New statue of Bridget Jones installed in London’s Leicester Square

Bridget Jones has been honored with a statue in London’s Leicester Square, joining the ranks of iconic film characters such as Mary Poppins and Harry Potter.

Oscar winner Renee Zellweger, who has played the titular character in all four “Bridget Jones” films, attended the unveiling of the statue, on Monday. The statue commemorates  25years since the release of the first film, “Bridget Jones’ Diary”.

“It’s pretty crazy. It’s kind of strange. It’s not something that you… ever expect… it’s quite a surprise,” Zellweger told Reuters.

When asked about the statue, which features Bridget with her hair tied back, dressed in a mini skirt and holding a pen and diary, Zellweger remarked, “I mean, she’s adorable… she’s really cute. Looks like Bridget to me”.

The character of Bridget Jones was made by author Helen Fielding, more than 3 decades ago for  a newspaper column. The column solely focused on Bridget’s love life. Her first book “Bridget Jones Diary” was published in 1996 and three more publications followed.

“Bridget Jones’s’ Diary” was turned into a 2001 film with Hugh Grant and Colin Firth starring alongside Zellweger.

Movies “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason” and “Bridget Jones’s Baby” followed in 2004 and 2016 respectively. “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy” was released in February.

“My daughter’s generation now like Bridget, and that means a huge amount to me because it hardly ever happens,” Fielding said of the character’s enduring popularity. “So I feel very, very lucky, and yeah, I’m proud of Bridget.”

The Bridget Jones statue is part of the Scenes in the Square trail of sculptures of film characters in Leicester Square, where many movie premieres are held. The trail was launched in 2020 and also includes statues of Laurel and Hardy as well as Batman among others.