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PTI
Actress Renee Zellweger says she doesn't understand the scrutiny she comes under for putting on a few pounds to play Bridget Jones. The 47-year-old actress - who reprises her role as Helen Fielding's iconic character in Bridget Jones's Baby - said that a male actor would never receive the same amount of press attention over his weight.
"I put on a few pounds. Bridget is a perfectly normal weight and I've never understood why it matters so much. No male actor would get such scrutiny if he did the same thing for a role," Zellweger said. The Chicago star also revealed she took a break from acting because she wanted to 'grow up a bit' and enjoy 'life experiences.'
"I found anonymity, so I could have exchanges with people on a human level and be seen and heard, not be defined by this image that precedes me when I walk into a room.
"You cannot be a good storyteller if you don't have life experiences, and you can't relate to people. As a creative person, saying no to that wonderful once-in-a-lifetime project is hard. But I was fatigued and wasn't taking the time I needed to recover between projects, and it caught up with me.
"I got sick of the sound of my own voice: it was time to go away and grow up a bit." Bridget Jones's Baby sees Bridget back on the market following a brutal break-up - and just to complicate things further, she finds herself pregnant. Bridget Jones's Baby hits cinemas on September 16.
