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Renee Zellweger responds to Hugh Grant's Bridget Jones comment at BAFTAs

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Francesca Shillcock
Senior Features Writer
February 3, 2020
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It was the moment that Bridget Jones fans had all been waiting for, Daniel Cleaver and Bridget Jones had a mini-reunion. Although viewers didn't expect to hear Hugh Grant's 'Well done, Jones' comment after Renee Zellweger picked up her BAFTA, the interaction was loved by the audience and viewers alike. And now, Renee has responded to her former co-star's quick wit.

WATCH: Hugh Grant make Bridget Jones reference at BAFTAs

Speaking to HELLO! and other reporters in the winners press conference room at the awards, Renee said of Hugh's joke: "It was pretty cool wasn't it? That's really, really cool." The actress, who won the gong for Leading Actress for her role in Judy, continued: "That's part of what I was talking about with this [award] being really special because it makes you feel like you're one of the [British] gang, and it's quite a gang to be part of and I appreciate that and very grateful for that."

MORE: Fans go wild for Hugh Grant's Bridget Jones reference at BAFTAs

hughandrenee© Photo: Rex

Hugh embraced former co-star Renee after her BAFTA win

Renee, who first starred as Bridget Jones in 2001, also opened up on her love for London, where she spent much of her time while playing the iconic rom-com character. "I have so many wonderful memories in this town," she said. "I got a text from my best friend yesterday and she said 'you always seem so happy in London' and she's right." How lovely!

On winning the BAFTA for Leading Actress, the 50-year-old told HELLO! how she came to embrace the iconic role of Judy Garland. "First I thought it was a crazy idea, and it made me kind of laugh, and made me very curious, and I called David Livingstone who was the producer and asked him what he was thinking and he said 'just read it and we'll talk'" she explained. "I knew so little about the circumstances that Judy was grappling with towards the end of her life… and I loved the idea that Rupert and David wanted to contextualise the circumstances so that we could better understand what, not the icon, not the performer, not the movie star Judy Garland was going through but the human being, and what that experience might look like behind closed doors, off the stage, away from the glitter, when a human is just struggling to get by and to do her best, and to find happiness, and that intrigued me."

MORE: 10 things you might have missed from the 2020 BAFTAs

reneeasjudy© Photo: Rex

Renee won Leading Actress for her role in Judy

Renee continued: "I love the opportunity that we had to sort of show the entirety of the experience, because I think it's impossible to fully appreciate how extraordinary she was without knowing what it is that she had to overcome again, again and again in order to continue to perform, in order to take care of herself, and that to me makes her for the ages and joining that team of people who wanted to celebrate her, I'm telling you was one of the great privileges of my life and how could I not?"

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