SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains massive spoilers for Bridget Jones's Baby. If you have not yet seen the film, and don't wish to know any major details before you've had the chance, we recommend clicking away to another one of our wonderful articles!
At the end of Bridget Jones's Baby, all seems right with the world. After years of sustaining an on-again-off-again relationship, Renee Zelwegger's Bridget Jones and Colin Firth's Mark Darcy finally finds a sense of permanence, as they are not only married, but have a child together. It feels like a natural ending, but it wasn't always the one that was in place. In fact, according to Firth, the way the film ended was actually determined by test audiences and how they felt about the conclusion.
The Academy Award-winning actor discussed the end of the film with me while we were diving into spoiler territory during a phone interview earlier this month, and explained that the end of Bridget Jones's Baby could have gone any number of ways. Ultimately, the filmmakers and studio decided the best way to choose an ending was to try to get a handle on what it was that people wanted from the finale of the third Bridget Jones movie, and that's what they went with for the theatrical cut. Colin Firth explained,
I don't think they have that much loyalty to anybody. They were going to wait to see what people wanted, and I think there was a determination to deliver a happy or satisfying ending. And I think they were hedging their bets until they started to see people's response. I think if, had the responses been different, I think we'd be looking at a different ending.
Given it is Mark Darcy who walks away the big winner in the end -- leaving Patrick Dempsey's Jack Qwant to hold his and Bridget's baby while he walks down the aisle -- I followed up with by asking if he was particularly satisfied with the film's end. Being perfectly and hilariously blunt, Colin Firth explained that it didn't really affect him one way or the other -- and in fact he wouldn't have minded a less satisfying ending. Said the actor,
I don't think I'm in a position to judge. You might be asking the wrong person, because I'm not really your classic rom-com audience. I rather like an unhappy ending. Call me an old misanthrope or something. Or a complicated ending, or something. You know, the baby belongs to one guy, but she ends up with the other. That's the thing I think would have been interesting. In the end, we're in the romantic comedy world here, and I think people go for a particular reason, for a particular escape - a diversion. So I think, I'm probably not the best person to confer with in those things.
It seems we know how Colin Firth would have voted if he were a participant in the test screenings for Bridget Jones's Baby - but what do you think? Do you think that Bridget needed to wind up with Mark, or would you have liked to see a twist more in line with what Firth proposed? Hit the comments section below with your thoughts!
