Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Renee Zellweger (Actor) .. Bridget Jones

Born: April 25, 1969 in Houston, Texas

Best Known For: Bridget Jones

Early-life: Renee Kathleen Zellweger was born on April 25, 1969, in Houston, Texas. Her father, Emil, is a Swiss-born electrical engineer who worked in the oil refinery business, while her Norwegian mother is a nurse who moved to America to work as a governess. Zellweger graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in English literature in 1991. She caught the acting bug at university, where she took drama classes to gain the necessary grades to graduate. After finishing her studies, Renee worked as a waitress to make ends meet, before landing a role in a beer commercial.

Career: After starring in Ben Stiller's directorial debut Reality Bites and Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, Renee became a household name after starring as Tom Cruise's love interest in Jerry Maguire. In 2001, she beat many home-grown actresses to star in the lead role in Bridget Jones' Diary and its sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, despite being neither British nor chubby. She was nominated for an Academy Award in 2002. She received another nomination the following year for her performance in Chicago, before picking up the Best Supporting actress award in 2004 for her role in Cold Mountain. Her other notable film credits include Me Myself and Irene, Appaloosa and Cinderella Man. More recently, she has appeared in Miss Potter, Bee Movie, Monsters vs Aliens and My Own Love Song.

Quote: Speaking about starring as Bridget Jones: "It was an acting challenge, the only thing hard about it was being away from home and loved ones and leaving the dog behind."

Trivia: She gained 20lbs for her role in Bridget Jones's Diary.

Hugh Grant (Actor) .. Daniel Cleaver

Born: September 09, 1960 in Hammersmith, London

Best Known For: Playing bashful-yet-handsome British men.

Early-life: Hugh John Mungo Grant was born in London on September 9, 1960, and grew up in Hammersmith. "I was a charming little boy, but a bit neurotic," says Grant. "I was very pale and small for my age and I used to faint a lot." His mother was a teacher, his father a carpet salesman-turned-painter. He has an older brother called Jamie. Grant won a scholarship to Oxford in 1979, where he tried his hand at student drama, at one point featuring in Hamlet - performed in Star Trek costumes.

Career: Grant started out as a member of comedy troupe The Jockeys of Norfolk. He appeared in his first film, Privileged, in 1982. Other early projects include The Detective, A Very Peculiar Practice, The Demon Lover and Ladies in Charge. He had higher profile roles in Maurice, The Lair of the White Worm and The Remains of the Day. His big break came when he was cast in Four Weddings and a Funeral in 1994. Big-screen productions since include An Awfully Big Adventure, Sense and Sensibility, Notting Hill, Mickey Blue Eyes, About a Boy, Love Actually and two Bridget Jones films. He could recently be heard in animated film The Pirates!

Quote: "I just don't believe in love at first sight any more, even though I've based my whole career on the concept. In my experience, power, money and influence always attract the opposite sex. It's something that I've always exploited - with good results."

Trivia: He is a patron of Pancreatic Cancer Action.

Colin Firth (Actor) .. Mark Darcy

Born: September 10, 1960 in Grayshott, Hampshire

Best Known For: Being Mr Darcy in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice

Early-life: Colin Andrew Firth was born on September 10, 1960 in Hampshire. His parents, Shirley and David, were both lecturers. He has a sister, Kate, and younger brother Jonathan, who both followed him into the acting profession. He spent some of his childhood in America and Nigeria, where his father taught, before the family moved back to the UK. He studied acting in London. One of his early successes was in the 1983 stage adaptation of Another Country, and he subsequently made his big-screen debut in the film version a year later.

Career: Firth worked steadily throughout the 1980s in notable projects such as Falklands drama Tumbledown, A Month in the Country (opposite Kenneth Branagh) and the period offering Valmont. But it was the 1995 costume drama Pride and Prejudice that made him a superstar. Since then, he's notched up roles in several successful films, including The English Patient, Fever Pitch, Shakespeare in Love, The Importance of Being Earnest, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Love Actually, both Bridget Jones movies, both St Trinian's films, The Accidental Husband, Mamma Mia! and A Single Man. It was 2010 movie The King's Speech that really consolidated his reputation. It garnered a number of glittering awards and Firth's Bafta Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role was consolidated by an Academy Award for Best Actor. Films since include Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Magic in the Moonlight.

Quote: "I like playing strange characters. Some people might say it has something to do with a hidden part of myself, but I think it's a lot simpler than that: normal people are just not very interesting."

Trivia: Firth pulled out of providing the voice of Paddington in the big-screen version of Michael Bond's books. He was replaced by Ben Whishaw.

Mila Jankovic (Actor) .. Mabel Darcy

Chiwetel Ejiofor (Actor) .. Scott Walliker

Born: July 10, 1977 in London

Best Known For: 12 Years a Slave.

Early-life: Born Chiwetelu Umeadi Ejiofor in London on July 10, 1977, to Nigerian parents. His father was a doctor, and his mother was a pharmacist. His younger sister Zain is a correspondent with CNN. Chiwetel was 11 during a family trip to Nigeria when he and his father were involved in a car crash. His father was killed and Chiwetel received his trademark scars on his forehead. He began acting in school plays at Dulwich College and went on to join the National Youth Theatre. He attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art but left after his first year when he landed a part in Steven Spielberg's Amistad (1997).

Career: Before Amistad, Chiwetel starred in TV movie Deadly Voyage. The film G:MT - Greenwich Mean Time (1999) was not well received, but his next film, Dirty Pretty Things (2002), led to him winning a number of awards. Since then, he has starred in Twelfth Night (2003), Love Actually (2003), Four Brothers (2005), Serenity (2005), Kinky Boots (2005), American Gangster (2007), 2012 (2009) and Salt (2010). An accomplished stage actor, he won a Laurence Olivier Award in 2008 for playing the lead role in Othello. More recently he played the lead role in the critically acclaimed 12 Years a Slave (2014).

Quote: "I like to disappear into a role. I equate the success of it with a feeling of being chemically changed."

Trivia: Ejiofor won a Bafta for his performance in 12 Years a Slave.

Leo Woodall (Actor) .. Roxster McDuff

Michael Morris (Director)

8:00 pm - 10:20 pm, Today on Sky Cinema Exclusives HD (517)

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