Hugh Grant's moving words about Bridget Jones 4 are going viral

Renee Zellweger and Hugh Grant attend the Bridget Jones's Diary premiere
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Spoiler alert: Bridget Jones 4 plot details ahead...

The next Bridget Jones is officially on its way, with fourth film, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, set for release on Valentine's Day 2025. And with new A-list cast members (ahem Leo Woodall and Chiwetel Ejiofor) and upcoming trailers, the world is gearing up for the highly-anticipated final instalment.

It was the Bridget Jones 4 plot that made headlines this week, with returning cast member Hugh Grant's moving words about the storyline going viral.

The fourth film in the series will revisit Bridget Jones, now in her 50s, after the death of her husband, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), navigating motherhood after loss.

And while Firth unsurprisingly won't be returning to the franchise, Hugh Grant will be reprising his role as Bridget's ex Daniel Cleaver, despite being absent from the third film.

"It's actually a very good and moving script," Grant has explained of the upcoming instalment. "And I say that as someone who's horrid about scripts. This was brilliant."

"As well as being extremely funny, it's very, very sad," Grant recalled of the Helen Fielding script, written by the author of the 2013 novel that inspired the film.

"She had a sad story," Grant explained of Fielding's real-life tragedy. "She got married to an American screenwriter, she had children and then he died. So she made it into a Bridget Jones book, and as well as being extremely funny, it's very, very sad.”

Bridget Jones 4

(Image credit: 2001 NBCUniversal All Rights Reserved)

Grant also opened up about Daniel Cleaver’s return to the franchise, explaining that initially there was “absolutely no role” for his character. But due to creators “wanting to cram [him] in”, they worked out a good storyline for him.

"I felt that he needed a third dimension,” Grant recalled during a recent appearance on the Graham Norton Show. “He’s in his 60s now, you can't just have him smoothing his way down King's Road eyeing up young girls. Something needs to have happened to him in the interim. So we invented a rather good - I invented a rather good - interim story.”

Well, this is exciting.

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is set for UK release on 14 February 2025.

Jenny Proudfoot
Features Editor

Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. She has worked at Marie Claire UK for seven years, rising from intern to Features Editor and is now the most published Marie Claire writer of all time. She was made a 30 under 30 award-winner last year and named a rising star in journalism by the Professional Publishers Association.