Toni Collette turned down the lead role in 'Bridget Jones's Diary': 'I have no regrets'

• Toni Collette revealed during an interview she passed on the lead role in the Bridget Jones franchise.
• "I have no regrets — life happens as it's meant to," Collette said.

It's hard to imagine anyone else playing Bridget Jones on the big screen, but according to Toni Collette, that very well could have happened.

The actor, who currently stars in "The Power" and "Mafia Mamma," revealed this week during an appearance of "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen," that she turned down the lead role in the Bridget Jones franchise and has no regrets.

"I don't regret anything," Collette said. "I think there are no coincidences. Anything that's meant for you in life is meant to happen. I have no regrets — life happens as it's meant to. But that is true, yeah."

The actor previously told Yahoo Entertainment late last year that she passed on the role because she was appearing in the Broadway musical "The Wild Party" at the time.

"I wasn't available, but sometimes I think about that, and I think, I don't know, that character's so similar to Muriel," referring to her breakout role in the 1994 film "Muriel's Wedding." "It might've been too close. And I try not to repeat myself."

Renée Zellweger ultimately ended up portraying the lovable character of Bridget Jones in three films — "Bridget Jones's Diary," "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," and "Bridget Jones's Baby — from 2001 to 2016, which arguably cemented her status as an A-list actor.

"We were in the curious position of people saying: 'They've gone for some American to make it more marketable,'" director Sharon Maguire previously told Total Film. "Well, we weren't thinking we'd make loads more money because Renée's not in the Julia Roberts or Mel Gibson stratosphere. But she's got this inner irreverence and she's got this innocence and vulnerable exterior. She also has a very good sense of physical comedy and was so dedicated to getting it right, When I first met her, she said: 'If you and I get this wrong, we're so busted.'"

Zellweger's days of playing the iconic character may not be over. "Bridget Jones's Diary" author Helen Fielding is reportedly working on a fourth film, which would be based on her 2013 book "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy."

"Yes I'm working on it and I really hope it will happen," Fielding told The Radio Times in 2022. "Every film that gets made is a miracle — it's really difficult to make films happen and to make them good. But I'd love to see it on the screen."