I think that that’s a really good question because it’s something that stood out for me in the filming process. It wasn’t something that I found easy to justify. On the day [of filming the scene], when we were standing in the hallway, I was trying to think to myself, “Why? Where does this come from?” And I think that it’s made fairly clear afterward. And if not, I’m not sure which version of the film that you’ve seen, but it was an issue that I’ve had. I was not comfortable with it because I thought, “Does that imply that this is a character who’s a little bit unrealistic in her expectations, and does it make her seem a little bit desperate for something that ultimately isn’t at the core of what drives her?” Yes, love is important to her, obviously, but it’s more specific. It’s love with this person. It’s not love period, or just the idea of having that manifest itself in her life. I thought that, “Okay, I understand this.”
I think she is aware that it’s inappropriate. I think that at that desperate time, women, we all know that you don’t even bring up, “Are you seeing other people” at six weeks, let alone, “So, are we doing this for the long haul or not?” No matter how desperately you want to say, “Are you calling other people because I’m not calling other people and I just wanna know if you’re committed to me…” You don’t do it. It’s breaking the rules. And I think, if anything that you can love Bridget for, it’s her inability to sometimes refrain from those outbursts. And I found justification in that moment, in that particular quality of her essence.
I love that she can’t contain herself and not only is she not gonna say, “You’re just seeing me, right” but, “So, you wanna marry me or not?” And it’s completely inappropriate and I think that after she leaves his house, I think it becomes pretty evident that she knows that she’s made a big mistake there. And that not only is it unreasonable, but it probably might have been the catalyst to the end of this relationship for having terrified the man with the outburst.
Was it hard to get the accent back and the walk? And who was the best kisser?
I’ll never tell the answer to question number three. Not ever. But I will say it’s not a bad day at work, is it? And let’s see, the walk and the accent, certain things about this character just feel right and in playing her, they just sort of seemed to surface from somewhere. I don't know. You pay attention to them, but they find themselves into the day, into the reanimating of this character.
The dialect on the other hand… Boy, that I had to pay a lot of attention to. It was like starting over again. I was terrified of it because it was something that evolved and became very colloquial in a very specific way last time. And so it just sort of evolved in a really natural way. To try to force that to come back was an interesting process because it is so specific. I have Barbara Berkery there every day saying, “No, that was too precise. Slushier, slushier.” Because Bridget has kind of a lispy thing that she does. So there was a lot to pay attention to. But let me tell you, I had a lot of help.
How did you handle the weight gain this time?
It was a little bit different because I knew where I needed to go. And again, it was a question of, “Can we do it in time?” And again, I had a lot of help to get there. Somebody else doing the math and putting the plate in front of me and saying, “Here, eat this.” And ultimately, it worked out.
Emotionally, it doesn’t affect me. It didn’t affect me except that I was afraid all the time that it would be not right, not enough because we worked so much. We did six days and the seventh day was committed to other work responsibilities. I was constantly going. So my fear was that there would be fluctuations and those would disappear. And then it would be noticeable. And I didn’t want that. I didn’t want to compromise on this film in any respect. It was so important to me that we come from a place of integrity in approaching this project, so everything about authenticating the character’s experience was unconditionally, not mandatory, but essential. It just was.
PAGE 3: Renee Zellweger on Crazy Skiing Experiences, Her Intolerance to the Sun, and Strange Stories
