Renée Zellweger 'Gained A Few Pounds' for Bridget Jones's Baby: 'I've Never Understood Why It Matters'

The actress is back, and snapping back at haters

Updated on December 18, 2019 06:36 PM

Bridget Jones is back — this time with a baby bump — and Renée Zellweger is opening up about her weight gain for the role in Vogue UK‘s July issue.

Patrick Demarchelier/Vogue UK

Zellweger poses on the cover in a gorgeous floral Prada dress and snaps back at haters who have commented on her weight gain for the return of Bridget Jones in Bridget Jones’s Baby. (Mark your calendars: It’s set to hit theaters in September!)

“I put on a few pounds,” she says in her Vogue UK cover story. “I also put on some breasts and a baby bump. 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.”

And if you’re wondering about her hiatus from the spotlight, Zellweger is addressing her absence as well. “As a creative person, saying no to that wonderful once-in-a-lifetime project is hard,” she says. “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.”

RELATED VIDEO: Renee Zellweger: Her Changing Looks!

But during her time off, Zellweger says that she found herself again — and we can’t wait to see what she has in store.

“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” she shares. “You cannot be a good storyteller if you don’t have life experiences, and you can’t relate to people.”

For more on Zellweger’s return, look out for the new issue of Vogue UK, on newsstands June 9! Are you excited for Bridget Jones’s Baby? Tell us below!

— Jillian Ruffo