will tolerate (cf. Ren�e's bunny outfit). V.g., as Bridget might say. Liz Beardsworth ANY GOOD? Resoundingly yes. Sometimes uneven, and a tad short, this is nevertheless one of the most genuinely funny romances for some time. With Grant, Firth and Zellweger on sparkling form, this will be the next big Brit hit. * * * * (very good) -------------------------------------------------------------------

Great review. Funny that Catherine's co-worker didn't make a big deal about the accent. he's six-foot of repressed passion just waiting to be unleashed Ooooooowwww must stand back and take this in. *eyes agog* BTW, have done more TV searching and the TV Guide site shows RZ on the Rosie Show on April 10th as well. She's also appearing on an early morning TV show here in Chicago on the 11th, as she wings her way west.

Question: I haven't been putting in the time/network for Rosie, as we have her on a different time (largely due to Oprah). Is she mainly on at 9 a.m. everywhere (except here) and on NBC or is she syndicated?

Rosie was on at 10 a.m. (could swear it was ABC, between Regis and The View) in NY and is on at 3 p.m on NBC in the DC area. She must be sydicated.

You have a chance to meet up with CF! There's a competition in this week's Heat magazine. Ring 020 7290 2799 with the names of BJ's three friends before this Friday 12noon, and you could win a night in a London hotel and a visit to a Health club (for a makeover), and then a trip to the Premiere and (the best bit!) on to a West End party with cast and crew. Heat says (of movie) "Don't miss, it's brilliant" It's being v. well marketed over here, but we don't have many (any?) big British films. "Someone like you" sounds like opposition in the US. Hope they start blitzing BJD soon but I guess that will be just before it opens.

RZ on the Rosie Show on April10th as well. She's also appearing on an early morning TV show here in Chicago on the 11th, as she wings her way west. They're extracting the juice out of poor Renee.She's earning her mils$$$. (Bethan)It's being v. well marketed over here, How? Mag contests? Talk shows do it in the US...morning, aft and night. Renee seems to be hitting them all.Way to go!

Oh my, the situation is even more bizarre. I get The View on ABC at (10) against Men are From Mars, etc. I tried looking for Regis (cause it's not listed any in the morning or afternoon here) and it's on at 1:13 a.m. I get Rosie at 3 as well. Looks like I'd better put a few more "check local listings" out there. And if anybody shows up on Regis, I can definitely tape it since there such a delay here.

Run to the official website and check out the latest. Click on the words under Renee: "Click here for an inside look at my life." Then wait for it to load, and click on Mark's face. LOL! Sooo cute. And another turteneck sweater pic! Yummmmm . . . http://entertainment.msn.com/bridget/

Well here in Boston we get Rosie at 4pm on CBS station, and in Rhode Island, she's on at 5pm on ABC. She's against Oprah in the Boston market.

*raises hand* Wow. Between the comment about "...6 foot of repressed passion just waiting to be unleashed..." and the lovely, lovely, lovely picture of him in the turtleneck, I may have to ask building management to turn on the A/C for me. What a delightful treat to stumble across during my lunch break. The drawing on the picture (at the BJD site) was very Wessex-like, however, leading me to once again bust out laughing at the office. *continues to fan self*

Wow! Has anyone seen that new turtleneck picture without the doodles on it? That is the BEST photo I've seen of Colin--worthy of replacing Mr. Darcy as my computer wallpaper. I clicked on downloads, but that wasn't one of the choices. Meanwhile, will spend all day v. distracted thinking about "6 foot of repressed passion waiting to be unleashed"

Beep, beep, beep. Firthometer off the scale, nurse! Five grammes of Diazepam, NOW. .....join as next week as mass Firthsteria epidemic breaks loose.

Oh, doctor, not even Firthodan can help now! MORE GOODIES below--extensive clips from the "Dueling Pistols" and "Blue Soup" scenes! WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! CODE BLUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! http://www.msn.co.uk/page/11-612.asp

LOL, Mari! Thanks for all the info. Devilish and charming in equal measure - and with a dash of the Rupert Everetts about him - it's easy to see why Bridge can't resist his sleazy charms. Oh no, please keep Rupi out of this. ;-) **raises hands** Plus takes it a step further: Younger than Firth. :-)

(Mari) MORE GOODIES Thanks for posting these links. Am ROTFLMAO! Unfortunately, the ideal speed for my modem is somewhere between slow and fast, but I won't quibble. Love the happy birthday fight scene. Is hilarious. (Jen) was very Wessex-like My thoughts exactly. How'd everyone like Hugh with his horns? Harhar. :-D

Thanks for all the finds, Mari and everybody.

(Eileen) BWTA enthusiasts: what time are the interviews usually aired? Last time, his interview began 25 minutes into the program. Therefore a good idea to follow Evelyn's advice: (Evelyn) But I'd tune in at 9 AM and read the papers just in case. ~~~~~~ (Karen) As far what would happen in a sequel, there's no reason Colin couldn't play himself. /.../Besides the entire sequel could take place in LA if it comes to pass... Of course, there's no reason to have any Daniel Cleaver in that one. Oh yes there is. Mark Darcy's gotta come bounding downstairs in only a towel fresh from the bath so as to punch Daniel in the nose. No Daniel, no punch ... (and no bath and no bound and no towel ... *darn!*) ~~~~~ (Eileen)Unfortunately, the ideal speed for my modem is somewhere between slow and fast, but I won't quibble. Love the happy birthday fight scene. Is hilarious. Unfortunately, because I'm working out of public machines, the prerequisite to download various bits of software before viewing means that I don't view ... (**sob!**) KJ

(Mari) And another turteneck sweater pic! Yummmmm . . . Since I didn't get to view that one either (same objection), Thank you, Renate for posting it and treating me to the picture nonetheless.     (IMHO, a bit too much neck on that turtle, however. I prefer Colin's to turtles' ;-D) KJ

Glad to see the promo pix are improving ;-)~~~~~ Thanks for all the wonderful goodies! My modem is sadly pants and so cannot see any lovely clips but sounds v.good - especially MD's lovely Happy Birthday rendition. (I forsee a plethora of wav files accompanying forthcoming birthday celebrations ;-o)

Mark Darcy's gotta come bounding downstairs in only a towel fresh from the bath so as to punch Daniel in the nose. No Daniel, no punch ... (and no bath and no bound and no towel ...*darn!*) In TEOR, there was the towel scene at Rebecca's country house weekend. So, IMO there is still no need to DC and we'd all be happy. (Eileen) How'd everyone like Hugh with his horns? Harhar. :-D I was more amused by the addition of hair on his hairless chest. ;-D Loved the new stuff at MSN site and how copied off both pics (full length, more chest, and more Wessex-like) for those without benefit of Flash software. Plus have a few images off trailer. Make sure Crash Cart is nearby. There's another of BJ and DC in bed too. It's on the Screening Room page.

For those having difficulty with the new clips, what's worked for me (and is v.v. technical, similar to kicking the sides of televisions when picture ran) is to close down the Windows Media player and keep reopening it. You get new connections to the server that way. On about the fifth try, it worked fine. Don't just stop it and hit play. Close it and reopen from the link.

Lovely to come home and find all this here! Karen, tried your excellent technical advice, to no avail. Must try bigger hammer! Sounds lovely, though. v. funny too: bugger, bugger (blue soup-not sure of UK spelling of bugger) Excellent additions to official site. Do y'all suppose they put up the new turtleneck pic in large "wallpaper" size? Mmmmm....

Oh nooooooooooooooooo!!!! Have seen another commercial. Colin's been cut completely out of it. Would appear the film is all about RZ and HG and no one else. Had a little teaser of the two in bed (toes intertwined, a little moaning), but they're actually watching cricket.

(me) Saw my first one last night too (Eileen) Were you watching Ally also? If not, what were you watching? And how the he** have you been? ;-D Was watching Dirty Dancing, and I've been just lovely - Thanks :-) *waving hand*

There are lots more BJD clips stored on that site. Here are the good ones, featuring Colin: (I'll give the slow connection speed here) I like you just the way you are: http://www.virtuetv.com/clients/msn/bridget_clip4_34.asx T&V party and boating: http://www.virtuetv.com/clients/msn/bridget_clip1_34.asx Blue soup (woo woo highly recommended 5 stars): http://www.virtuetv.com/clients/msn/bridget_clip9_34.asx Others (non-Colin) Here's the one that supposed to make you sympathetic to DC: http://www.virtuetv.com/clients/msn/bridget_clip10_34.asx I have a boyfriend: http://www.virtuetv.com/clients/msn/bridget_clip5_34.asx Resolutions: http://www.virtuetv.com/clients/msn/bridget_clip3_34.asx Choices: http://www.virtuetv.com/clients/msn/bridget_clip2_34.asx T&V party entrance: http://www.virtuetv.com/clients/msn/bridget_clip8_34.asx Discussion in bed: http://www.virtuetv.com/clients/msn/bridget_clip11_34.asx

Thanks, Karen! You're doing a great job. Have a great time in NYC with Evelyn, AnnW, Donna, etc. and give our regards to JE. And a big kiss to ODB when you see him at the BJD premiere! I will be in LA and look forward to reading all about it on my return. :-D

From Elliott Forrest's weekly update; I think we can take this one to the bank!:-) Breakfast with the Arts on A&E Sunday, April 1, 9:00 AM-11: 00 AM Eastern and Pacific (Check local listings.) Herbert Von Karajan: Famous Overtures Recorded at the Berlin Philharmonic in 1985 and 1986, the program features performances of Beethoven's "Fidelio", "Egmont", and "Leonore" overtures, as well as Brahms' "Tragic" overture. Rating - TV G Arts & Entertainment News: Legendary dancer choreographer, Merce Cunningham, talks about his last season. Celebrity Interview: Actor Colin Firth on BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY and yes, Pride and Prejudice. The A&E Artist of the Week: Deborah Voigt once again joins us to sing in our studio and talk about her life and career. Open Book: "RSVP" by Nan Kempner and "The Elusive Embrace" by Daniel Mendelsohn Elliott Forrest BWTA on A&E www.aande.com/breakfast elliott@aetv.com

Wot? Nobody saw ET last night? More promo for BJD featuring familiar trailer clips and more of Julie Moran's interview with Chesthairless Hughie. Was resigned to no mention of ODB when *ta-da* Julie's voiceover says (did not tape, am going from inaccurate memory) 'Hugh vies for Renee's affection with actor Colin Firth'. Cue quick clips of MD at T&V party and giving BJ that sidelong Mr. Darcy-at-Meryton-assembly gaze (both from trailer). Back to Julie live where she elaborates her discussion with HG about his weight loss and work with a trainer, saying 'both Hugh and Colin had to lose weight for their roles while Renee had to gain. Hugh told me that he would fight Colin for lettuce leaves at lunchtime while they watched Renee pile in the food.' Was thrilled to hear CF's inclusion--helped me curb my disappointment when I saw the CF-less commercial later that night. They're making the movie look like the HG-RZ show. Grr. Hopefully we'll see revised commercials after the movie opens, to include scenes with 'actor Colin Firth'. ;-) Thanks for the BWTA confirmation info, Mari. Am on pins and needles to see how much head scratching and nose pulling there will be! ;-D

BIG WONDERFUL HAPPY NEWS!!! Colin and Livia have just had a little boy and have named him Luca.

...wonder why they didn't name him 'Darcy'? ;-D For details (and there aren't many), go to the CF topic!

Karen-Thanks so much for putting all the links to the clips on The Bucket. I looked all over for the fast speed, but now you have it. Why do they work so much better from your link, than from the "source" as it were? Never mind, probably too technical for me. Just so happy to see all of them. Better and better...Am trying hard not to get too excited--but dare I say it? This looks like a darn good movie, even if I weren't mildly obsessed with one of the stars. ;-)

Great for Colin and the cast, not so hot for the film. Thanks to Rai: Daily Variety March 30, 2001 HEADLINE: Bridget Jones's Diary BYLINE: LAEL LOEWENSTEIN As the Bible of thirtysomething single women everywhere, "Bridget Jones's Diary" is one of the most eagerly anticipated book-to-screen adaptations in recent memory. Informed by author Helen Fielding's droll observations of a year in the life of her weight-obsessed, love-starved heroine, the novel hit a bull's-eye with women on both sides of the Atlantic. As a film, however, item misses its mark, failing to capitalize on the staccato rhythms and sardonic wit of Bridget's inner life. That said, pic's pre-sell value is solid enough to suggest initially healthy B.O. that could continue to generate decent returns, even as it will inevitably disappoint some of the book's devotees. Introduced in a series of columns in the U.K.'s Independent, Fielding's lovably imperfect Bridget, with her incessant calorie counting, cigarette smoking and wine-swilling, inflected the British vernacular with a personal lexicon that divided her community into "Singletons" and "Smug-marrieds." Little surprise, then, that the unlikely casting of American thesp Renee Zellweger over British actresses caused a row not seen since Tom Cruise donned fangs to play the vampire Lestat. The good news is that Zellweger delivers as Bridget, and her fellow actors, including Hugh Grant and Colin Firth as the men she must choose between, are exceptionally well cast. The bad news is that despite being edited down to a bare-bones 90-odd minutes, forcing the elimination of key characters and scenes and the underdevelopment of others, pic manages to feel, paradoxically, as dramatically flabby as the 10 pounds Bridget cannot seem to shed. Things start off promisingly, with Bridget alone in her flat comically crooning along with the radio. Awash in red flannel pajamas and wine-induced haze, cheerfully oblivious and singing "All by Myself," Zellweger breathes full-bodied life into Bridget. Opening title sequence is the movie's best bit. Soon she's off to a holiday turkey-curry buffet where, for the umpteenth time, family friends barrage her with questions about her love life. Though her irrepressible mum (Gemma Jones) is scheming to fix her up with a childhood friend, party guest and top barrister Mark Darcy (Firth), Bridget, who suffers from foot-in-mouth disease, botches the encounter. Needless to say, it is not a love connection. It's not that Mark Darcy is so awful; it's just that he's a sartorially challenged snob who loftily dismisses Bridget's attempt to make conversation. She much prefers mooning over Daniel Cleaver (Grant), her cad of a boss who has finally begun to take notice of her Ally McBeal-length skirts. After a blissful and sex-filled courtship with Daniel, Bridget makes an unfortunate discovery that ends their romance. Not to worry, suggest her Singleton best friends Shazza (Sally Phillips), Jude (Shirley Henderson) and Tom (James Callis): There's life beyond Daniel. Surprisingly, there's been interest from Mark Darcy, who's apologized for his earlier behavior. In a thoroughly overstaged sequence that transpires at Bridget's 32nd birthday party, there's a showdown between Mark and Daniel leaving Bridget in a "Pride and Prejudice"-type dilemma of choosing between two men. Above sequence, which is not in the book, has the effect of visually underscoring the conflict and further delineating Mark's and Daniel's own bitter history, but it reduces her friends to a simpering chorus. Other sequences memorable from the book are re-created with mixed success, including Bridget's arrival at a "Tarts and Vicars" party in full Playboy bunny regalia, mortified to discover the party theme had been changed, and an infamous scene that finds Bridget trying to scurry up a fire pole. Zellweger is a tireless sport about all of this. And despite the initial furor over her casting, her best roles (in "Jerry Maguire" and "Nurse Betty") have indicated a sweetness, vulnerability and comic timing that make her perfect for Bridget. Gaining some 20 pounds, the actress has transformed herself into a lumpy, fleshy everywoman. Sadly, Stuart Dryburgh's lensing and Rachael Fleming's costumes go a bit too far in making her look unattractive. As to her accent, Brits may complain about its authenticity, but Americans will be thoroughly convinced. Grant and Firth are impeccable. Firth, whose performance as Mr. Darcy in the BBC's "Pride and Prejudice" was the model for Fielding's Mark Darcy, brings unexpected depth to his role, while Grant, for once, thankfully gets to play against type. And perhaps it's no small coincidence that both actors are mentioned in the book. Documentary director Sharon Maguire, the real-life model for Fielding's Shazza, has shown an uncertain hand in her first feature. Script by Fielding, Richard Curtis ("Notting Hill" scribe) and BBC "Pride and Prejudice" writer Andrew Davies could have benefited from using elements of the book's diary structure, a framework it first adopts then jettisons inexplicably. Pic also seems to suffer in some scenes from a lack of color correction.

Heads up! It looks like Entertainment Weekly has sent out the free screening passes!! I received one in the mail yesterday, and am all giddy with delight--Thursday, 7:30 pm, at one of the more "posh" (so they say!) theaters in Wash, DC. Hopefully, everyone who registered on line will receive theirs soon! I am v. v. excited!!

Ahh, here's a good one! Hollywood Reporter Bridget Jones's Diary By Mark Adams LONDON --"Bridget Jones's Diary" is a film full of wit, warmth and honest, knowing humor, topped off with a plethora of excellent performances. This Bridget Jones has the style to win over U.K. audiences and almost certainly the charm to wow the American boxoffice. Renee Zellweger was the subject of much media scrutiny (in the United Kingdom, especially) when cast as Bridget -- a single thirtysomething Brit in a postfeminist world looking for love while trying to mind her alcohol intake, watch her weight and cut down on the smoking. How could this young American possibly play a beloved English character? It is called acting, and she gives a splendid, often heartwarming performance. "Bridget Jones's Diary," begun in 1995 as a British newspaper column by Helen Fielding, was turned into a best-selling novel a year later. The story of Bridget, her hopeless love life, her alcoholic binges and her inept attempts to develop poise struck a chord, and the film adaptation, nicely directed by newcomer Sharon Maguire, an acclaimed documentary maker, manages to blend subtle charm with almost slapstick moments. Bridget has simple ambitions: to lose weight and find true love. The film opens as this London-based publicist for a successful publisher visits her parents at their countryside home for their annual Christmas party. They try to set her up with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), the visiting son of their neighbors. She is initially impressed, but when he snubs her, she returns to London realizing she is destined to remain a "singleton" and vows to keep a diary and find herself a "nice, sensible boyfriend." The trouble is that Bridget instead falls for her boss, the dashing, sexy Daniel Cleaver (played with twinkling, sly charm by Hugh Grant), who to her surprise starts sending her flirtatious e-mails. Over dinner one night, Daniel reveals that he and Mark attended college together and that Mark had an affair with his fiancee. Bridget and Daniel start an affair, but Bridget's euphoria is dampened somewhat when her mother announces that she is leaving her father for a presenter on the Home Shopping Channel. When Bridget catches Daniel with an American colleague, she again vows to take control of her life. She starts a new career as a presenter on a TV current-affairs program. Then, at a dinner party, she bumps into Mark, who surprises her when he tells her that he likes her -- and likes her just as she is. She is even more surprised when he turns up at her flat to help prepare a birthday meal for her friends. Unfortunately, Daniel also turns up at the flat to lure Bridget back, but Mark challenges him to a fist fight. In a wonderful scene, the two engage in a hilariously clumsy tussle, which even sees them stumbling into a Turkish restaurant. Zellweger is excellent as Bridget. Never once does she let her accent slip, and she displays a great capacity for physical comedy. She put on weight for the role and easily slips into the endearingly inept character of Bridget, bringing to the role a real sense of sweetness and vulnerability. Grant and Firth look slim, trim and attractive. Grant especially seems to relish the chance to play a bit of a bounder, marking a real contrast to his more endearing roles in "Notting Hill" and "Four Weddings and a Funeral," while Firth slowly allows the tenderness and depth of his character to be revealed. The script credit is shared by three writers -- Fielding, Andrew Davies (who scripted the television adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice") and Richard Curtis ("Notting Hill") -- yet appears seamless. It's full of wonderful jokes and moves along at an easy pace. The great thing about Bridget is that she is a terribly honest character who wears her heart on her sleeve. She lives in a real world (unlike her American counterparts in "Sex and the City") and struggles through as best she can. Production designer Gemma Jackson does a great job of presenting a vision of London that is tinged with romance, and excellent use of locations helps present a charming view of the city.

(Daily Variety) even as it will inevitably disappoint some of the book's devotees. Sounds like the author is one of the book's devotees. Firth, whose performance as Mr. Darcy in the BBC's "Pride and Prejudice" was the model for Fielding's Mark Darcy, brings unexpected depth to his role Lael has redeemed himself (herself?). And perhaps it's no small coincidence that both actors are mentioned in the book. *snort* Harhar! Firth is put on pedestal while Grant is mentioned in Devine context. Much prefer HR's review. Hurrah! Here's to many more like it! *clink*

Third kudo in a row today for CF! From Fox News (thanks, Chris): Bridget Jones's Diary follows Memento into theaters next week, and it's the second terrific release of 2001. Already this year is shaping up as 100 percent better than the last. Bridget features three outstanding performances by Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. For Renee, who almost hit it big last year with Nurse Betty, Bridget should put her over the top � and then some. Zellweger gives both Gwyneth Paltrow and Meryl Streep a run for their money with her convincing English accent. For Miramax, which had a blah year in 2000, Bridget should be the start of a comeback that will include Gangs of New York, Four Feathers, The Shipping News, and Pinocchio.

From the Daily Express THE BJ DILEMMA - Would you go for HG or CF? (Am missing out Hughie bits!!) Thumbs up for Colin..by Virginia Blackburn "Oh my word, I'm quivering. It's nearly 24 hours since I saw Colin Firth, aka Mark Darcy, smouldering his way through BJD and I still haven't calmed down. I haven't been so moved by any screen presence since - well, since I watched CF aka Mr Darcy smouldering his way through P&P. Colin Firth and Mark Darcy, you are a welcome return indeed. Face it, MD is everything most women have dreamed of. Quite apart from the fact that he's tall dark and handsome, he's clever, successful, modest, socially aware, and above all, he's kind.... Your quality piece of beefcake...when he's yours he's really is yours....MD is a real man. We want a real man who's able to face his responsibilities without whining, without needing space, who is not afraid of saying "I love you".. ...MD is there for Bridget,and best of all they become friends before they become lovers. Real men get to know their women before they make their move....But the best thing about Mark is that although he's not initially effusive, you know there's a cauldron of passion simmering underneath. When he and Bridget finally get to kiss, you know it's an earth shattering sort of kiss. Mark and Daniel are both yummy, but only one comes up trumps...bastard or brilliantly attentive lover? Please. As if. You mean you don't know who you'd choose"

Thanks, Bethan (not bad for one finger typing). you know there's a cauldron of passion simmering underneath Ann's prayers have been answered (as if there was ever any doubt;-))! When he and Bridget finally get to kiss, you know it's an earth shattering sort of kiss. Translation: ++ shoulder grind. Woohoo! ;-) I've also watched all the snippets Karen kindly consolidated at her Bucket BJ page. Though the video is choppy, they look terrific. Love them all, but my fave has to be the 'overproduced' fighting birthday party. Am not making any plans for the week after Easter, as will be sitting in movie theater!

Thanks, Bethan; Virginia Blackburn has v. good taste.:-) Reminder for US viewers: RZ on Jay Leno's show tonight.

Eileen - Am not making any plans for the week after Easter, as will be sitting in movie theater! You took the words right out of my mouth ! From 143 - checked out newsagents but can't find copy of 'Film Review' did however spot 'Total Film' as I was leaving whioch appears to have big BJD feature...will loiter inconspicuously tomorrow and report back. BTW have bought copy of May's Empire mag - as well as review featured here a few posts ago there is also a piece on RZ, usual stuff- weight gain, voice training di-da-di-dah! A few pix which we have seen before I think except this one.....

Hello, just delurking to say I posted a Guardian interview of Firth over at #143.

O-H-M-Y-G-*-D!!!!!! LOOK WHAT I GOT IN THE MAIL TODAY!   I'M SO EXCITED!!! Oh! it's real! I got it from Etertainment Weekly/Time Inc.!!! Is there anyone out there, living in or near DC, that want's to go with me? Email me. Danil@mindspring.com

gah! will try again! O-H-M-Y-G-*-D!!!!!! LOOK WHAT I GOT IN THE MAIL TODAY!   I'M SO EXCITED!!! Oh! it's real! I got it from Etertainment Weekly/Time Inc.!!! Is there anyone out there, living in or near DC, that want's to go with me? Email me. Danil@mindspring.com

Whew!!!!! okay, must go back and read the rest of topics. Just wanted to share my good fortune.

This is from Jeffrey Wells's column on reel.com. He's not a film critic, but writes a twice-weekly column on the industry. Diary of a Pudge-Bod I caught Bridget Jones's Diary, the Ren�e Zellweger comedy based on the popular novel, Wednesday night. Miramax is opening it April 13. Lacking anything else to write about, I thought I'd venture some opinions. First, the important news: I laughed. Not constantly, but every so often, which I presume will placate Miramax and the film's first-time director, Sharon Maguire, since it's not supposed to be constantly comedic. Jones is first and foremost a bright and bubbly chick flick, set and shot in London and surrounding environs, which should be enough for its mostly-female target audience. It's about Bridget, a sad-sack, slightly overweight London girl in her early 30s (Zellweger, looking suitably porky and speaking with a believable British accent) who clearly needs to make changes in her life � lose weight, stop smoking, cut down on drinking � for her general betterment. I was with Bridget and the movie during the first ten or fifteen minutes, when it was all about her loneliness and self-loathing and late-night TV watching and compulsive ice cream eating, which are maladies familiar to most of us. But I checked out when she announced her specific goal, which was to land the right cute, eligible guy. Not again, I muttered to myself. Locked down in front of another woman's movie, the kind that makes you feel pensive and confined while it's playing, and more than gratified when it's over. I don't find much story tension in girl films of this sort. The fact that women can have it both ways if they're so inclined or lucky enough � hook up with the right guy and be supported (or half-supported) and, if they want, become baby-makers, or make it as a self-supporting professional with a presumably fortifying relationship on the side � kind of removes the do-or-die aspect. It's not that I don't think single, slightly overweight women have it rough, but, well, we're all miserable and unfulfilled on this or that level � right? What's so special or touching about Bridget Jones? Nothing I could fathom. They made the movie because of the popularity in England of Fielding's Bridget Jones column (in London's Independent) and then the novel, but it didn't feel sufficiently heartfelt or peculiar. The story struck me as the same old girl-wants-boy, girl-seems-to-lose-boy, girls-sees-through-boy, girl-hooks-up-with-guy-she-never-appreciated stuff. Didn't I just see this in Someone Like You with Ashley Judd? (Which uses, incidentally, the same Van Morrison song on the soundtrack.) Why don't women in these stories ever decide to chuck it and become lesbians? (Two of my ex-girlfriends have gone this route.) Why do the endings always feel like a gloss? Why don't they ever use sad or even bittersweet endings? Jones is briskly written (by a couple of guys, Richard Curtis and Andrew Davies, as well as the author of the original novel, Helen Fielding) with a nice effervescent quality. One problem is that Maguire uses that annoying trick of having Zellweger/Jones say to another character what's she's thinking (but not actually saying), then cutting to the remark she really says to them. But the line becomes blurred after a while with Zellweger saying awkward, outrageous stuff in actuality, and eventually you begin to not believe it. Then the disbelief takes over totally. Hugh Grant has the Gregg Kinnear part � did I just say that? Kinnear plays Judd's initially very attractive boyfriend in Someone Like You (as Grant does here with Zellweger), but I just realized that Kinnear has pretty much cornered the Hollywood market on weak and waffling. Anyway, Grant seems to have a talent for playing this kind of guy too. Colin Firth (The English Patient) is under-deployed as Zellweger's slightly priggish but more character-worthy suitor, but he's probably the best thing in it.

There is a big article in today's National Post about Renee, with very little about Colin. However you might be interested in what she said about a possible sequel: "Zellweger has brought some elements of her brief life as a London Singleton home with her. She imported all the faucets for her new home from England and she now prefers to take taxis everywhere, as she did in London. "I get car sick in limousines," she explains. She also runs with her dog and goes to the gym daily, activities she missed greatly during her days as Bridget Jones. Overall, though, it was, she says, an interlude in her life she remembers with fondness and may be prepared to repeat if a sequel is ever considered."

Hi it's the Scan-Queen again!! Today's Guardian piece (for text see Elaina's post on 143) contains a few movie stills, mostly posted at the Bucket Screening room, but I thought you might like this one ;-)

That picture is to die for. Thanks, Tracy. Looks like he's grinning, sweetie boy. Thanks for the articles above, ladies. I have a lot of fun reading the good parts, namely those parts so kindly bolded (is that a word) with ODB's name. Transcript of A&E's interview with Colin shown today is on 143. Danielle, I hope you find someone to go with. Will you go alone otherwise? I got my tickets too for Philadelphia but can not go that night. Think I can wait one more week where I will be joining the rest of you in giving BJD a great opening weekend boxoffice tally.

I'm finally going to contribute something to this board (other than a frantic, excited, miscued scan of a movie premiere pass). Firth and foremost, thank you all for keeping me up-to-date with all things BJD. CF was on BwtA this morning and was just beautiful! For all those who missed it, he came in with a dark gray suit and wine colored shirt. Some excerpts: EF: 'There is a connection here. (referring to P&P).' CF: 'There's not ever going to be an escape, is there?' EF: 'I don't wnat to give too much away, but you end up in a little fisticuffs with HG. Was that fun getting to punch him out?' CF: 'Absolutley. Yes. I'm sure he had as much fun as I did. I think we decided to step aside a little bit from teh old movie punchouts... the swings, the carefully choreographed, rather less than plausible...' EF: 'Did you land a punch?' CF: 'No, we just grappled at each other like a couple of 5 year olds. Which is I think what mist fights are probably like between adults. I think they're ridiculous things. I think we wanted tocapture that sense of the ridiculous between men who aren't use to fighting each other. This is a couple of suits throwing themselves at each other.' CF: 'Gosh. You've really done your homework (regarding Department of Nothing monologue for Nick Hornby), haven't you?' EF: 'Well, I have to tell you, working for A&E, the fans, YOUR fans have been writing me to ask you about certain things.' CF: 'Oh, I see.' EF: 'So, I have been doing my homework. But the fans from P&P are AVID and they want to know all about you.' It was about 8 minutes... onlly one hand to the face and NO nose picking! He smiled several times (no smouldering, though), and actually chuckled!

Oh Heide, I'm always so late on things! you already put up the interview! *snort* but to answer your question. i still have an available seat, but I'm meeting a few people met on the boards here and at DWG, so i won't be alone. thanks for asking.

SCORE!!! I just picked up 3 free screening passes for a BJD screening this Wednesday! One of the many benefits of living in LA is that there's bound to be a sneak preview of anything... Moon, Jana2, Marianne-- the passes have your names on them! Where are you?!?!

If that's an invitation, I accept. What are details?

Ooh, lucky girls. I suppose this board will be the place to discuss the movie in detail. Sob! May have to skip reading for awhile until I get to see it the 13th. Danielle, I'm glad you're going as well. I see you timed the BWTA interview. ;-) I thought it was much too short. Didn't you just love that fight scene in the clip? This is a couple of suits throwing themselves at each other.' Great quote.

I had a brain lapse last night. I set my VCR to record BWTA this morning because I was out of town last night. I only set it for one hour, I didn't know the program was 2 hours long. I didn't get any of CF's interview. I'm glad I was able to read a transcript at least. Thanks for posting it.

Jenny I didn't know the program was 2 hours long. I didn't get any of CF's interview This is deja vu... Last time CF was on BWTA, I dragged my groggy self out of bed to watch the show out in the living room. Well, after the first hour with no CF in sight, I dozed off! Missed the whole damn thing, as it was broadcast right there in front of me.

(Heide) Didn't you just love that fight scene in the clip? I loved the punch in the face and the fact that it was Daniel being pushed into the restaurant and onto the table! Grappling like a couple of 5 years olds... I think NOT! I see that a lot of us have gotten passes for sneak peeks! Isn't it grand that we have people out there (YOU!) who get the inside scoop and allow us to benefit from it?!

Isn't it grand that we have people out there (YOU!) who get the inside scoop and allow us to benefit from it?! Yes indeed! Thank you all and also to Heidi for typing the transcript. Things were so quiet here yesterday I thought everyone had left town so it was wonderful to read details of the interview.

I can't remember who mentioned Film Review mag but it is worth buying for the CF article & yummy pics.Plusthe film gets 5 stars in the review section. Oh & the book with new cover was selling out fast this morning-))

*pouting* :-( I was stationed in front of the TV with tape in VCR until about 9:50 yesterday a.m. Had to bail as had other commitments, so turned off BWTA after they interviewed the blonde opera singer (thought for a moment we were misled again, but remembered reading in the past that they sometimes have more than one artist of the week). What time was CF on? Thank you Danielle and Heide for posting transcripts.

From yesterday's San Franciso Chronicle (Thanks, Murph). I've bolded the salient parts ('cause Heide likes 'em that way;-) and there's something for Mark here, too.:-) Los Angeles -- The weight. It was the weight thing, of course, and then there was the English accent, too. Renee Zellweger put on quite a few pounds -- revealingly, she doesn't know how many -- and worked for months in London on the accent, sometimes masquerading as an office worker in a publishing house to see if people would buy it. "I've done dialects before, but nothing as intensive as this," she says, "and never changed my appearance so much." She did it all for the new romantic comedy "Bridget Jones's Diary." She plays the title role and always understood it was going to be a big responsibility. In some respects it was more than she bargained for. Certain English journalists, for one thing, did not take kindly to an American actress -- and a Texan at that -- impersonating Bridget, who has become a national fixture. Why not someone like Kate Winslet? Helen Fielding's comic creation first seeped into the British consciousness as a tossed-off newspaper column. Fielding turned it into a novel, but it was not until the paperback was printed that it really took off. The book and a sequel crossed the Atlantic, and now the movie will open April 13, made by the same company that did the highly successful London comedies "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill." There is a family resemblance among them. They all pair Hugh Grant with an American star, first Andie MacDowell, then Julia Roberts and now Zellweger. Colin Firth from the TV miniseries "Pride and Prejudice" has been added to the mix with scintillating results. Bridget Jones carries the banner for all those single women in their 30s who go through life with self-image hang-ups, who think somehow they've never got it quite right. Things haven't worked out for these singletons the way the media promised they would. It's starting to dawn on her that she may never find the right man. Her faux pas have made it into the language: People who muck up will say they are having "a Bridget Jones moment." Bridget is by no means fat but nevertheless obsesses about her weight, keeping track of it in her diary. Zellweger, who is 31, showed up in a clingy, emerald green, low-cut, long summery dress for an interview at a Los Angeles hotel. She is once again very slim, even sinewy, but there are some topics she definitely would rather skip over in the weight department. Such as exactly how much she put on for the role. "I don't know," she says. "It was in stones. It's kinda weird doing stones." Didn't anybody tell you? "I don't remember. I didn't pay attention. In fact, I had a weigh-in with the physician who was overseeing the process and I told him, 'Don't tell me. I don't want to know.' " The best guess is she put on about 15 to 20 pounds. She does know how she did it. "I had more of the things I probably would normally eat," she says, "a lot more, really. You usually stop with the pizza and not have garlic bread with it, too, but I would." Was it tough to lose after the filming was done? "I thought the first lap around the track was like to kill me, and that's the truth. The 13-year-old dog was way out ahead, with arthritis and a bad back," she says, referring to her constant companion, the collie-golden retriever named Dylan that she calls Woofer. Weight is not the only thing Zellweger put on. She put on the staff of a London publishing house where she pretended to be a relative of the boss doing a temp job but really was there to practice a middle-class English accent. Nobody recognized the star of "Nurse Betty" and "Me, Myself & Irene." "I got a couple of sideways glances every now and then." While Bridget may not always make the best choices in clothes, Zellweger lets on that the extra weight didn't bother her personally. "Oh, it was great. I got to upgrade at Victoria's Secret. It was a thrill for me, and I foolishly brought home all of my under things. They're now rotting away in my drawer." But the six months in London turned into "an unbelievably strange dichotomy, " she says. "Completely creatively satisfied, voluptuous and sexy and womanly. That was all exciting. And alienated and pretty lonely and confused sometimes." In "Bridget Jones's Diary," she has several scenes around the house in her underwear, and director Sharon Maguire says, "We were very proud of her cellulite." The goal was to make her look like a real person, even mousy at times. "There was an occasional worry that she might not be as attractive as she should be," Maguire says. "But if the character didn't have a bit of a weight problem and wasn't worried about her hair, she'd be less likable." Maguire should know. A documentary filmmaker, she is one of author Fielding's best friends, intimately knows the scene the movie depicts and was the model for one of the characters in the novel (Shazzer). Fielding says "Bridget Jones's Diary" is a variation on Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," where the heroine is torn between suitors. It is no coincidence that Firth is mentioned by name in the diary nor that the character he plays is a solicitor (i.e., lawyer) named Mark Darcy. At the time the diary covers, Firth's TV miniseries version of "Pride and Prejudice," in which he played the haughty Mr. Darcy, was taking the country by storm. In the film, Bridget is drawn to her boss (Grant) at a publishing house but is turned off by the uptight, snobbish Darcy. When Firth saw his name in the newspaper column he had no idea he would one day be in the movie but was flattered and amused. "I congratulated myself: I've made it into folklore." He is resigned to the fact that the miniseries has provided the signature role of his career. "If I changed professions and became the first astronaut that goes to Mars, the headline would be 'Mr. Darcy Goes to Mars.' I will live with that for the rest of my life." Firth says he was "enormously entertained" by the novel, when usually the stress of single life -- the multiple partners, the drinking -- are treated with great solemnity. "I think in some ways a much more melancholy example of somebody like Bridget Jones is Princess Diana. We're looking at a thirtysomething in a very disappointing marriage with a husband who didn't treat her very well. She has eating disorders and is lonely, and it becomes a kind of national soap opera to see how her life's going to turn out. But nobody found anything very funny in it. In 'Bridget Jones,' there's this kind of wholesale relief that all these people with these problems are able to laugh collectively about them." The publishing executive played by Grant is something of a scoundrel, and the actor likes him all the better for it. "I've played too many nice guys in the last few years," he says. "I'm sick of them. Everyone else is sick of them. " Grant, 40, admits that he was one of those who had doubts about casting an American as Bridget. "I can't pretend I didn't raise an eyebrow," he says. He knew that Zellweger was "a very good actress and that she had the right qualities, the vulnerability, the likability. But I did think that's a very difficult stretch. It's very hard, even if you're the greatest actor in the world, to cross the Atlantic, Brits doing Americans and vice versa. Tricky." Zellweger brought the accent off, Grant now says, but "there was a phase at the beginning when she was a little bit like Princess Margaret." Americans doing English accents "tend to become members of the royal family very quickly. " Then, there was a brief phase "when she seemed to have had a slight stroke. A little bit slurred. But even the most brutal British journalists, who are kind of snooty, have seen screenings in London and have had to eat humble pie. She's impeccable." Grant's own conversation is filled with irony and self-deprecation. The latter may be one of Bridget's problems, but it's expected of an English gentleman. Grant is noticeably buffed up in the film. "I'm probably in a midlife crisis right now that I went through about a year ago. I've got to do something about this because I'm going to seed, and the producer of this film lent me his trainer. The idea of me and a trainer just doesn't quite gel. She's actually rather an attractive Swedish wrestler. She comes to the house three times a week and takes me to the park and she sort of throws sticks on me like a dog. And then we go up to the house and she wrestles me on the floor of the sitting room." Grant says it has made him thinner. "Firth got so jealous of how thin I was that he started dieting as well. So we had the absurd situation on this film of having two very queenie actors both on diets, both taking forever to come out of their trailers, while the rest of the actors were scarfing pizza." Zellweger's reaction to the flak in the British press about her casting was very much like her reaction to her weight gain: She just filtered it out. "I heard about it and read about it initially, because it was my job to do research at the publishers and to cut it out and file it away. But beyond that, once you start filming, your world becomes really, really small." Her days in London were a string of: "Get in the car with Mark (her driver) and work and do the whole day, and get in the car with Mark and go home and prepare for the next day and go to sleep and get in the car with Mark and go to work. It was pretty much your day." There were reports in the media at the time that Jim Carrey, with whom Zellweger was involved after "Me, Myself & Irene," and she each were occasionally flying back and forth between Los Angeles and London to see each other. Zellweger called the ring he gave her a friendship ring, not an engagement ring. Of her London experience, she says, rather ambiguously, "There were no guys. There was no time for guys." When someone asks if anyone hit on her, she replies, "Guys don't really hit on you in England as much. Even Hugh will tell you this. They're not bold in terms of coming across the room and going, 'So! I'm here!'." Zellweger has not always appeared comfortable with her stardom. "Every now and then there's a 'My God, my life is so weird,' you know? I'd say my perspective has changed. I understand it now and I see it from a different point of view. I understand the job. I'm grown up, and I'm finding it easier to enjoy some of the things that are so strange about it, particularly the movie star side of things. "I am finally coming to a point where I can look at my life as more than an accident. I can look at it and I can say, I love what I do and I'm lucky to get to do what I love. And I'm creatively satisfied above all. I mean, the adventures that I have, this whole London thing. When did that happen to anybody ever in life? Amazing. The commitment that it requires and sometimes sacrifices that it calls for are bound by how enriching the experiences are, and I am able to look at it and say, 'Yeah, that's really great. I work hard, and I'm on time and I know my lines and I know what my part is.' " That's not an acting lesson. That's a life lesson.

As promised I loitered with intent and eventually purchased a copy of May's Total Film...which contains a review (Four Stars) plus a huge feature and pics. Like I say it's big so I'll post in chunks Part 1..... LIVE AND LET DIET by Alan Morrison The English girl is an American, the two timing bastard is that nice boy from Notting Hill and the director is the author's best friend. the makers of Bridget Jones's Diary aren't playing by the rules as they take the hit novel from page to screen....... SHE�S THE BYWORD FOR THE CHAIN-SMOKING, CHARDONNAY-GUZZLING, CALORIE COUNTING, THIRTYSOMETHING MODERN WOMAN. It�s been five years since BJD stormed the bookstores and made women feel better about their own social disasters. Now, fag in hand, the nation�s favourite singleton has cinemas in her sights. In a year that�s packed with big screen adaptations of best selling books - BJD would appear to have the rom-com market sown up. It�s based on HF�s word-of-mouth hit novel, it�s got the 4W/NH mark stamped upon it courtesy of screen-writer RC and actor HG and the buzz from early test screenings is excellent. But the filmmakers didn�t make it easy for themselves. Even though the basic story is simple enough � unmarried woman swithers between Mr Right (who seems to be Mr Wrong) and Mr Wrong (who seems to be Mr Right) � the fact that it�s all recounted in a diary format gave them a few headaches. And when they snubbed any number of British starlets in favour of American actress RZ, they set themselves up as targets for the usual UK middle-market tabloid brouhaha. RZ, however, proved to be made of sturdy stuff. Passing herself off as one �Bridget Cavendish�, she put her English Literature degree to good use and worked incognito for several weeks as a publicity assistant for a London publisher. Meanwhile she chowed down on the pizzas and downed the pints in order to match typical Hollywood behaviour. But, then again, it�s a long way from the juice bars of Beverly Hills to the wine bars of Sloane Square. BIRTH OF BRIDGET HF: �When I started writing BJD in February 1995, it was a column in The Independent which I wrote anonymously and assumed would be stopped after six weeks for being too silly. The other journalists were writing about New Labour and Bosnia so I wrote about why it takes three hours between waking up in the morning and leaving the house.� SM: �Helen didn�t tell me, even though I�m a friend of hers, that she was writing it because she was quite nervous. The first time I got to hear about it was when it appeared in the newspaper. We were both at a party and � it sounds quite wanky and name-dropping � Nick Hornby asked her: �Did you see that thing in the paper today, BJD? I thought it was rather good.� H blushed bright red and admitted it was her. Then it became her regular column piece, so all our lives were cannibalised and written down.� HF: �Everyone involved was surprised by Bridget�s success. I was actually doing the column to finance the writing of my second novel, which was an earnest tract about cultural divides in the Caribbean. About nine months after I started it, I was having dinner with my book editor at Picador, moaning about how boring the Caribbean was. She said:� Why don�t you do Bridget instead?� I said OK and that was it. When the diary came out in hardback it sold quit well but didn�t get on the best-seller lists. It was only when the paperback came out that it went to No1 and stayed there, unaccountably, for 6 months.� CF: �While the BJD thing was running in The Independent, someone pointed it out to me and said �Did you realise you�re beginning to be mentioned regularly in that column?� So by the time it was a book, I was well aware that the whole Darcy thing was part of it. It�s very unusual for most people to find themselves referred to in a work of fiction. I found it very odd, but definitely appealing and flattering. In fact, the interview that takes place in the book�s sequel is something that I participated in. We did it as a kind of performance.� RZ:� I�d seen a new York Times book review saying that it was phenomenal, so I went down to the book store, read it, shared it with my friends and laughed about it. Bridget�s experiences as a young woman are so universal. Then I read somewhere ages ago that they were going to make a film from the book. It was just a piece of information that came in and went right back out again. It never occurred to be that I would be considered for it. I assumed it would be a British film made in Britain with British people. And that would be that. ............

Total Film piece Part 2 GETTING DRAFTED HF: You have to let the film be it�s own thing � quite separate from the book � which is partly why I stood back when the film got into production. Film-making is a completely different job from novel-writing, and I�m not a film-maker. With a novel you can create a lot of irony, detail, complication and depth of character just with a lot of words which aren�t necessary to the plot. In a screenplay every line has to work incredibly hard. You only have 90 mins or so to engage the audience with the story, so you cant muck about too much. SM: They must have seen every director in London and America by the time I came on board, and some fantastic names were being bandies around. At the time, I�d just stopped making documentaries and was doing commercials, so I didn�t figure it would ever fall to me. Helen kept saying:�You should do this because you understand it� and I was saying:�Yeah, yeah, it�s out of my league.� But they did see me three times for it and finally, when the film�s producers, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner at Working Title, decided they wanted it to be a small, guerrilla, independent-type project, they thought they�d be safe enough with me. They were taking a risk, but my passion for it won out I the end. I suppose I understood it because I had been a part of it, being one of Helen�s friends. And I realise now that I needed all that passion because, 3 years later I�m still working on it most days of the week. HF: I wrote a couple of drafts o fthe screenplay before the production got uinderway. Since then I�ve added ideas when they�ve asked for them, so quite a lot of my lines and jokes are in there, both from the book and various drafts. SM: Helen has done her drafts, and they were really good. But she had a contract to do the seciond book and so she cut herself off and went to LA to write it. That�s when AD took up the reins. So I worked with himfor a while on the script and then he also had a cut off time; but when he left it was in better shape. It then went to Richard and he did a comic pass at it, but very much collaborating with Helen. RC: My memory is that the film kept getting better with each draft butr as it did so, it was getting better dramatically rather than necessarily getting funnier. There was a feeling that H�s first draft had actually been the funniest, so it was my jiob to reconcile the fdrama and the comedy. SM: The fun of BJ is her inner voice and that�s what her diary is, the words going on in her head. She�s very much a character who has an outward persona, which iis that she�s a bit od a nitwit who f***s up all the time. But she has an inner irreverence that belies her outward appearance, so it was absolutely essential to have a voiceover. CASTING CALL HF: The strange thing about having a book made into a movie is that the characters wxist in my hgead. I know what they look like and sound like and where they live and what it was like when things happened to them. It�s quite disconcerting to see it all made flesh with actual human beings. The only movie star I cast in my head was Mr Darcy � or CF as he is so often called. When P&P was being screened on the BBC, Bridget had an enormous crush on him, so I created the character of MD as a surreal fantasy/reality-blurring romantic figure. I see him as a sort of delicious Colin/Mark/Mr Darcy melange. CF: I did briefly wonder whether it was a good idea or not. Mr Darcy occupies a minuscule portion of my life as it�s something that happened 6 years ago. In the end my sense of humour encouraged me to do it. I think it�s more amusing if it�s me and it�s more amusing for me as well. Buy there are all kinds of self-referential layers that you�ve got to get through in order to find a character that�s playable. You can�t walk onto the set saying:�Right, shall I strike a Mr Darcy pose or shall I try to be Colin Firth?� I don�t think anybody can consciously play themselves. HF: I think Colin�s very good in the film. In fact I think they�re all very good. It�s great to see Hugh playing a sexy bastard. And Renee has a gentleness and sweetness of character which is very appealing. SM: But nearly everyone who worked n the film has a different idea of who B is. And nearly everybody who has read the book knows B: either it�s themselves or it�s their friend. So casting her was very scary. I figured that when she walked in the room, we�d know. She did walk in the room, and we did know. And we went:�Oh f***, she�s a Texan.� RZ: Eric Fellner told me a story about one of my agents who had suggested: �What about RZ?� and Eric said �That�s the dumbest Idea I�ve ever heard and don�t ever come to me with any more of your stupid ideas.� Then apparently we crossed paths at the Golden Globes 2 years ago and it went from there. SM: We were in the curious position of people saying: �They�ve gone for some American to make it more marketable.� Well, we weren�t thinking we�d make loads more money because Renee�s not in the Julia Roberts or Mel Gibson stratosphere. But she�s got this inner irreverence and she�s got this innocence and vulnerable exterior. She also has a very good sense of physical comedy and was so dedicated to getting it right. When I first met her, she said: �If I get this wrong, we�re so busted.� ON THE JOB RZ: I felt a huge responsibility to Helen Fielding not to blasphemise it on the screen. But how much work would I need to pit into a physical transformation? How much time would we need with a dialect coach in order to make that dialect evolve and be interesting and colloquial and legitimate? HG: I�m not a big researcher, although maybe I should be. The way I do characters is to go back in my life to a point where, had I taken a different fork, I could have ended up as them. To end up as Daniel is not entirely inconceivable given my history. If I�d gone from university to publishing, I could have done this. It could be me. RZ: Well, I went to work at Macmillan, the publishing house in London. I spoke to the woman who was head of the publicity department and explained what we were trying to do. And so she became my boss. During the day she would hand me things to file, then I�d make the coffee, clean the kitchen quite a bit, call round the newspapers to find out if they were going to run reviews. I had to go over the press released and rewrite them. Thank G*d they didn�t lose any clients...� SM: We used it as a sort of extended rehearsal period, but it was very unofficial because R needed to acclimatise and not feel the pressure of the film upon her. She just needed to be here and try to be English person. RZ: It was an invaluable experience for so many reasons. To physically sit there and know what her responsibilities were. To carry out the duties of her day so that, when we were ion set I wouldn�t be grabbing some prop that the set designer guessed belonged on her desk. In terms of the accent itself, it was a sink-or-swim experience. I had to be confident in making it come out of my mouth and not second-guessing everything that I was doing because I had an actual job to do. PLAYING FOR REAL SM: I was able to introduce Ren�e to the people who are alleged to be some of the characters. But we didn�t give it to her on a plate. We said:� 0 kay, work out who�s who and work out who�s the gay one.� We tortured her a bit but I think rich Americans should be tortured. RZ: I hung out with the prototype Daniel Cleaver, who is is still very good friends with all the girls that the characters in the book were moulded after. I�d watch how they communicated and the way they would joke about things. Sally Phillips: Because Sharon the director was one of the people Sharon the character is based on, I had the model there. Sharon didn�t mention the connection but I�d sometimes go out and we�d have the same hair. We�ve both got slightly uncontrollable hair. SM: Ah, but it is and it isn�t the Sharon character. There are certain things Shazza says which I�ve said, usually when slipping down a wall at a party. Helen always claims it was me who invented the term �emotional fuckwittage� as a disease that men suffer from. Everyone used to ask:� Who are you going to cast from Shazza?� And I would say ;� Oh, it has to be someone really beautiful , Catherine Zeta-Jones or someone like that.� RC: Nothing is a completely accurate description of anybody � it�s like shuffled cards of people Helen, Sharon and I know. It�s a compendium of characteristics that turn into another whole person. SP: I tried to bring out Sharon�s vulnerabilities. Together with the Tom and Jude characters, we felt like a chorus. The three of us were a foot shorter than Colin or Hugh, so it felt that they were the grown-up actors and then there were these three tiny friends. We were just referred to as �the friends�. �Can we have the friends over here? Send the friends back to the trailer for more food. RC: On 4W, Mike Newell taught me that when you�re writing a film, you have to read the script from the point of view of each actor, and you have to make sure that actor has a little story. That;s something that I would try to do with every part, at some point take a day or two just to pretend it�s the only part in the film. HG: You know, it�s always made me laugh that people have assumed that I, Hugh, might be like the characters I played in NH and 4W. That�s really RC, and I was just aping him in those films. He knew perfectly well that my true character is probably much closer to this guy, so I think it was a catharsis for him to be able to get the real me onto paper. And it�s certainly a relief for me to play something nearer my true self. ...........

Total film part 3 ON THE SET SM: I knew all the time that Daniel Cleaver was Hugh. But once we cast him, we realised it wasn�t going to be cheap any more because he�s no longer in the indie-guerrilla range of affordability. We still didn�t have huge amounts for making the film though. RC: Hugh has a bit of a tendency to fool around at the end of takes. That fantastic scene about the granny pants (which is in the trailer), where he says: �I�m wearing something very similar myself� and all that stuff that�s Hugh. HG: It�s certainly something I�ve done in virtually every film, but especially with Richard�s stuff. We got into that system on 4W and NH where I�d do four or five takes as per the script and then they�d let me mess around a bit. Very often it�s just embarrassing and we�ll all have to walk away with, red faces, but sometimes it comes up funny and it�s worth using. RZ: That was part of the thrill of that experience of working with him. Hugh�s so sharp and quick-witted. You never know where it�s going to go and you always apreciate where it ends up. HG: Something else that I�ve always wanted to do is shut the stuntman out of fight sequences. They�re great guys if you�re doing The Matrix or something, but they always come in and say: �Right Hugh, what you�ve got to do is land him a big right hook and then, Colin you flip your head back.� And you want to say: �No, f*** off� because no two guys � particularly professional middle-class Englishmen � would fight like that. It�s going to be spazz. And so we called our fight in the film �spazz wrestling�. That�s what we did � just crap fighting. TESTING TESTING ONE TWO SM: The biggest relief I�ve ever had in my life was when we first put the finished film to a test audience in New York and everyone laughted. Laughter is such as strange, chemical thing, and I jave a whole code now for measuring it. I sit there and write �BT� for Big Titter , �TT� means Tiny Titter, �BL� means Belly Laugh, �NL� means No Laughs when there should be laughs. RC: I started out doing Rowan Atkinson�s revues on stage and then sitcoms in front of a live audience. If and audience doesn�t laugh at something, you can take their word for it that it isn�t funny. When we recorded a Blackadder episode, it probably came out at 37 minutes and we got it down to 30 with the feedback. So actually listening to an audiences reaction is what I�ve always done. CF: I just hope that, if the critics like it, they�ll be honest about that and not feel that they�ve got to say something to counterbalance the fact that it�s popular. Some people don�t want to admit that they liked 4W or NH or the Full Monty just because everybody else likes those sorts of things. SM: I�ve been looking at it for so long � we�ve been on it for two and a half years - that I feel like I know all the jokes and don�t laugh at them anymore. But that time in America when, within the first few seconds, people started laughing, then we all started laughing. Just when I�d begum to think it was a tragedy�.. Final Verdict "Simple, joyful entertainment for all springing from a book about a woman who thinks her bum looks big in this. By making it a story first, a comedy seconds and a romance last, BJD manages to win as all three. It deserves to pack the punters in....including men! **** --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Am v envious of the US contingent ....isn't it THE NIGHT tonight???? I hope cameras are at the ready ;-)

...and we hope there's a tall, handsome, brand-new-second-time-dad there to be photographed. Thanks for taking the time to type all that in, Tracy. Loved HF's line 'Mr. Darcy, or Colin Firth as he's sometimes called'. LOL!

Pleasure Eileen I'm loving all these great lines about the fight scene - it's about time somebody did something true to life, I'm sure most of my male colleagues are only capable of "spazz-fighting" (hate the term, by the way, very non PC Hugh!) Also like the line "I see him as a sort of delicious Colin/Mark/Mr Darcy melange" Misread first time, thought it said blancmange........Yummy!

OK, all you HG fans, now's your chance to chat *live* with him in about 30 mins. time (at 6 p.m. EDT). Go to the MSN entertainment page (http://entertainment.msn.com/--sorry, this link's not hot 'cause I've forgotten how to do it and my handy html guide is not handy at the moment). BTW, they've got a link to a sneak peek of BJD which features the blue soup scene between CF and RZ (we've seen it already; am glad it's one with CF).

Just back from the Chat...only 30 minutes long...BJ related questions as follows What do you think of Renee Zellweger's British accent? I only think of her as English Renee, and now I find her Texan accent slightly unconvincing. How was the behind-the-scenes atmosphere while filming BJD? Any interesting anecdotes to relate? The atmosphere was extremely jovial and mutually supportive with the exception of myself, I became a neurotic grumpy bast*rd in an otherwise funny environment. Daniel Cleaver is a bit of a rogue, and a change from your normal character. Which character is most like you in real life, and which one did you most enjoy playing? I always assume that I'm lovable, pleasant, charming, and an affable character like "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill." Unfortunately that is not the opinion of producers of those films, they say this brings out the real me as they say. I wanted to know what it was like filming the fight scene in BJD with Colin Firth. Is it true that "Colin fights like a girl"? I don't want to be unkind to Colin because he did splendidly, but I spent several years in the SAS, the British Special Services, and I'm trained to kill so it was never a very even contest. ------------------------ IMHO It was pretty dull actually and short presumably as the premiere is in an hour or so's time.

Thanks Mari and TracyT for the articles. That chat with HG sounded like he was tryig to write a little comedy himself.

Loved the article from SF Chronicle. Did anyone see HG on Today this AM? I looked for someone with a sign reading "ISn't Hugh DEVINE?" but didn't see it.Bummer! HG's quips always seem a little "canned" to me. When Katie asked him about RZ and the accent thing, he used the exact same raised eyebrow comment from the article. He also described the plot in terms of P&P (think he watched BWTA yesterday???). HG did mention CF as being in the film, but that's all. And RZ on Leno on Friday introduced a clip with HG and said "my costar Hugh Grant." Absolutely no mention of CF at all!!! GAH! I just caught the end of ET, and they said that tomorrow they'll carry the story of the premiere and "stars Renee Zegweller and Hugh Grant." So is this on purpose, to keep the outcome a surprise? Or are RZ and HG just not as generous as CF when speaking about costars? I hope the reviewers don't absorb this and similarly ignore CF in their reviews!!

I saw HG's very brief interview on the Today Show. He did bring up CF and Pride and Prejudice, but Katie cut him off ... or did it just seem that way to me???

Oh, Tracy, thanks ever so much for typing out that loooooong article. "ET alert! ET alert," nuclear sirened self. Tomorrow night the NY premiere of BJD will be featured on Entertainment tonight!

Yes, Tracy, THANK YOU for entering that huge interview. We really appreciate it!

(Kate) And RZ on Leno on Friday introduced a clip with HG and said "my costar Hugh Grant." Absolutely no mention of CF at all!!! Yes, I suffered through Leno, too. (I miss Johnny Carson.) I wish everyone would refrain from their 'Colin-ectomies." It is getting on my nerves. . (Kate again)GAH! I just caught the end of ET, and they said that tomorrow they'll carry the story of the premiere � Oops, sorry, Kate, I now see that you scooped me on the ET info. One must be lightening quick around here�:-)

Don't get your hopes up about the NY premiere coverage. According to Miramax (as of Friday) Colin was not coming which, given the recent birth, is not surprising. Just wanted to prepare you--*no tears here tomorrow*;-) But, maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised. I think the chances are much better for the London premiere, as he can zip in and out in one evening and still make it home for the 1 a.m. feeding.:-). Tracy, thanks so much for typing out that long article; much appreciated! Has anyone seen the new commerical for BJD? I saw it tonight during ET; lots of Colin! We get the "I love you just the way you are" scene, plus about 3 different shots of The Kiss. Lovely!:-) Almost forgot: after the commercial, they announced that there would be a sneak preview showing of BJD THIS SATURDAY NIGHT. These are usually at about 7:30 p.m. or so, so watch your local papers for the theater ads on Friday.

Marianne, you are right about Katie this AM. HG didn't seem to avoid discussing CF on purpose. In the middle of the discussion of BJD, Katie brought up some other movie he's in, and then she veered back to BJD. She sounded disorganized--maybe her brain was on vacation?

I honestly didn't think Katie cut him off at all. He finished the sentence about the role that CF plays. Then she asked HG about About A Boy. When CF does his own interviews (like BWTA) then we don't have to depend on the kindness of strangers.;-) I posted a new interview from the Telegraph on 143.

WE SAW IT!!!!!! and We saw MarkG!!! Hi all, We've I(Lizza, Ev and I--and could've been you, Mari) just attended the WORLD PREMIERE of BJD. Yes, our boy wasn't there in the flesh, but what we saw on screen wouldn't disappoint at all. We moaned and groaned and clapped and whooped it up big time. Am sure that Harvey took notice. It's great and Colin has loads and loads of screen time. No worries whatsoever about the Floppsy one upstages ODB. And the ending is to die for. As Lizza is dictating, "life goes downhill from now on." ;-) Want any spoilers????? You will not be disappointed by the fight scene. Our boy is standing at the end. And you're going to be v. surprised by (a) the way he handles kitchen implements and (b) the "I like you just the way you are" scene. (the latter is the first proposal scene updated) Back to our new star MarkG. You're in the movie. We yelled and clapped as you walked by in your blue suit. Crispin B-C got cut; you didn't. Interesting tidbit, Harvey Scissorhands has continued to work on this movie. It doesn't start with the train station homeless scene anymore. We all can't wait to see it again and to get home to rewind on BWTA. Miss my VCR. Off to Keepsakes to claim the goodies. Tough cookies. ;-D More tomorrow from home. Lizza, Evelyn and Karen signing from the World Premiere of BJD. (Dominic West was at the premiere too; we no longer fancy him)

Thanks Karen, you lucky people, wonder if we will get in to see it tomorrow, no such luck. Well done Mark, you are a "star".

Singing: *I'm in the movie, I'm in the movie, I've gotta lotta what it takes to get along...* Girls, what was the audience reaction like? In short, is the film funny? Weird article in The Sun today, BTW. Headline: Hugh: I fancy quick fidget with Bridget (But I'd have to go on a bender first, says star) http://www.thesun.co.uk/life/13552512 Not really worth reading, IMO.

Ok, you gleesome threesome, rub it in some more!!;-) Hurry home, can't wait for the full reports. Mark! Just remember us little people, ok?:-)

Well done Mark!! You made it! Loads of BJD promo around. Hughie is on Parkinson, there was a clip about the soundtrack on BBCNews 24, and the film tie-in book is very prominently displayed! Interview with HG in Saturday Telegraph. He actually seems to rather resemble Daniel Cleaver in "real life"...and CF seems very Mark Darcy-ish in his Guardian interview (and he plays the piano!) More on the Premiere, please!

Article in the Electronic Telegraph today... He's back - without the breeches Colin Firth spent six years trying to put dashing Mr Darcy behind him; now he's playing a version of the same character in the film of Bridget Jones's Diary. He explains why to Elizabeth Grice. IS the curse of Darcy about to be lifted from Colin Firth now that he has bowed to the inevitable and agreed to a second incarnation as the unattainable sullen hero? For his sake, we must hope so. In any other circumstances, Firth would be spitting tacks to have the conversation veering towards Mr Darcy, a part that made him inordinately famous in the television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice six years ago and has plagued him ever since. But he has taken a gamble, and suddenly he is sitting back using the D-word with perfect equanimity. Colin Firth: as Mark Darcy, he's everything you'd expect - dark, difficult, devastating. And he glowers magnificently Agreeing to impersonate Mark Darcy in the film of Bridget Jones's Diary could be the smartest thing he has done. Helen Fielding's fictional columnist, Bridget Jones, has a massive crush on the Firth/Mr Darcy/Mark Darcy figure. Who else would Fielding and her panting fans have wanted to see in Mark Darcy's ridiculous hand-knitted reindeer sweater but Colin Firth? And what better strategy for Firth than to join in the joke? Firth has deliberately avoided frilly shirts and breeches since Pride and Prejudice. He has stood, a bemused and slightly appalled onlooker, above the hysteria that turned him into a heart-throb. "There's this other person called Mr Darcy who I have very little to do with," he says. "He's like a bizarre doppelganger that I've spawned who walks around doing things without me. I've not really allowed myself to get hung up about it. Life has gone on perfectly satisfactorily. It hasn't held me back. It dominates what gets written about me, but it doesn't affect me any closer than that." He claims that he didn't worry about compounding "the Darcy thing" by playing the very character inspired by him in the Diary because he wasn't being required to reproduce the role. "There was an ironic slant on it. It was an in-joke, a reference point. I think that's acceptable." Firth did have some worries about the film. Would it be boring? Would the script be good enough? Would the humorously cumulative effect of Fielding's prose translate into film? Had a film version anywhere to go? "There's a great danger in striving to make a designer hit just because all the elements are right," he says judiciously. "It's not necessarily going to work because the book has been a phenomenal bestseller." (The other "elements" are Hugh Grant as the love rat and Renee Zellweger as the neurotic Jones, plus a strong supporting cast led by Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones.) But Firth's real dilemma was this: how could he not act his own character, having been given flattering immortality in Fielding's book? Wouldn't that just have played into the hands of all those deluded women who confuse him anyway with hard-to-get, brooding Darcy? And wouldn't he have come across as a humourless snob? To his surprise, Firth is finding it a relief to talk about his part in Bridget Jones because at least it's current work. Usually, interviewers (exactly like Bridget Jones in The Edge of Reason) ask a few dutiful questions about his latest film but can't wait to hark back to Mr Darcy and the wet shirt. He could understand it, he says, if he were doing a long-running weekly Pride and Prejudice series and had signed a 20-year option. "But it has not been a part of my life for six years," he groans. " 'What's it like to be a heart-throb?' they ask. I don't think anyone on earth can meaningfully answer a question beginning: 'What's it like . . .' " Though he insists that he doesn't wake up in the middle of the night fretting about it, Firth is resigned to being shackled to Darcy for ever. "I can't think of a single headline in the last five years that didn't have the D-word in it. It would be so, no matter what I did now. Probably for the rest of my life. Even if I changed my profession." He alludes to Mr Darcy as if he were an embarrassing relative - and he has the same rather detached view of his part in the chaotic world of Bridget Jones. "I have to say it was not the most challenging hour of my life," he says drily. His enthusiasm is reserved for the brilliance of his co-stars, Grant and Zellweger, and the serious challenges of making "a very light film". "Hugh is a brilliant light comedian. It is a very substantial craft. Because of its lightness, its substance is often overlooked." Needless to say, Firth as Darcy is everything his fans expect him to be - dark, difficult, devastating. He glowers magnificently in the reindeer sweater. He admits his affection through clenched teeth. And, when the moment comes for him to be truly human, he strips down to his shirtsleeves and rescues Bridget's dinner party by knocking up an omelette. Amusing as all this may have been to film, it is clear that Bridget Jones's Diary lacks a certain relevance to Firth's life: he is a professional man with no social hang-ups, no cellulite and infinite job security - plus his wife of four years, Livia, is due to give birth any day now. He admires the phenomenon from a safe distance. "I don't feel it's about me. I don't weigh myself every day. I don't see the world divided into married and single people. I certainly don't see married people as smug. Fielding is very, very funny about those things - but I'm reading about somebody else." Apparently, he gets the same feeling when reading about himself in articles. "It's very little to do with who I feel myself to be when I go to Sainsbury's." Fielding first met Firth when she visited the set of Fever Pitch, where Firth played the emotionally retarded Arsenal fan in Nick Hornby's memoir of love and football. They met again over lunch in Rome when he agreed to be interviewed by her as Bridget Jones and soon lapsed into a double act of Bridget and Darcy. "She went into Bridget mode and I fell into it. It was a game, a little pantomime" - one that ended up as one of the funniest sequences in the diary's sequel, The Edge of Reason. Firth's friendship with Hornby has continued to be productive. Last year, he came out of the literary closet by contributing to an anthology of short stories edited by Hornby, Speaking with the Angel. The book was to raise money for TreeHouse Trust, the charity that runs the school for autistic children attended by Hornby's son, Danny. Firth has been "writing and putting stuff in a drawer" for years but The Department of Nothing is his first published piece. "Writing has not been a deadly serious secret pursuit before launching myself on the world. It's a hobby I enjoy - something I might do in Biro on an aeroplane." But he has found committing himself to print "a lot more exposing" than he imagined. Firth treats acting and writing as a way of continuing his lacklustre education by more enjoyable means. So, when researching his next role as a prominent Nazi lawyer in Conspiracy: The Meeting at Wannsee, he continued reading Holocaust literature all through Christmas and long after the film was shot. Here, he plays the part of a man who puts the case for mass sterilisation over a buffet lunch at a Third Reich gathering in 1942. "He talks about it as if it were a meeting to discuss foot and mouth disease," says Firth. "That's what's astonishing: these men cracking jokes, passing the cheese, looking at their watches . . . and talking about genocide. I think what is shocking is how you can get reeled in. Put yourself in that position: could you be one of the men round the table?" Later this year, Firth will embark on another personal journey of enlightenment as he prepares to play Hamlet at the Riverside Studios, with Geraldine James as Gertrude. "I'm 40 now. I would say it's getting to last call for me to do Hamlet." He admits that he has often thought we should "put Shakespeare away for 10 or 20 years" and then come back to it, "but so long as there are people like me who want to have a crack at it, then it's going to be with us". He admits that, as a schoolboy, nothing would have delighted him more than to see Shakespeare banned. "I would like to have been put in the position of being able rebelliously to discover Hamlet. Maybe if Hamlet were forbidden he would become like Eminem . . ." And maybe, if Bridget Jones were to see his Hamlet ("v. eligible bachelor", after all), she would grow up a bit.