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31 January 2025, 12:01
From 70-page emails to their secret gifts to one another, Hugh Grant and Renée Zellweger's friendship has stood the test of time.
Ahead of the release of Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, many fans are loving the reunion between Renée Zellweger (Bridget Jones) and Hugh Grant (Daniel Cleaver).
After meeting on set for the first film Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), the last time these two appeared on screen together was back in 2004 in Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason, as Hugh didn't take part in the 2016 classic Bridget Jones's Baby.
Despite this, their friendship has spanned decades, with the pair keeping in touch over the years and remaining close confidants.
Now reunited for the fourth Bridget Jones movie, Hugh and Renée have spoken publicly about their affection for one another.
Hugh revealed his fondness for Renée during an interview with SiriusXM's The Jess Cagle Show in 2020, stating: "I love Renée. She's one of the few actresses I haven't fallen out with. And we get on very well together.
"We still exchange long emails. Hers in particular, at least 70 pages each, interesting stuff, but quite hard to decipher. She's a properly good egg and a genius. Did you see her Judy Garland? About as good as acting gets."
During an interview on Heart Breakfast, Renée opened up about her email exchange with Hugh, telling Jamie Theakston what the two chat about.
The actress stated: "Just catching up or you know, talking about a birthday or whatever happened in the last rehearsal, you know that kind of thing."
Watch Renée Zellweger discuss her friendship with Hugh Grant here:
Will this be the last Bridget Jones?
During a joint interview with Vogue, Hugh and Renée discussed their friendship, with Hugh telling his co-star: "With a lot of other actors, you think they’re really great and then suddenly you see a little glint of steely, scary ambition and you realise this person would trample their grandmother to get what they want in this business. But I’ve never seen that glint coming off you. So either it’s very well disguised or you are quite nice. "
Renée replied: "I’m actually just very boring. Meanwhile you’re fascinating, with a vast hidden trove of outstanding skills.
"You’re hilariously brilliant at everything you hate. And, though you hate humans, you’re a very good and loyal friend. I like you very much. And I love working with you."
The pair also revealed Renée often sends her co-stars gifts, and her present of choice for Hugh is a bottle of whisky, whilst Colin Firth receives chocolates.
However the Bridget Jones actress told a funny tale of Colin's chocolates, telling Hugh: "Well, Colin doesn’t get the chocolates anymore.
"He told me accidentally that he doesn’t really like them – I think he forgot that I’m the person who sends them to him."
Fans will get to see Renée and Hugh reprise their roles as Bridget and Daniel in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy which will be released on February 14th 2025.