Hugh Grant reveals Bridget Jones 4 will be ‘very, very sad’

Bridget Jones 4 is coming out on Valentine’s Day 2025, and Hugh Grant has divulged some more details on what fans can expect.

Appearing on the Graham Norton Show on Friday evening, the Notting Hill actor, 64, seemed very positive about the upcoming sequel of the beloved romantic comedy starring Renée Zellweger.

However, if fans were expecting the laugh out loud romp of the last three films, they could be in for something a little different.

The timeline picks up after Bridget’s happy ever after, when she walked off into the sunset with husband Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) and a baby in tow at the end of the third film.

While we knew there were going to be some tearful moments, as the film will be based on Helen Fielding’s book Mad About The Boy – which details Bridget’s journey into motherhood as a widow after Darcy’s death – Hugh has now confirmed it will be ‘very, very sad’.

The Four Weddings and a Funeral actor starred in the first two Bridget Jones films, but was absent from the third as his character died ‘going down in a bush’ in a plane crash – but now he’s returned from the grave for the fourth, after he was discovered miraculously alive.

He also talked about how Helen Fielding, the writer and creator of the iconic character, drew upon her own experience of grief and motherhood to come up with the initial concept which turned into the fourth film.

‘It’s actually a very good and moving script and I say that as someone who is horrid about scripts,’ he said, chatting to Graham on the sofa with fellow guests Neneh Cherry, Sebastian Stan and Greg Davies.

‘Because Helen Fielding had a sad story. She got married to an American screenwriter and they had children, then he died, and she raised the children by herself,’ he explained.

‘Then she started writing a novel about a woman raising children by herself with a dead father and husband. She realised the character was a bit like Bridget, so made it into a Bridget Jones book. As well as being extremely funny, it’s very, very sad.’

He continued, explaining his involvement: ‘There was absolutely no role for Daniel Cleaver as far as I could see, but they wanted to cram me in. So we sat down together.

‘I’m quite difficult these days and I felt what they proposed was fine but not great, I felt he needed a third dimension. He’s in his 60s now, he can’t just be making his way down the King’s Road eyeing up young girls.

‘I felt that what they proposed was fine but not great. So they invented – well, I invented – a rather a good interim story,’ he quipped.

Over the past few months, sneak peeks at the upcoming film have delighted fans as the cast and crew have been snapped filming across London.

The film is set to star White Lotus and One Day breakout star Leo Woodall as Bridget’s toyboy love interest which will delight fans who loved him in previous romantic roles.

Hugh has been snapped filming for the upcoming movie and previously hyped up fans for the film, as he told ET: ‘I’ll tell you what, I think this script for the fourth Bridget is the best one of the four. And, in fact, one of the best scripts I have read in a long time.’

The Graham Norton Show airs on Fridays at 10.40pm on BBC One.