Renee Zellweger reveals the Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy scenes that made her break down into tears
Zellweger, 56, has recently returned to her legendary role of Bridget Jones in the latest installment of the series, which takes place four years after the death of her on-screen husband, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth).
Firth, 64, makes several cameos in the film, with his character appearing before Renee as a vision.
While Bridget is said to have made peace with the loss, Zellweger could not help but get emotional once she saw Firth in costume, she said at the FYC event on Saturday, according to Variety.
Director Michael Morris, 51, revealed Zellweger cried filming the moments, and the actress called the realization it would be the 'end of' of their 'shared journey' together a 'gut punch.'
Zellweger explained it was difficult to film as the scenes did not call for Bridget to be emotional.
'Yet seeing him there on the sidewalk in his Mark Darcy finery with his briefcase and coat, it just got to me,' she explained.
'I didn't expect to be so emotional about the end of this shared journey with my friend, recognizing, "Oh, wait, he's gonna wrap today, and that's it." And the finality of it just really was a gut punch.
'Isn't that crazy? Because when you get lucky, beyond getting to work with your friends, once you know, it sounds so silly, but it felt very profound in the moment,' she explained before letting out a laugh. 'Maybe I'm crazy because maybe I love a fictional character!'
The long-awaited sequel sees Zellweger reprise her role as the titular heroine, and sees her adjusting to life as widowed single mother following the shock death of Darcy and returning to the dating scene.
The actress looked absolutely radiant as she attended the Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy FYC event, held at the the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles on Saturday.
She posed posed up a storm in a fitted burgundy suit dress with her blonde hair styled into a chic bun and her feet slipped into classic Christian Louboutin heels.
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy was released earlier this year, and Renee has remained in-demand, recently spotted filming Only Murders In The Building in NYC.
Renee's iconic singleton finally married Mark Darcy in the most recent film, 2016's Bridget Jones' Baby.
The couple had shared an on-and-off romance across all three films, which are based on the Helen Fielding book series, but finally got their happy ending after it was revealed the high-flying lawyer was the father of her baby.
However, in the fourth book and film, Mark tragically dies while working abroad as a human rights lawyer, leaving Bridget a widow and battling motherhood alone.
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