- Leo Woodall plays Rockster in the latest Bridget Jones movie, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
- But surprisingly, the heartthrob isn’t the favorite on screen boyfriend role Woodall has ever played
- Woodall ranked three of his characters in a new interview – but who came out on top?
Although the new Bridget Jones movie may be his first major film, Leo Woodall has already played a variety of heartthrobs in his blossoming career.
So much so that the actor, 28 – who will star as Rockster opposite Renée Zellweger’s Bridget in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, released on February 14 – is able to rank which character he feels was the ‘best boyfriend’ to play on screen.
And surprisingly, Woodall didn’t choose Rockster as his top choice.
In an interview with BBC Radio 1, the actor watched a clip of his performance as Jack in The White Lotus, and quipped, “Wise man, at least.”
Rockster was up next, to which Woodall laughed, “Compared to Jack, I think he’d edge it. He’s got a good soul.”
Branding Dexter – who Woodall won our hearts as in One Day – “a sensitive boy”, it was then time to choose the best boyfriend.
“I’m going to go Dexter,” Woodall confirmed. “Early days, he was slightly problematic. But he comes good.”
Leo Woodall opens up about Bridget Jones romance
Woodall has also chimed in on the age-gap romance he takes on in the latest Bridget Jones movie.
The film will see Zellweger, 55, reprise her Oscar-nominated role of Bridget as she navigates dating as a single mother – during which she meets Rockster.
“When two people find the connection, why shouldn’t they see where it goes without judgment?” he said. “’Both dynamics should be equally normalised. It’s a good thing that we’re getting the reverse. Because it’s not uncommon – it’s just not portrayed much in movies.”
Woodall added that parts of the role made him feel “vulnerable”.
“In some ways, [being objectified is] part of the gig,” he went on.
“But also, there are sides of it that can make you feel quite vulnerable and exposed. That side isn’t as fun.”
Bridget Jones creator reveals why she went with age-gap relationship
So why create such a wide age-gap romance in the first place?
Writer Helen Fielding explained all in an interview this week.
“For years and years we’ve seen Hollywood show men 40 years older than their partners, and it’s not even discussed,” she told The Times.
“Now movies are finally exploring a desire between younger men and older women that’s reciprocal, not transactional.”
She continued, “Bridget and Roxster both see something they want in each other – and Bridget being sexy is to be celebrated.
“I really wanted to smash the idea with this movie that there’s a sexual sell-by-date for women and not for men, and stick it to the awful cougar stereotype.
“It makes me think of a woman in animal print leering over a friend of my son’s, going, ‘Do you want a sherry, darling?’ It’s got to stop, because it’s really not reflecting what’s happening.”
