Exclusive
MORE ABOUT THE BOY
I was terrified before I met Renee that I made a big error – but I’m so lucky to have worked with her, says Leo Woodall
Leo also reveals his dreams of becoming an actor almost got 'stomped out' at school
WHEN he met Bridget Jones co-star Renee Zellweger for the first time, actor Leo Woodall admits he was absolutely terrified.
But the pair hit it off instantly, and fans now have just days to wait for the release of the movie, in which the pair passionately kiss despite a 27-year age gap.
8
8
8
On Valentine’s Day, Renee, 55, returns to her famous role in Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, with Leo as toyboy park warden Roxster.
And the movie heart-throb reveals he was a bag of nerves when he first met his leading lady, along with movie director Michael Morris, just a week before filming began.
He said: “I was terrified . . . I got on a Lime bike, but it was a rookie error because I turned up and it was a hot day.
“And I had just cycled for 25 minutes and I was so hot and drank two pints of water the second I arrived. I was sweating terribly.”
READ MORE ON LEO WOODALL
Thankfully, Renee put Leo, 28, at ease. He explained: “She is so iconic. It would be easy for her to have this gravitas, this intimidation about her.
“But she is so humble and lovely and kind and sort of just goofy that it cuts through all of that.”
Speaking during a YouTube interview, he added: “She’s one of the best people on the planet, she really is.
“She’s so unbelievably kind and warm, and I’m very lucky to have worked with her.”
Most read in Film
In this latest movie, Bridget learns how to navigate life as a single mum after her screen husband Mark Darcy, played by Colin Firth, tragically dies.
‘I wasn’t good at much’
Her former romantic interest Daniel Cleaver, portrayed by Hugh Grant, is back, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, Emma Thompson and Isla Fisher also star.
Renée Zellweger's changing face through the years as star reprises Bridget Jones role 20 years after original
In true hilarious Bridget style, our heroine meets Roxster while she is caught in a precarious position during a visit to London’s Hampstead Heath with her children.
Talking about filming those first, funny scenes, Leo said of his character: “He’s a guy who meets Bridget when she’s hanging off a tree . . .
“And it’s sort of timed in a way that she’s been encouraged by her friends to get back on the [dating] horse and, you know, get some joy back in her life outside of work and motherhood, and they find a connection.”
Recalling how im- pressed he was with Renee as an actress, Leo told Virgin Radio: “I imagine it’s a tonne of pressure on her shoulders, but . . . what was so extraordinary about seeing how she conducts herself is that every single day on set, she led the crew of 200 people to the end, all with smiles on her face.
“I mean, she hung off a tree . . . she was supposed to be harnessed, but she didn’t tell anyone that actually the harness wasn’t working.
“She was hanging on by her fingertips for about an hour, and then they were like, ‘You OK, Renee?’.
“And she said, ‘Yeah I’m good’. And they were like, ‘Is the harness not working?’ She’s like, ‘No’. Her fingertips were holding her on to this tree and she had no complaints.”
8
Landing the part of Roxster was a dream come true for Leo, who has also starred in Netflix miniseries One Day and hit show The White Lotus.
“I never thought I would be in a Bridget Jones movie,” he says. “It is very surreal and very special and I’m soaking it all up.”
As one of Hollywood’s rising stars, London-born Leo has the world at his feet.
But there was a time, after going to a “rough school” and getting sacked from his first job as a shop assistant, that he feared his life was heading nowhere.
I hang tight to the best people in my life and I don’t get too attached to the hoo-ha of the business
Leo Woodall
Talking about the inner-city education he received in London, Leo — whose dad, stepdad and grandma are also actors — said: “I went to this school which was not good, to be honest. It was really rough.
“I think any sense of wanting to be an actor got immediately stomped on while I was there.”
Instead, Leo dreamed of making it as a PE teacher. He said: “I wasn’t really good at much but I liked sport and loved my PE teachers.”
But when one told him that he needed good grades for a teaching role, he didn’t think it was for him.
He said: “My dream was shattered when I realised you had to not get an F grade.”
Leo’s back-up plan was to be a stuntman. He recalled: “I remember I used to drag the mattress off my bed and slide it down the stairs.
“I love that s**t. When I was in stuntman mode, I was a pro! Outside of it, I was clumsy as hell. I had a couple of moments where I would fall off walls and crack open my head.”
Sadly, Leo’s luck didn’t get much better when he landed his first job as a shop assistant at a clothes store.
Acting didn’t really grab me. But suddenly, at the age of 19, I felt like I had caught a bug and all of the history melted away
Leo Woodall
He told a podcast: “I worked in Hollister when I was, like, 17.
“I hated it. I can still remember the smell of the Hollister cologne. It was the one in Westfield in West London. I mean, I just remember I was really bad at it as well.
“I was encouraged to talk to the customers, but not just talk to them, to help them find an outfit. I can’t do that, like, ‘What!?’
“I’d occasionally get not quite told off, but they’d be like, ‘Leo, you know . . . interact with them more’.
“I’m like, ‘What is this? This is a shop, people go to buy clothes’. Suddenly, you’re a stylist. I wasn’t very good at it.
“So I eventually just kind of stopped returning their calls. And then, when I eventually said, ‘Do you know what? I think I’m going to leave’, they were like, ‘Leo, we’ve already basically sacked you’. ”
Finally, at the age of 19, Leo — who has been dating his White Lotus co-star Meghann Fahy, 34, since 2022 — realised his best shot for a career was following in his family’s footsteps and trying to make it as an actor.
8
8
‘It was a tough life’
He said: “It has to be in my DNA in some way. I didn’t want to do it at first because of the family history. Acting didn’t really grab me.
“But suddenly, at the age of 19, I felt like I had caught a bug and all of the history melted away.”
In 2019, he made his TV debut in Holby City. Three years later, he got his break starring as Jack in The White Lotus and, two years after that, as Dexter Mayhew in Netflix show One Day.
Coming from a family of actors helped Leo to adjust to life in the spotlight and he is enjoying his newfound wealth.
He said: “Before I even wanted to be an actor, I was aware that it was a tough life.”
The star told how he was warned by his family about the pitfalls of work rejections, but added: “You can only be so ready for tough times.
“I’ve been very lucky so far, and I’m definitely fortunate that I’ve got them to turn to if I need advice.”
Off-screen, Leo shuns the showbiz lifestyle and prefers to surround himself with close family members.
And he has kept his relationship with American actress Meghann low-key.
They met filming The White Lotus in Sicily, but only went Instagram official last February.
Meghann — who has appeared in TV shows Gossip Girl and The Bold Type, and worked on Broadway — received an Emmy nomination for her role as Daphne in the HBO/Sky series.
Leo says they are good at keeping their relationship “as private as we can”.
But at the start of the year, they went on a romantic mini-break to the Maldives and Meghann posted an update from the beach.
Modest Leo said of his life away from the cameras: “I hang tight to the best people in my life and I don’t get too attached to the hoo-ha of the business.
“I think the work is the reason why we do this and, aside from that, there’s some fun to be had.
“But, apart from that, it’s pretty much just family and the cosy parts of life that are the things that I cherish most.”
READ MORE SUN STORIES
As for what the future has in store, Leo’s dreams are simple.
He said: “I think I’d just love to be healthy and happy and able to work.”
8
8
Topics