Bridget Jones has joined Harry Potter, Mary Poppins and Paddington as permanent residents of London's famed Leicester Square.
A new bronze statue of the romantic comedy heroine was unveiled Monday to mark 25 years since the release of the first “Bridget Jones” film.
Actor Renée Zellweger, who has played the titular character four times since the first Bridget Jones' Diary was released on big screens in 2001, attended the unveiling along with author Helen Fielding, whose books inspired the films.
The statue, which depicts Zellweger dressed in a mini skirt and clutching a diary and a pen, is the newest addition to the “Scenes in the Square” trail in Leicester Square, the home of numerous international film premieres.
The attraction, launched in 2020 to celebrate a century of cinema, also features statues of Mr Bean, Bugs Bunny, Laurel and Hardy, Batman and Wonder Woman.
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, the fourth film in the franchise, was released earlier this year.
The latest film sees Bridget Jones navigate “life as a widow and single mom with the help of her family, friends, and former lover Daniel. Back to work and on the dating apps, following the death of her husband and father of her children, Mark Darcy.
Uproar over the death of Colin Firth’s Mark Darcy made front page news when Fielding’s novel was published in 2013. Early film viewers have been left similarly distressed, with many leaving the cinema in tears.
Speaking to The Guardian, Zellweger – who has played the titular character since 2001 – admitted Darcy’s death had a huge emotional impact on her, too, leaving her feeling “rotten”.
“I was a crazy person mourning this fictional character,” she said. “I was weeping.
“It was also for that shared experience with Colin,” the Oscar-winning actor added. “Seeing him in his suit and beautiful coat, with his briefcase, looking dapper and very Mark Darcy.
“This is the end…we don’t get to do this anymore,” Zellweger said.
Following Darcy’s death, Chiwetel Ejiofor, who plays her son’s science teacher, and Leo Woodall are in the film as love interests for Bridget.
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