Renée Zellweger is our British Vogue Cover Star!

0:07I'm so excited for today's episode and it looks like you are in the Paris Vogue office is that right? I am indeed in the Paris Vogue office. Oh, I feel like it was just a heartbeat away that the two of us were there on a blistering hot day after Vogue World recording on the terrace. It is definitely not hot and blistering today. It is pouring it down with rain and the balcony that we took a photo on is like completely drenched and cold. And it's a very cloudy vista from where I'm sitting. Oh, no. But in sunnier news, today's episode is so fun. It's with your cover star, Renee Zellweger. Choma, will you tell me a little bit about this issue?

0:55I'm a huge Bridget Jones fan, so this is very exciting for me. Same. And I feel like in releasing this issue out into the world, I've discovered so many other kind of like Bridget Jones, like secret Bridget Jones fans. Sleeping Bridgets. Sleeping Bridgets. It's, you know, one of the really exciting things about this issue, aside from the fact that Tony Goodman, who is a good friend of Renee's star at the cover with Nikolai von Bissner, besides that, the interview was conducted by none other than Hugh Grant. It is fab. Yeah, and it's so hilarious. And Hugh worked with my colleague, Olivia Marks, and, you know, he's a tough edit.

1:37He doesn't like any changes not to be approved. And he's very particular. And it was just gold. Like, it was kind of listening in on two friends having, like, cocktails. It was so much fun. I love Hugh. And I just, I read the whole story imagining his voice reading it. And it was delightful. It runs quite long. And we had a hard time sort of, like, deciding what to cut because it was such good stuff. And the new Bridget Jones movie, Mad About the Boy, is coming out, I think, on Valentine's Day, or at least that's when it's coming out in the U.S. Yes, and we have a screening next, actually, this Friday that I'm hosting with Renee, which is going to be fun.

2:23So I'm going to get to actually see the film before everyone else. Oh, I'm jealous. Very jealous. No, I'm excited. I'm excited. All right. The headlines of the week. Choma, you are in Paris. Tell us why. So it is Couture Week here in Paris. And I've been here since a very late Sunday night. So I came in time for the Schiaparelli show, which is obviously the sort of like biggest kickoff for a couture. There was a Jacquemus show on the weekend, but Monday was like, and several men's shows running through the weekend. But Monday was officially the beginning of Couture Week. And Schiaparelli is like, you know, the show that everybody kind of starts everything off.

3:15And it's always sort of high drama, high theatrics, an amazing casting. Kendall Jenner closed the show. And there was the likes of Angelina Kendall and Alex Consani. and you know it's just like this sort of ultra feminine ultra theatrical I mean they played father figure which always makes me happy which referencing your dear Harris Dickinson from the movie Baby Girl and that infamous scene um and I feel like we're gonna hear that song playing through through fashion month don't you it's so good it's like it's so like and it it sort of works when you're doing like this very slow saunter down a runway, which is the signature new Gapparelli strap.

4:00Oh my God, I love that. And then it was Dior. Maria Grazia showed her sort of latest couture collection. And there was very much historical shapes. A lot of these panniers that were under the dresses and boning that you could see into, but they were all cut above the knee, mostly. These sort of mini kind of hoop skirts. Yeah, I noticed that. I like that. They just saw gigantic ones at Valentino, so it's definitely like a historical reference that's continuing. I thought the Schiaparelli show was very glamorous. It felt to me like the fantasy and the richness of what couture is supposed to be. But I also want to know, Chomo, what was the feeling on the ground of after the Willy Chavaria show?

4:44I think Willie was over the weekend. I don't think I was there for Willie, but I sat next to Sarah Moa and she was blown away by Willie's show. And I think we're all here wondering how designers are going to be responding to the current political moment, particularly American designers. And I think Willie always strikes a right no. It never feels like a sort of empty gesture. It always feels meaningful. He always manages to sort of meet the moment. And it's great that, you know, he's partnering with Adidas. So it's like a huge, he has a huge brand behind him too. I think Willie, to me, just feels like he understands the cultural zeitgeist.

5:29And it's such a difficult thing to navigate. It really is. It's such a difficult thing to navigate. He knows his people. Yeah. I also want to talk about Choma. What is the vibe at Chanel right now? They had a big front row. They had Kylie Jenner, Dua Lipa, Jenny. Does it just feel like we're sort of in a holding pattern as they wait for Mathieu? Does it feel nice to see the Atelier be able to have a bit of their own moment? Yeah. I mean, it was interesting. I went to preview the collection at the atelier and I always love going to the Chanel atelier because there's just such it's like a family.

6:10There's such camaraderie and there's people who've worked there for decades. And one of the couturier, I guess they call it Le Petit Man, one of the one of them in the studio. It was her last. She was retiring and it was her last dress that she was making. and everybody gave her this like wonderful round of applause as her dress was being fitted. Oh, that's nice. Yeah, so it was a really lovely time to sort of see and to see the number of women in the atelier and then the sort of like sense of community. And I think that they're probably all really excited about what's coming, but they're also having their own moment, you know.

6:49I will say it felt quieter. I think it does feel like there's this anticipation building And I think that, you know, he's coming into a really lovely environment. You know, it feels like a warm environment. So I think it's going to be really something special. Good. Well, I'm excited. I'm glad that was the takeaway. And then I loved your post about Mr. Armani being the chicest man in the room at 90 because he totally is in his little velvet evening jacket. I feel like the big moment of the week was the Valentino first couture show from Alessandro. There were rapturous accounts of it filtering through.

7:27People were like booping at the end. It was almost like everything that you imagine like a sort of like modern couture presentation to be. It was very dramatic. You walked into this dark, very narrow room and the title of the collection was vertiginous, but in French. And so you had the audience on these very steep steps. So there was a very small front row and many, many rows. In fact, the kind of press row didn't start until row four. So you were kind of like pitched at this angle, which was quite kind of like unsettling. Interesting. And I think that was obviously the point. And people were warned.

8:10There was an email that went out before just to warn people who are either claustrophobic that they might feel. Oh, wow. Like there might be a sense of sensory overload. And there really was, like in a really kind of amazing way that the looks had these kind of exploded proportions, like, you know, these massive hoop skirts. And the hand of the clothes was just incredible. All that sort of opulence and extravagance and fantasy that we expect to see with Alessandro Michele at Valentino, just like on steroids. It was a multi-generational cast, which I thought was really smart. He always has these very kind of poetic show notes.

8:51And his partner, I think, is a philosophy scholar or philosophy lecturer. So, you know, you always kind of feel like you're getting a philosophy lesson or when you read the show notes, because he was talking about this idea. Hold on, I have them right here. It kind of opens with a quote from Umberto Eco about the list and this idea of the list being the origin of culture. So if you can see, I mean, sorry, Chloe's the only person on this podcast that's ever going to see this, but it is literally like a 48-page document. Wow. And the vertigo of a list is what he was talking about. Oh, my God. The vertigo of a list is such a nice, poetic way to talk about how long one's to-do list is.

9:39Yes. Yes. I mean, I could go on about this collection. I mean, there were these beautiful, like really embellished. I mean, some of the detailing that I couldn't really see from where I was sitting, but I can imagine you could see these incredible kind of 3D embroidered tights under the looks and feathered hats and everything was just like extreme and magical and fantasy like. Like, but yeah, then at the end of the Valentino show, it was as if the models were walking in a wind tunnel. So you saw all these really dramatic silhouettes kind of blowing in the wind and their hair being below. It was like they were walking towards like the French Revolution or something.

10:18It was crazy. And he played the famous Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet piece at the end of the show. And all the walkings were, all of the models were walking towards the wind and their hair was blowing in the wind. And then he had these like strobe lights. It just felt like what like being immersed in like a couture, kind of like a modern couture experience should feel like. So fabulous. OK, what else have you been doing in Paris, Choma? What shopping have you done? What dinners have you had? I had dinner with Claire Thompson-Johnville. Oh, yes. Have we mentioned that she was officially appointed the editor?

10:59I don't think we have. Editor of French Vogue. Yeah. And there was a party for her and the new editor of GQ France, also named Claire, at the Ritz, right? Did you go to that or were you not in town yet? I was not in town yet, but I heard it was really fun. And I think everyone's really excited to have her here. So we had dinner with my beloved Francesca Ragazzi, who I always try and see when I'm in Paris. We had a really great time. um and i went to the um alia has a new kind of massive store uh in paris uh on rue saint and it's really something um i had to sort of leave so i didn't go shopping for more shoes or bags you do i do associate those alia shoes with you i feel like you're the first one i saw so as a so as a kind of antidote i sent myself on the you know on the recommendation of sally singer who's an excellent who's an excellent shopper to the zara concept store it's called like 117 rubac and it's like a home store and and it has kind of a curated selection of clothes and i don't usually to be honest i don't often shop in zara i just don't yeah but i bought i'm a total sucker i bought some i'm wearing some like coated white zara jeans because they looked really fab and then i got these kind of like vintage inspired silk pajamas from the zara home collection great oh i want to go there i know i i think that i wonder if they have a concept store in i don't know if they have one anywhere else yeah but they're really cool um so that was my high low moment couture and zara from couture to zara oh from alaya to zara a to z and everything in between.

12:52I just needed to scratch the itch. Choma's Couture Week for me to Z. Oh, big announcement today. We are recording this Wednesday afternoon. And this morning, Glenn Martins was named new creative director at Maison Margiela. Choma, you are a big Glenn Martins fan. And if we recall on one of our first podcasts, Choma Martins shamed me not knowing who Glenn Martins is. And I revealed myself as not the fashion file that people sometimes suspect me to be. Well, now you are very well versed in this diverse of my mind. Now I miss Martin's, basically. It's mine's world and we're just living in it. So tell me, is he a good choice for this?

13:33Why? Are we excited? He's a really fantastic choice. I think it was kind of like a natural kind of fit. Him and Martin Margiela went to the same school, the kind of really famous one in Antwerp, which is the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts. He's a natural successor. Like here's the way that he reworks and twists silhouettes and sort of makes you reconsider a very, sometimes very ordinary pieces in a way like he makes them extraordinary in a way that I think Margiela also did. whether that's like a pair, sort of a twisted pair of jeans, a simple tank top. Like he sort of has a way of reimagining the sort of most ordinary things in our wardrobe.

14:14And I think that's what Glenn is so good at. Like he did so much at Y Project. And I think he's taken that to the next level in the last few years with his, with the collaboration that he did for Jean-Paul Gaultier Couture. I think that was when people started to really pay attention because that was sort of an excellent show. And then the work that he does on the other end of the spectrum with Diesel, which is much more kind of accessible. So I think he's shown that he has kind of incredible range and energy for new ideas. Choma, I had the best outing this weekend. I took Alice Albert to the Meet the Breeds convention at the Javits Center.

15:00It is the largest canine convention in the United States. And we sent a photographer on Saturday. And Alice and I went on Sunday. And we were theoretically scouting for dog cover girls. And we met so many gorgeous dogs. And my best in show was I met a Pekingese named Armani, speaking of how chic Mr. Armani is. And Armani's siblings are Prada and Gucci. And I also met an Afghan hound named SZA, who was my best in show. And SZA's sisters are Cardi B and Doja Cat. And they were fab. I can't wait to go deep on this story. It was really something. And you know what? These breeders and pet owners really take their craft seriously.

15:52What else did we like this weekend? Oh, I was hotly following the blooming corpse flower, Petruchia. What is this? Okay, this is a flower. I have not been hotly following this. This is a flower that's like six feet tall. It looks quite phallic and it blooms. It's native of Sumatra and it blooms like once every 15 years this one week. And the blooming smell is of rotting flesh. But it became this TikTok sensation. There was one in Sydney and then one at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, and people were lining up for hours to see this flower. And Anna Cofola wrote a hilarious piece about her being the Internet's stinkiest it girl and dressing her for her coming out.

16:36And it was really delightful. So that's how we are countering the tough, tough days of the beginning of the Trump administration over at Vogue because we are trying to find – Trying to find joy. Yeah. In stinky flowers. Exactly. So what do we think about Sundance? I haven't been keeping up. I just saw a picture of Io De Beery in the row. Oh, my God. She looked so fab. Sundance has been much chiquer than usual. I feel like in the past few years, it's been like buffalo check and snow boots. And this year, the ladies were like, uh-uh. I am wearing pointy toe stilettos. I am wearing dresses. Ayah Dabiri was completely swathed in split-piece soup colored the row cashmere.

17:30Someone on Twitter said she looked like your rich cousin who you only see once a year, but she brings you great Christmas presents. Accurate. Yeah, she looked fantastic. Rachel Sennett looked adorable in this little coquettish miniskirt suit. Actually, we have a direct Sundance correspondent. Taylor Antrim and Lisa Macabasco are there right now. And there have been two standout movies so far. Lurker, which is a fan stalker movie. Sounds quite creepy to me, but, you know, go forth. Which is a first film from a young director. And Becoming, which stars Josh O 'Connor, which is in an apparently incredible performance as a cowboy dealing with the loss of his ranch from wildfire.

18:16which is sadly appropriate timing wise. The awards are given out on Friday and it'll be interesting. It's always interesting as a sort of early marker for what films people are going to be interested in for the year. Oh, when are the Grammys? The Grammys are this weekend. They are. It came around so quick. I know. Who are you looking forward to? Good question. I mean, Gaga is apparently performing, which everyone's very excited about. Oh, that's exciting. Beyonce is nominated for a lot. Charli XCX is nominated for Best Album. Oh, Charli. Sabrina Carpenter. Sabrina Carpenter moment. I'm afraid that Doji gets Best New Artist.

19:00We love Doji. I think she will. She's just like blown up. She's just like everywhere. Yeah, and then last weekend, we found out who is going to the Super Bowl. And guess what? It's Taylor Swift. What? Taylor's boyfriend is going again. That's how we know him here.

19:19The Run-Through will be back in just a moment.

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20:08And we're back. So our deputy features editor, Olivia Marks, joined me to talk to Renee, which was hilarious. We talked about the making of the issue. We talked about, obviously, Renee's new film, Bridget Jones' Bad About the Boy, and lots more.

20:29Hi, Renee. Hiya. Hello, hello. How are you doing? I cannot complain. All things considered, it's a great day. Good, good. I mean, we're so excited to have you and we're so excited for your new film, Bridget Jones, Mad About the Boy, which is out very fittingly on Valentine's Day. Can you tell us a little bit about the film? just catching up with uh with bridget in this new chapter in her life she's a single mom now i think helen said it's the most personal of all of the the bridget moments you know she said that this is you know a reflection of her own experience of um uh finding her way through grief and beginning again in her life that's where we catch up with bridget and to mark the occasion we had your co-star Hugh Grant interview you.

21:23Can you interview everybody all the time? I think there's a lot of missed opportunities. I agree. He took it very seriously as well, didn't he? Yeah, no, he's very good at it, you know. You know, the interview was so funny and charming and really captured your friendship. He described the experience of interviewing you and as someone he knows so well as Odd. How was it for you? Well, for me, most encounters with Hugh, I mean, the interview was similar. It was amusing. You know, he'll always surprise you with his approach to sort of navigating Odd, which is always fun. I mean, reading that interview, I couldn't help but think back to the characters as you both play in the original Bridget Jones and how there's that amazing comedic chemistry between the two of you.

22:21And it feels kind of the same off screen, which was such a joy to read. And I think it really resonated with so many of our readers. How much of yourselves and that kind of amazing dynamic that you have did you initially bring to the original film? I mean, I didn't, yeah, I don't know. I didn't know him at all. I've only ever met him as Bridget. And then I would leave, you know, you know, I'd meet him, I'd see him at a wrap party or, or whatever they'd scheduled as the big goodbye for everybody before we, you know, part ways. And, and, you know, and then I would speak like I usually do. And he would look at me strangely, and then we'd meet again in several years, you know.

23:05So when we get together, it's usually, you know, as Bridget and Daniel, and not so much as Hugh and Renee, but in between, when you're doing these, you know, crazy shoot days and the strange things that you go through, you know, there's a pretty quick intimacy on the sets, the things that you share, you know, because you depend on each other so much. And there's always comedy because there's always controlled chaos and, you know, nothing's funnier than barely controlled chaos. Well, what was it like to be back on set together for this time? Very familiar. Very familiar. I mean, it's been 25 years, you know, and so there's a, yeah, there's just a real friendship and affection.

23:47I care for him a lot and I, you know, I root for him all the time. I mean, that was evident when you arrived for the interview with a bottle of whiskey for his birthday. And, you know, I was there for that part and I was a bit worried that it was actually Hugh Grant's birthday and we'd made him work on it. but in fact in fact it was two months prior but he said that you never forget um what other presents have you bought him during your friendship oh mostly whiskey yeah you know um actually no that's not entirely true you know he bought me a lot of uh of these books we were in thailand and um and i was uh staying out of the sun because you know i'm texan and i grew up in it.

24:35So he bought me these books about sunny holidays, um, like places to go to get sun, you know, making fun of how I was running to the shade every chance I got. And there were like six or seven of them. And I remember thinking, wait, is he now, has he done this because he's making a point about how ridiculous I am running for every single little tree branch that I could find? Or is he, is he, um, is he doing this because he knows that I'm going to have to buy two new suitcases to get them home. So I thought, okay, for reciprocity for one birthday, I went and got him the biggest book I could possibly find.

25:13And he was flying to Morocco to go and play golf. And I thought, oh, you know what? I'm going to sneak it on his plane. And then he's going to have to somehow find a way to get it home. And it's enormous. It's a coffee table book that It needs its own stand because it is the size of a coffee table. It was a Helmut Newton book. Wow, nice. Yeah, it was a beautiful book, but it wasn't so much the content as it was that it was enormous, you know, and it was going to inconvenience him ridiculously, and I was so excited. Well, it turns out that the book apparently is illegal in Morocco because it's considered pornographic.

25:53But for those who don't know, Helmut Newton was a very famous photographer. He shot a lot for Vogue and his images are often quite provocative, although I wouldn't consider them pornography. They are quite erotic. Erotic, yes. That's a good word. Yeah. Well, so anyhow, he almost went to jail. So that was exciting. I would say that was pretty good in terms of reciprocity, reciprocity, but mostly whiskey. Mostly whiskey. Well, it's nice to have a friend. I know you sound like a good friend who's always buying you bottles of whiskey. Less nice to have a friend who's going to land you in jail. But yeah, I was going to say, I don't know.

26:36The prank, the prank was worth it. I think the reaction to the interview was insane. People were so excited to hear you two talk and it did feel like you were eavesdropping on the conversation of two friends. It was, it was really something special. That's really nice. Thank you. I had a nice time. I really think he's on to something there. No, I think we're going to commission him some more. Let's see what he can come back with. I know Olivia had to work with him quite closely, so she understands how to work with him as an editor now. Sorry, Olivia, you're up again. You're going to be up. You're going to be his editor.

27:13I'll relish every opportunity because, yeah, he's very serious about getting it right as well. Back to the movie, I'm sort of curious how you get into Bridget Jones mode. Is there a switch that just goes on and you know how to be her or is it like are there certain things that you need to do in order to prepare? Yeah, it's a process, you know, and it's starting over each time and trying to become familiar again with, you know, her walk and how she carries herself and how she speaks. But mostly it's being in the company with everyone again. I always felt that she sort of shows up in the middle of all of us, you know, between Helen and I.

27:57And in the past, you know, Sharon and Beat Van as directors, and now with Michael, she sort of shows up in the middle there when we're laughing together, talking about what she might do. and, you know, comedic moments we could come up with. And that's when I feel her. That's when I feel like, oh, yeah, there we go. Okay, we're here now, you know. I mean, you do such a good job of nailing the accent. And I know that you've talked about how it wasn't easy first time around. Is it like riding a bike? I lived in, by the way, I lived in America for 20 years and I can't do the accent. So, I mean, well, I understand.

28:36And I've lived with a man who grew up in Australia and a mother who is Norwegian. And it's atrocious. I can't. It's, you know, it's just process. And the first time, I guess it was difficult because, you know, you're learning about that. It's not for you so much your ears is your face. You know, it's how you form the words in your mouth. It's using different muscles and articulating in a different way entirely. It's not just, oh, it sounds like this, and then you speak the way that you normally do, because you'll never make the, you know, it won't sound like it's supposed to. And I don't know.