Hugh Grant didn't hold back about his initial thoughts on Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones

"It was like Princess Margaret having had a stroke"

It seems that Hugh Grant wasn't initially a fan of the casting of the Texas actress as the British character.

Based on the novel by Helen Fielding, 'Bridget Jones's Diary' was an international success when it arrived in cinemas during the early 2000's, mostly down to the fantastic portrayal of the character by Renée Zellweger. However, it seems that the casting of the US actor in the lead role had its reservations, particularly from her co-star Hugh Grant.

Grant, who has been sharing tidbits of information from his back catalogue of movies throughout much 2020, revealed his initial reaction to starring alongside Zellweger - and it wasn't a good one. In the film series, he played Jones' on/off love interest Daniel Cleaver.

The actor let it all out in the new BBC documentary 'Being Bridget Jones', where he said: "There was a whole scandal about 'why isn’t this a British actress?' I didn’t know Renée Zellweger, and a Texan playing a British character, it did seem like a stretch."

Clearly not holding his opinions back, Grant went on to further critique her character portrayal: "She was told to kind of, well, she thought she better loosen it up a bit. Then she came in, and it was Princess Margaret having had a stroke."

"But a week later it was bang on. We got on very well together and we still exchange long emails," he continued. "Hers in particular, at least 70 pages each, interesting stuff, but quite hard to decipher. She’s a properly good egg and a genius."

Previous to securing her role as the unfortunate-in-love literary character, Zellweger had central roles in American movies such as 'Jerry Maguire', 'Nurse Betty' and 'Empire Records'. Of course, the character of Bridget Jones went on to cement Zellweger's acting career, and her becoming a household name.

Following his comments, Grant then went on to praise the star for her most recent work in 'Judy', whereby she played one of the most tragic actors of Hollywood, Judy Garland: "Did you see her Judy Garland? About as good as acting gets."