‘Months of agonies’: Hugh Grant reveals scrapped Bridget Jones 3 plot

Hugh Grant's role in the movie was originally supposed to be much bigger. Photo / Getty Images

Hugh Grant has lifted the lid on the very unexpected way he was originally supposed to star in the third film in the beloved franchise.

Hugh Grant’s appearance in Bridget Jones’ Baby may have been very fleeting - just a picture in two newspaper articles – but his role in the movie was originally supposed to be much bigger.

Ahead of the premiere of the fourth film in the beloved Bridget Jones franchise, the actor, 64, revealed fresh details about its predecessor, which was released in 2016.

In it, Bridget (Renée Zellweger) has split from her boyfriend, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), and falls pregnant after reuniting with him shortly after a one-night stand with dashing American businessman Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey) – leading to confusion over who the father might be.

If the original story had gone ahead, Bridget’s on-and-off lover and sparring partner would've been in Jack's position.

Dempsey’s introduction to the story was welcomed by fans, but if the original story had gone ahead, it would have been Bridget’s on-and-off lover and sparring partner, playboy Daniel Cleaver, who was in his position.

However, as Grant told SiriusXM recently, he had to pull out of the film after “months” of “agonies”.

“That was when [Bridget] has a baby, and it had a great set-up that she’s pregnant and doesn’t know whether it’s Darcy’s baby or Daniel’s baby. That was marvellous,” Grant told Radio Andy.

“But I could never work out how Daniel would handle either being the father or not being a father. Couldn’t make him work. And we went through agonies, months and months, and in the end, I said, ‘I think I’d better sit this one out.’ So I did. And they made a wonderful film anyway.”

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, premiering next month, picks up with Bridget navigating the dating world as a widowed mother-of-two following the death of Mark four years earlier.

While the tragic plot twist means the exit of Firth from the franchise – fans will likely be somewhat comforted to see Grant return as the infuriating and charming Daniel.

“[It’s] really moving as well as funny, because it’s based on — you know Helen Fielding who wrote the Bridget books, this last book is based on her own experience of losing her husband and bringing up her kids alone,” Grant explained on the radio show.

“So it’s got a huge amount of heart. It made me cry. Have I made it sound too dark? It’s also extremely funny.”

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is set to be released in New Zealand cinemas on February 13.