Chiwetel Ejiofor discusses his roles in ‘Bridget Jones’ and ‘Love, Actually,’ mentioning the positive reception towards his character’s perspective in the latter movie.

Chiwetel Ejiofor is familiar with famous British romantic comedies. He is known for his role as Keira Knightley’s husband, Peter, in the 2003 film Love, Actually. In that movie, he played a character who was oblivious to his best friend’s attempts to woo his wife using cue cards.

Now, twenty-two years later, Ejiofor has a chance to win the heart of a leading lady with a heartfelt speech of his own in another iconic British rom-com: Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, available for streaming on Peacock. In a recent interview with Decider, Ejiofor expressed his satisfaction with this new role.

“It’s nice to see that the world has come to appreciate Peter’s perspective on this issue from Love, Actually,” Ejiofor mentioned humorously. “I felt like I was the only one defending Peter all those years ago.”

That said, his character is not without a rival in the new Bridget Jones, the fourth film in the franchise—directed by Michael Morris, and based on Helen Fielding’s 2013 novel—that finds Renée Zellweger once again returning to her iconic role. The new movie picks up four years after the death of Bridget’s husband, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), with Bridget now a widow raising two kids by herself. It doesn’t help that she keeps embarrassing herself in front of her son’s uptight science teacher, Mr. Walliker (Ejiofor), who wields his whistle like a weapon during his morning crosswalk duties. But, hey, at least a hot, young twenty-something (played by Leo Woodall), wants to kiss her.

It’s a new love triangle for a new era of Bridget’s life. Ejiofor acknowledged there are “echoes” of the prickly Mr. Darcy in his character, but stressed that he strove to make the role his own. “Mark Darcy is iconic. You wouldn’t want to even try to step into those shoes.”

Decider spoke to Ejiofor about distinguishing Mr. Walliker from Mr. Darcy, how it felt to finally get the girl, and what fans can look forward to in the upcoming The Old Guard 2 movie.

DECIDER: I want to start with the whistle, because it seemed like you had a lot of fun with that. Was that really as loud in real life as it sounds in the movie?

CHIWETEL EJIOFOR: It was! It was one of those “with great power, comes great responsibility” things. As soon as I blew the whistle on the first day, everything stopped. Everyone stopped! The cast, crew, background actors, people walking on the street. Everyone just sort of stopped still, like five-year-olds. I realized, at that point, that I had a lot of power.

I was enjoying it for that afternoon. And then the next day, when I turned up on set, I was handed the whistle, which had been muted by the props department. It wouldn’t produce any noise from that point. [Laughs.] A lot of the sound was put in afterward, in post.

Your character, Mr. Walliker, feels like a spiritual successor to Mr. Darcy, but he’s also very much his own character. Did you look to Colin Firth’s performance from the first film for inspiration?

I was very familiar with Colin, and his performance of Mr. Darcy, obviously. But Mark Darcy is iconic. You wouldn’t want to even try to step into those shoes in any way. Clearly, there was some echoes, but I definitely felt that Mr. Walliker had his own essence. He meets Bridget in a completely different time in Bridget’s life, where she has very different challenges. As an educator and as a teacher, he recognizes what [Bridget’s son] Billy might need through the challenges of bereavement. That really stands out Mr. Walliker as a very different character. He does obviously seem quite buttoned up and uptight, at the beginning, but through the story, I think we really understand different sides to him.

Yes, you have a very touching scene with Billy, sitting at the campfire, when you ask him to tell you about his father, the late Mr. Darcy. How did you approach that scene?

We were up in the northern parts of the country—the Lake District, by Lake Windermere, which is an extraordinarily beautiful, rugged landscape. That connection with the outdoors lends itself to a slightly more meditative quality. I feel like all of that lent itself to that conversation about where magic is, that magic happens all around us, and how profoundly special this experience is. That sense of connection is very moving to me.

Being able to have a scene where a teacher is expressly guiding a young person through a challenging experience in their lives—it was very, very rewarding. Very emotional. That’s something that I happen to believe should part of the experience of teaching. [It felt like] the evolution, not just of Bridget Jones, but also the way that society is evolved—these kinds of conversations about mental health, and about how adults can be involved in that process for younger people has evolved over the years, quite profoundly so.

Tell me about working with Renée Zellweger.

It was such a great experience. It’s a little intimidating stepping into anything like the Bridget Jones franchise, because it is so beloved. People have such ownership of it. Having somebody like Renée, who is so warm and embracing, as you kind of go into this journey. [She] set the tone for the whole shooting experience. And [director] Michael Morris as well, was really great, and allowed the freedom to really explore those big romantic moments.

Yes, I’d love to hear about filming that big romantic speech you deliver to Renée at the end of the movie, where you wax poetic about Newton’s third law. How many takes did you do?

The writing was so specific, and a very Mr. Walliker way of talking. There was a real consistency to the way that he is. But it also demonstrated how he had opened up—how the chaotic, but magical quality of Bridget has affected him. It all felt very rich and very truthful—in a heightened way, of course—to the way that people understand the different things that they might need in life as they get older. We didn’t do too many takes, I don’t think. I think we shot that scene on our very last night of shooting. It was weighted in that way. It was very meaningful for a lot of different reasons.

I have to say, it was satisfying for me to see you as a romantic lead who gets the girl, after Andrew Lincoln made a move on your girl all those years ago in Love, Actually. Is that satisfying for you as well?

[Laughs.] Yes, exactly! It’s good to see that the world has come around to Peter’s point of view on this particular issue in Love, Actually. I feel like I was the only one out there flying the flag for Peter, back in the day. But now people have come around.

And now you get to get Renée Zellweger, so you get the last laugh.

[Laughs.] Exactly. Yes.

This is your first rom-com since Love, Actually, right? Do you enjoy working in this genre?

It’s never been by design for me. It really is what comes up. I have never really thought of an oeuvre for myself. That is some of the magic about being an actor—some of the important decisions happen in your absence! Somebody else thinks, “This might be a good part for Chiwetel,” and it can be really surprising. I don’t really put anything out there. I just try and do the work, and respond to the work, as best I can. Hopefully it works, and it engages with people and, then see what that might lead to. But [romantic comedy] is definitely a genre that I had a lot of fun, in this instance, working within. That was to do with a great part—I love the part—and a great script. The script was both funny and emotional. And of course a phenomenal leading lady in Renée. So who knows?

Before, I let you go, I’m so excited about The Old Guard 2. What can fans expect from the sequel, and Copley’s role in this movie?

It’s an absolute roller coaster. I think people are going to have a lot of fun with it. There’s a lot to it. All the great dynamics that were set up in the first film—in terms of what they’re exploring and their own interpersonal dynamics—all of that are even further looked at in the next one. Fans of it will have an absolute blast. I think it’s going to be great.

Do you have any insight on what the delay was on the release? I know it filmed back in 2022.

You’re always tinkering and tailoring, especially something and delicate and as fun as this. So I think sometimes it just takes the time it takes to make it all work.

You’ve just been cast in the upcoming Children of Blood and Bone movie. What can you say about where you’re at with that? Has filming begun?

I think I am about to jump in. Filming is starting, imminently. I’m very excited to work with Gina [Prince-Bythewood, who directs] who I worked with on The Old Guard. It’s a completely brilliant cast, so I’m excited to get involved with them. The books are amazing. It’s just a really rich universe, and I cannot wait to get started.