It was the role that got Renee Zellweger her first Oscar nomination.
The patron saint of London's single spinsters, Bridget Jones.
But now, one nonsense sequel and 15 years later,
she's back to recapture the magic with Bridget Jones's Baby
and also along for the ride is the one-time McDreamy Patrick Dempsey
in his first major movie role since leaving the mega-hit show,
Grey's Anatomy.
Great, OK, so firstly I would like to know
about the woman behind your accent, Miss Barbara.
- Oh, Barbara Berkery. - The way you talk about her...
- She's so cruel. - Yeah, you say she's cruel.
- Intimidating. - How so, how is she cruel?
She's hilarious. No, she's very strict.
Strict and rigid and then she laughs.
She'll correct me sternly and then she'll laugh.
- The wrath of Miss Barbara. - She's Irish, right?
She's an Irishwoman who's teaching me to speak like an English lady.
She's wonderful but she's very, very strict
and so we meet several times a day to make sure
that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing with my face.
I'm trying to work out are you saying nice things about her
because you're a little bit afraid of her or...
- Tremendously. - Yeah, right.
- Don't call me. - Blink once if you are being abused by Miss Barbara.
I'm Bridget and this is Jack.
And this is Mark.
Oh! Lovely!
You're our second same sex couple today.
Patrick, I understand you said you were a profoundly different person
who came out of making this movie than when you went in. Why? what changed?
I think enjoying the process of actually making a movie
where there was a beginning, middle and an end.
I've been very fortunate and I came off a very long-running show
that's continuing to do well and will continue to do well
and it's a different experience.
It's like running a marathon as opposed to running a sprint race.
And it was nice to really watch Renee and Colin take the time
to ask the questions and to have the time
to work something out on set.
And I think when you're on a network television show
and you're cranking up 24 to 25 you can't ask those questions,
there's no time because then everything falls apart, so...
- So you have to be really good. - Or you don't ask questions.
It allowed me to go back and to start asking questions.
There was something about the process that was very healing in many ways.
And how did you two meet?
Oh... BOTH LAUGH
In your home town of Maine... You have a centre named after you,
the Dempsey Center for people suffering from cancer.
Why did you feel the need to build that?
I think there's a need everywhere in the world for that.
It's complementary care that's very important
for anyone who's been affected by cancer
and my mother died of ovarian cancer, she had a long battle with it
and there is... it's still a field in which I think it's very important
and in our centre everything we do is free
and it's really, we're treating the person, not the disease,
and the entire family, whoever's been affected is affected
and we're there to support them
and customise that care for that individual or that family.
My sister worked at the hospital and I don't think,
had she not had the knowledge to navigate the system,
it would've been a much harder process for my mother
and that got me thinking,
what about other families and I think this is an important part
of, I think, moving forward, we have to work on integrating that,
working with the doctors,
understanding what it is that they're doing
and also being on the side of, you know, being there
and being present for that patient and the family
and making them feel, you're not a number, you're a human being
and we want to help you, empower you, in whatever way that is.
Did she or didn't she?
It's a common question Hollywood stars face along the red carpet
where plastic surgery and speculation...
- Renee Zellweger, is that you? - Is she actually denying it?
She said "I have not had plastic surgery..."
Renee, you wrote a piece for the Huffington Post
about people being attacked for their looks
and I was curious, if you could change anything about the way
the media cover people in the public eye,
what would you change?
I would, you know, hmmm... That's interesting.
Well, there are a couple of things. Um...
I'm sad that the news has become commodified
because I feel like we miss out on a lot that's important,
a lot that shapes the conversation, that's important.
And I would love to see clever come back.
- You think clever's gone? - Well...
Snark has replaced clever.
And I don't think they're the same thing.
I think snark is just a cheap, easy way to think you're being clever.
But true wit requires a different kind of intelligence.
And it doesn't necessarily require that you be cruel.
PATRICK: And I think what it is is that
it's very easy to write something that can be very negative to someone
and you're not held accountable.
You can hide behind that.
And you have to look at who is saying that
and why they're saying that and what is their issue.
And that's sometimes very hard to get that.
And that's a cultural thing that has to shift
and I don't think it's gonna happen overnight.
If you could go back and give yourself a piece of advice on, let's say, pick a moment in time,
day one of Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Next Generation,
if you could go back and give a piece of advice to Renee on that day, what would it be?
Don't fall into those trashcans that many times
because you will feel it when you turn 30.
I'm going to have so much fun finding that footage and putting it on.
Guys, thank you so much for your time, it was a really interesting chat.