Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy has Hugh Grant back as Daniel Cleaver after he skipped the third movie, Bridget Jones’s Baby, and he returned in a different role. Now joining the trend of long-awaited sequels is the Bridget Jones movie series with its fourth installment. тιтled Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy and directed by Michael Morris, it’s based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Helen Fielding, and it reunites with Bridget a decade after the third movie – and, unfortunately, Bridget is dealing with a personal tragedy.

Bridget’s husband, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), died four years before Mad About the Boy, but Bridget continues to struggle to adjust to life without him. Bridget’s friends encourage her to date again and go back to work, and so she does as she decides it’s time to live again. In the process, Bridget meets 29-year-old Roxster (Leo Woodall), with whom she has a relationship, and Mr. Walliker (Chiwetel Ejiofor), her son’s science teacher who ends up helping him with his grief. Also accompanying Bridget is Daniel Cleaver, in his big return after his fake death in Bridget Jones’s Baby.

Hugh Grant Agreed To Return For Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy With Some Daniel Cleaver Changes

Hugh Grant Needed A Reason To Return As Daniel Cleaver

Daniel Cleaver is introduced in the first Bridget Jones movie and he was Bridget’s boss. After heavy flirting with each other, Bridget and Daniel begin dating, but Daniel is known for being a womanizer. Daniel cheats on Bridget, and she ends up with Darcy. Daniel returns in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, where he continues with his womanizing ways and reconnects with Bridget when they work together on a new travel TV series. This time, it doesn’t take much for Bridget to see he hasn’t changed.

Daniel is the big absentee in Bridget Jones’s Baby, where, instead of another Darcy-Bridget-Daniel love triangle, there’s a Darcy-Bridget-Jack mess when Bridget doesn’t know who the father of her baby is. In Bridget Jones’s Baby, Daniel’s absence is explained through a plane crash, and he’s presumed ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. Right at the end of Bridget Jones’s Baby, Daniel is revealed to be alive, but this wasn’t enough reason for Grant to return for Mad About the Boy, as he wanted more for his character.

Speaking to ᴅᴇᴀᴅline ahead of the release of Mad About the Boy, Grant explained he had read the source novel and loved it, and though he was ok with playing Daniel again, he wanted something different for him. Grant shared that they had to work out something for Daniel as he didn’t want him to be the same womanizer from the past movies, and wanted more dimension and depth for the character. Luckily, he got what he wanted, and Mad About the Boy had the series’ best Daniel Cleaver.

Why Hugh Grant Skipped Bridget Jones’ Baby

R.I.P. Daniel, But Not Really

Had Bridget Jones’s Baby happened as planned, there would have been a place for Daniel Cleaver in it, but Grant told People in 2024 that he couldn’t fit his character in the story, so he decided to step aside. As production of Bridget Jones’s Baby was reportedly delayed due to creative differences between the script and the cast, it was initially reported that Grant disliked the story and left, which was later denied by producer Tim Bevan (via THR).

Although Daniel’s presence was missed, Grant was right in choosing to step down from Bridget Jones’s Baby, as he wouldn’t have fit the story. It’s unclear what Daniel’s role would have been in Bridget Jones’s Baby, but having him instead of Jack (Patrick Dempsey) would have felt repeтιтive and would have been detrimental to Bridget’s story and development. Daniel’s fake death actually felt fitting and helped give the character the change Grant wanted for him in Mad About the Boy.

How Hugh Grant’s Daniel Cleaver Is Different In Bridget Jones 4 From The Previous Movies

Daniel Cleaver Is Now An Ally & Friend Of Bridget

One of the biggest surprises in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is that Daniel Cleaver isn’t a love interest anymore, and even more surprising is that he’s now one of Bridget’s closest friends. Daniel is so close to Bridget and her family that he even babysits her children, Billy and Mabel, with the former asking him about the women with the big physical attributes. Sure, Daniel is still a womanizer, but this time, he admits to having made big mistakes in the past and that he’s lonely, this after a health scare due to his heart.

With Bridget’s help, Daniel realizes he can still make amends if he wants to and repair some broken relationships, especially with his teenage son. Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy gave Daniel Cleaver the dimension, depth, and change that Hugh Grant wanted for him, becoming his best version out of all Bridget Jones movies.

Sources: People, THR.