Ten Interesting Facts about Bridget Jones’s Diary You Might Not Know (Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Pride and Prejudice)

ANGLOTOPIA
April 27, 2016
By John Rabon

Helen Fielding exposed the world to her thirty-something protagonist in the 1996 novel Bridget Jones’s Diary.  The popularity of the book across the population would lead to 1999’s sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, two films in 2001 and 2004 based on these works, another novel, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy in 2013, and a third film not based on that novel, Bridget Jones’s Baby in 2016.  With the film adaptations, actress Renee Zellweger has become as synonymous with the character as Bridget’s creator has.  If you want to know more about the books and films, read on.



Getting into Character

Before filming started, Renee Zellweger gained twenty-five pounds, put on a posh English accent, and started working in a real British publishing company.  Surprisingly enough, very few of her new coworkers actually recognised her.  Zellweger even kept a picture of then-boyfriend Jim Carrey on her desk, which employees who didn’t know her thought strange, but were too polite to say anything about it.

Friends in High Places

Salman Rushdie’s cameo in the first film was done as a favor to Helen Fielding.  The two have been long-time friends and she called Rushdie to ask him if he’d be willing to embarrass himself on camera. He recently jokingly tweeted that he considers it his finest work.



Actor Paradox

As the first two books were written well before the films came out, both of them actually make references to Hugh Grant and Colin Firth.  Of course, when they were cast in 2001’s Bridget Jones’s Diary, no reference to them is made in the film.  In the books, Bridget is actually a huge fan of the 1995 Pride and Prejudice mini-series and gets to interview Firth for her television job.


READ MORE HERE:http://www.anglotopia.net/british-entertainment/british-movies/ten-interesting-facts-bridget-joness-diary-might-not-know/

Benedict Cumberbatch to appear in new Stephen Hawking documentary (RADIO TIMES)

The Sherlock star will be interviewed for a new film about the theoretical physicist alongside Jim Carrey, Buzz Aldrin and Sir Richard Branson

Tom Cole

5:52 PM, 13 March 2013

Benedict Cumberbatch is one of a host of high-profile interviewees who will appear in a new autobiographical documentary about Stephen Hawking.

Science enthusiast Cumberbatch was nominated for a Bafta for his portrayal of the physicist in the 2004 BBC drama series Hawking, and in 2012 narrated three-part documentary series Stephen Hawking’s Grand Design.

The 36-year-old Sherlock star will be joined by actor Jim Carrey, businessman Sir Richard Branson, Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin and physicist Roger Penrose in the new Channel 4 production – also entitled Hawking – which will explore the extraordinary life story of the world’s most famous physicist.

The film – which will get a cinema release before being screened on TV – aims to chart Prof Hawking's development from childhood underachiever to scientific genius and media personality, and will explain how the Brief History of Time author learned to adapt to life after being diagnosed with Motor Neurone disease.

READ MORE: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-03-13/benedict-cumberbatch-to-appear-in-new-stephen-hawking-documentary

Yet another list of actors to play Dr. Who in the new movie. The names are getting more bizzare every day.

Doctor Who?

Sunday, 20th November 2011

Catherine Munn
Jacob Martin
Lucie Vincer
Stephen Puddicombe

So, somehow Hollywood got hold of the TARDIS phone number and The Doctor answered. Reeling from the news that Doctor Who will soon be hitting the big screen, we take a look at the potential actors who could play the infamous time traveller.

• Leonardo DiCaprio

Of course, if ol’ Leo took the role, it would only be on the grounds that the film was going to be part of the Oscars race. Therefore there would be lots of shots of deep, meaningful looks, the adoption of a different accent, and lots of shouty quotes that would fit nicely into those clips that they show for the Best Actor nominations: “You don’t know what it feels like to be me!” Or something like that. - Jacob Martin

• George Clooney

George’s version of the Doctor doesn’t have a sonic screwdriver, just a sonic smile; a flash of his pearly whites and the universe(s) is/are his oyster. George would also no doubt produce, direct and script the film, though he would have to be supported by an ocean of talent in the form of 10 talented assistants. (Well, 9 talented + Brad Pitt.) - Jacob Martin

• Eddie Izzard

With his fast-paced talking, intelligent wit and eccentric British charm, there is already lots of Doctor Who in comedian Eddie Izzard. We could expect improvised, rambling sequences where Izzard glides his way through surreal predicaments (perhaps involving difficult choices between 'cake or death'). And of course he has Hollywood experience, appearing in Oceans Twelve and Thirteen among others. - Stephen Puddicombe

• Robert Pattinson

Doctor Who may already have a huge following among teens and pre-teens, but why not expand it even further by casting the star of Twilight Robert Pattinson as the Doctor? With recent Doctors getting younger and younger, he certainly seems to be the next logical step. Obviously you would have to cut back on the good dialogue, humour and acting, but all that can be made up for with two hours of high quality brooding. You could even cast Kristen Stewart as the Doctor's assistant! - Stephen Puddicombe

• Vin Diesel

The most macho of our selection, a Doctor Diesel film would inevitably be a blockbuster of epic scale. Expect most of the budget to be spent on explosions rather than script, and The Doctor abandoning one of his many rules to become strongly in favour of guns. Lots and lots of guns. - Lucie Vincer

• Hugh Grant

“Oh, I say, um, I’m awfully sorry mumblemumblemumble, I, um, appear to have, um, arrived on the wrong planet mumblemumble. Gosh, you’re an awfully attractive alien…” This is Doctor Hugh Grant at his most science-fiction, before the film descends into an hilarious rom-com about a posh awkward bloke trying to find love on another planet. Expect jokes about his numerous bedrooms and his misplaced sonic screwdriver. - Catherine Munn

• Johnny Depp

Hopefully not in his frankly creepy Willy Wonka guise, Doctor Depp can go one of two ways: in one, he is stumbling backwards out of the TARDIS, clutching a bottle of extra-terrestrial rum and trying to drunkenly negotiate with a baffled Dalek. In the other (naturally directed by Tim Burton), he is dragging a reluctant Helena Bonham-Carter around the moodiest planets in the universe, and in a fit of quirky despair, has painted the TARDIS grey. - Catherine Munn

• Jim Carrey

Were The Doctor to take on an American identity Jim Carrey perhaps might not be a bad choice. Certainly fulfilling the eccentric side of the character, Carrey’s somewhat over-the-top acting would suit the role. Plot would most likely be based around the idea that The Doctor was actually adopted by an alien corporation as a baby and his life to this point has been a carefully controlled fabrication. - Lucie Vincer

• Tom Hanks

Going for the more mature Doctor now, Tom Hanks would bring something akin to his Robert Langdon character in The Da Vinci Code were he to play the time-travelling explorer/ mystery solver/ whimsy hunter. Therefore expect such witty one-liners as “We have to get to a library! FAST!”. - Lucie Vincer


The Yorker