Passes the Bechdel test

Bridget Jones's Diary

Name: Bridget Jones's Diary
Released: 2001

2001. Directed by Sharon Maguire, written by Helen Fielding and Andrew Davies and Richard Curtis.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
18 women characters. 34 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 6 scenes out of 107.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

The film

Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) is an average woman struggling against her age, her weight, her job, her lack of a man, and her many imperfections. As a New Year's Resolution, Bridget decides to take control of her life, starting by keeping a diary in which she will always tell the complete truth. The fireworks begin when her charming though disreputable boss takes an interest in the quirky Miss Jones. Thrown into the mix are Bridget's band of slightly eccentric friends and a rather disagreeable acquaintance into whom Bridget cannot seem to stop running or help finding quietly attractive.

Released: 13 Apr 2001
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.8 / 10
Metascore: 66 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 8 wins & 32 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Bridget 159 lines, woman
Daniel 48 lines
Mark 44 lines, man
Tom 22 lines, man
Dad 17 lines, man
Mother 17 lines, woman
Dantel 12 lines
Jude 12 lines, woman
Sharon 11 lines
Perpetua 7 lines, woman

Full cast, 44 people

Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones
Colin Firth as Mark Darcy
Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver
Jim Broadbent as Bridget's Dad
Gemma Jones as Bridget's Mum
James Callis as Tom
Sally Phillips as Shazza
Shirley Henderson as Jude
Embeth Davidtz as Natasha
Lisa Barbuscia as Lara
Celia Imrie as Una Alconbury
James Faulkner as Uncle Geoffrey
Charmian May as Mrs. Darcy
Paul Brooke as Mr. Fitzherbert
Felicity Montagu as Perpetua
Charlie Caine as Handsome Stranger
Gareth Marks as Simon in Marketing
John Clegg as Elderly Man
Salman Rushdie as Salman Rushdie
Matthew Bates as Kafka Author
Jeffrey Archer as Jeffrey Archer
Patrick Barlow as Julian
Rebecca Charles as Receptionist
Honor Blackman as Penny Husbands-Bosworth
Dominic McHale as Bernard
Joan Blackham as Shirley
Joseph Alessi as Interviewer 1
Rhydian Jai-Persad as Interviewer 2
Neil Pearson as Richard Finch
Paul Ross as Mr. Sit Up Britain
Stewart Wright as Stage Manager
Claire Skinner as Magda
Dolly Wells as Woney
Mark Lingwood as Cosmo
Toby Whithouse as Alastair
David Cann as Cameraman
Lisa Kay as Eleanor Rose Heaney
Sulayman Al-Bassam as Kafir Aghani
Donald Douglas as Mr. Darcy
Renu Setna as Mr. Ramdas
Emma Amos as Paula
Sara Stockbridge as Melinda
Crispin Bonham-Carter as Greg (uncredited)
Sarah Alexander as Daniel Cleaver Lover (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 34% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 107

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers

Scenes	Women's lines	Men's lines
1 to 3	12	4
4 to 6	20	9
7 to 9	9	1
10 to 12	5	1
13 to 15	15	5
16 to 18	2	0
19 to 21	3	0
22 to 24	11	6
25 to 27	1	0
28 to 30	21	0
31 to 33	3	0
34 to 36	0	5
37 to 39	7	2
40 to 42	3	6
43 to 45	12	7
46 to 48	4	0
49 to 51	24	7
52 to 54	2	2
55 to 57	3	1
58 to 60	19	8
61 to 63	5	0
64 to 66	3	1
67 to 69	2	3
70 to 72	1	0
73 to 75	6	4
76 to 78	0	2
79 to 81	17	8
82 to 84	5	11
85 to 87	2	1
88 to 90	13	14
91 to 93	3	2
94 to 96	3	6
97 to 99	4	0
100 to 102	8	2
103 to 105	13	12
106 to 107	1	0

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scenes

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

BRIDGET: Ido... indeed. {CONTINUED mn ad ONA ALCONBURY: - Come and look at your ¢ravy, Pam! i think it’s going to need sieving.

JUDE: ight. — Good. So do you think I shouly eed nae oo =— BRIDGET: Yes. I mean no, BRIDGET ©.S. As you can see - just like a family ~ but with much more vodka. At that\moment a ver young, giz walks past in a…

PERPETUA: ‘I’m very excited indeed Gavin: let’s move on it - the last thing we want is some towel-head buying it from under our noses. { looks up } Mo… BRIDGET: Morning. inn es Ll 2 odes ss 4 thé zkin hax str ignt gu pgegen ow ep ha aignt yet PRESENCE Sp StAgt werking hay st es in. delicious away. > …

MAGDA: \ - Aloof..unavailable..ice queen. I Alwof. ‘unavailable. .ice queen, { @ Lae A, i : ; t : - 54K INT. BRIDSET’S OFFICE. Geneaan OFFICE: DAY … BRIDGET: Thank you so much for your enquiry. { hangS up and turns to Daniel )° You were saying... But the phone goes again. BRIDGET . Sorry. Publicit…

NATASHA: I’il do tea, you ask about the boats. - She turns. It’s Mark Darcy and Natasha, returning from 2 walk outside. ‘Natasha stays» ‘by: the-door… BRIDGET: Oh Jesus.. She is, amongst other things, aware of her hair.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 67 are women's.

262 lines from women, 130 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

18 women and 25 men in the cast. 34 women and 22 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 5 of 598. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 13 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 65% of the words (8,047), men 35% (4,361). Women have 67% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

Exhibit E: the test the other way

Run the other way, for men, the film scores 2 out of 3.

Conversations between two named characters

Two women

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

6 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 39% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Sharon Maguire (woman)
Written by: Helen Fielding (woman), Andrew Davies (man), Richard Curtis (man)
From the novel by: Helen Fielding (woman)
Produced by: Eric Fellner (man), Jonathan Cavendish (man), Tim Bevan (man)
Shot by: Stuart Dryburgh (man)
Edited by: Martin Walsh (man)
Music by: Patrick Doyle (man)
Production design by: Gemma Jackson (woman)
Costumes by: Rachael Fleming (woman)
Cast by: Michelle Guish (woman)