Renee Zellweger 'could have died' while preparing for Bridget Jones role

Renée Zellweger is returning as beloved romcom character Bridget Jones, and opening up about the serious warnings she received from doctors while preparing for the role.

Renee had to gain weight to play the character in Bridget Jones' Diary (2001) and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004). She also quickly shed the weight after the movies were done. But, the process made her feel "mentally whacked" and "all over the place."

She also got serious warnings from doctors to stop gaining and losing weight so quickly.

She once told Closer: "I had a panic attack with all the specialists talking about how bad this is for you, long term, putting on that much weight in short periods of time. They're all saying, 'You must stop this now, or you're going to die'."

Following the warnings, Renee opted out of any drastic changes to her weight for the third installment in the franchise: Bridget Jones' Baby.

In a 2016 Vogue interview, Renée Zellweger reflected over the backlash she received over her physical appearance, saying: "Bridget is a perfectly normal weight and I've never understood why it matters so much. No male actor would get such scrutiny if he did the same thing for a role."