Hugh Grant has revealed he was involved in the creation of his character’s scenes in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.

The Notting Hill actor played Bridget’s on-off love interest Daniel Cleaver in 2001’s Bridget Jones’s Diary and the 2004 sequel, The Edge of Reason.

However, he opted out of the third film, 2016’s Bridget Jones’s Baby, and Daniel was seemingly killed off, but a teaser at the end revealed he had survived a plane crash, allowing Grant to return.

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the British actor revealed he “stepped aside” from the 2016 film because Daniel “just didn’t belong” in the story – and that was almost the case for the upcoming instalment.

“I loved the script – it made me cry, and I wanted to help with this one,” Grant explained. “But really there’s no part for Daniel Cleaver in it at all. They wanted him in it, and in the end, they’d done something I wasn’t crazy about.”

The Paddington 2 star decided to write some of Daniel’s scenes himself and the filmmakers liked them so much they used them in the movie.

“It’s absolutely the best (Bridget Jones book), and I think the movie is very funny and very, very moving,” he added. “I’m not in a lot, I did a week’s work, that’s it… But when you see the film, you’ll be very moved.”

Bridget Jones creator Helen Fielding wrote the screenplay for the project, which is an adaptation of her 2013 novel of the same name. The story follows mother-of-two Bridget as she ventures back onto the dating scene after the death of Mark Darcy.

The fourth movie, once again starring Renée Zellweger in the titular role, will be released on Peacock in the U.S. on Valentine’s Day 2025 and in cinemas internationally on an undisclosed date.

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