Hugh Grant was cast to portray Daniel Cleaver, one of Bridget Jones’ love interests in the 2001 film Bridget Jones’s Diary. Starring alongside Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth, he reprised his role in the sequel of the romantic comedy in the 2004 film Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. People loved the films, and the two-part series soon became a cult classic. Both films grossed over $500 million at the box office and received a pretty good critical response.
However, despite its financial and critical success, Grant rejected the offer he was given for a third film in the series. After this, the filmmakers decided to move ahead without Daniel Cleaver and introduced Patrick Dempsey as one of Bridget’s new love interests, Jack Qwant. And during his interview with Bustle, the Notting Hill star shared the reason he denied the offer.
Hugh Grant Declined the Offer to Star in Bridget Jones’s Baby
Followed by the release of the 2004 sequel, fans were looking forward to a third film in the series. However, it took longer than expected, and the film was released in 2016 with Hugh Grant replaced by Patrick Dempsey. While promoting his 2016 biopic Florence Foster Jenkins, he talked about the reason he decided not to reprise his role in the threequel.
He shared that he worked with the makers for almost a year after they approached him. The Love Actually star shared that although they approached him with a good central premise, the script was not complete yet. So they continued working on it. However, he didn’t feel great about it once the story started progressing.
“So I worked with them on it for some time, almost a year, I think, and I could never make the second half of the film work … especially for my character.”
He also mentioned after realizing what his character could have to face in the sequel, he refused to continue and suggested they move ahead with someone else. Patrick Dempsey later joined the cast of the third Bridget Jones movie, replacing Grant’s Daniel Cleaver with Jack Qwant.
The Script Was Completely Different From the Book
Hugh Grant shared the news during his appearance on Free Radio in 2014. He shared that he dropped out of the third Bridget Jones film and claimed that the makers would probably continue the series without Daniel Cleaver.
He further mentioned how the script he received was “completely different” from the original book in the Bridget Jones book series.“The book’s excellent, by the way, but the script is completely different – well, the script as I last saw it a few years ago,” he said.
It was reported that Bridget Jones’s Baby was a different film. And the third book in the series, Mad About The Boy, could be adapted for the fourth film in the franchise. These changes between the book and the film’s story were also alleged to be the reason why The Gentlemen actor rejected the offer for Bridget Jones’s Baby.
The Bridget Jones franchise is available to stream on Paramount+.
Source: Bustle
