- Leo Woodall is the star of Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
- The actor plays 29-year-old Roxster – who strikes up a relationship with Renée Zellweger’s 51-year-old Bridget Jones
- But Woodall says his character is more than just a ‘toyboy’
Leo Woodall is one of the stars of the latest Bridget Jones movie.
In Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Woodall, 28, meets Renée Zellweger’s Bridget Jones on a dating app – and, despite their 22-year age gap, the pair begin a relationship.
But despite the word ‘toyboy’ being bandied around in reference to his character – a 29-year-old park ranger at London’s Hampstead Heath called Roxster – Woodall is reluctant to use the description.
In an interview with The Telegraph, the actor revealed, “Look, I’m someone who typically leans into wanting to find the humor in things, and not taking things too seriously, particularly when it pertains to myself. So it’s not the phrase that bothers me, really.
“It’s more that in the story, Roxster is actually more than just a toyboy. They do have a real relationship and find a real connection. They’re very fond of each other – and he does ultimately show his maturity later in the story.
“So maybe there’s a slight hesitancy to accept the toyboy label for this character, just because it’s about more than that.”
Leo Woodall welcomes reversed age-gap romances on screen
Woodall – who shot to global success in the Netflix series One Day as Dexter Mayhew – got his big break as Jack in season two of The White Lotus.
And it was on that series that he met his now-partner, Meghann Fahy, who is six years his senior.
Of age-gap romances, Woodall continued, “I don’t actually think that the younger man and older woman dynamic is that unusual. It’s just that we’re not used to seeing it on screen. We’ve seen it countless times with older men and younger women and people don’t bat an eyelid, do they?
“But there are films and series that have come out recently where they are showing it the other way around, and maybe over time, if we keep doing that, it’ll become something people don’t notice as much. Something people don’t need a label for.”
Leo Woodall gives his verdict on online dating
Although Roxster and Bridget meet on Tinder, Woodall himself is a huge advocate for meeting The One in real life.
“I know lots of people who have found love that way, and there’s nothing unusual about it any more,” he continued. “But online dating is like online everything, and there is a worry that some people are stopping themselves from finding it in real life purely because they’re able to sit at home and choose what they want like a pizza topping. And maybe that really narrows [down the possibilities].”
Woodall added, “I think falling in love is about being as open as you can be. There’s a kinetic energy you only get when you’re in a room with someone.
“You also wouldn’t necessarily judge a person [by certain basic facts] in the same way that you might in a job interview – or you shouldn’t, anyway.”
