Relationships with age gaps are a rather big theme of Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. But although most of the casting in the film is spot-on, some of the cast are very different ages to the characters they’re playing. Here are the real-life ages of the Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy cast compared to their characters. I hate to break it to you, but Bridget Jones and Roxster were never going to work out.
Bridget Jones
Still scribbling away in 2025
(Credit: Universal Pictures)
Now, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy doesn’t explicitly specify how old Bridget is. But we can figure it out by examining the rest of the Bridget Cinematic Universe. So, in Bridget Jones’s Baby, she turns 43. And the titular baby, Billy, is ten in the new movie. Therefore, Bridget Jones is 53 in Mad About the Boy. Case closed. This is slightly older than Bridget is in the book – she’s 51 in that. Renée Zellweger is now 55 – two years older than her character.
Roxster McDuff
Just dropping this pic here for purely journalistic purposes x
(Credit: Universal Pictures)
Er, yes, that is the genuine name of Bridget’s new toyboy. He’s 29 and then 30 in the film, same as the Mad About the Boy book. Leo Woodall is 28 now, but was actually 27 while he was filming the movie. So, the age gap between Renée Zellweger was really 28 years – bigger than the 23-year gap between their characters Bridget Jones and Roxster. The age difference between the actors just makes Bridget and Roxster’s age gap extra jarring, and makes it more obvious that the couple were never going to work out in the long term. I guess that means Roxster is still available for us?
Daniel Cleaver
I would so not trust him to babysit
(Credit: Universal Pictures)
This one requires maths. Daniel Cleaver and Mark Darcy were friends while they were students at Cambridge together, so are presumably the same age, or a year apart. We know Mark Darcy was four years older than Bridget, because she played in his paddling pool naked when she was four and he was eight, and they joke about the “quit pervy” age gap. So, Daniel Cleaver is supposed to be 57 in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. That’s quite a lot younger than Hugh Grant really is. The actor is 64 now. Er, maybe Daniel Cleaver took a lot of gap yaaars after sixth form?
Mr Wallaker
The wallpaper is as green as his flags
(Credit: Universal Pictures)
The book doen’t specify exactly how old he is (please, someone email me if you’ve been able to figure it out). It’s assumed he’s in his 50s like Bridget. The actor Chiwetel Ejiofor is actually quite a bit younger than this. He’s 47 now, and filmed some of the movie while he was 46, making him nine years younger than Renée Zellweger. I guess Bridget Jones still gets to live out her toyboy dreams with Scott, but in a relationship that’s more practical in the long-term, because Scott is at a more similar stage of life to her than Roxster is. Yet another reason why they’re perfect for each other.
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Featured image via Universal Pictures.
