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BBC Wales journalist stars in new Bridget Jones film

Catriona Aitken
BBC News
Dan Heard Dan Heard in a suit and tie. Beside him, standing in a row, iare Gamal Fahnbulleh, Gillian Joseph, and Maryam Moshiri. They are all wearing smart jackets and smiling as they look at the camera.Dan Heard
L-R: Dan Heard, with fellow journalists Gamal Fahnbulleh, Gillian Joseph, and Maryam Moshiri on the day of filming

A Welsh journalist has traded the BBC Wales studio for a blockbuster film set as he pops up in one of the most highly anticipated films of the year.

Dan Heard said being in Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy was a "surreal" experience and top secret - even from his own mum.

It is the fourth instalment in the franchise - with a star-studded cast featuring Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth and Leo Woodall - and fans have been waiting nearly a decade since the third film came out in 2016.

Dan, who is originally from Llandrindod Wells, Powys, lives in Cardiff and has worked as a broadcast journalist, including for Radio Wales and Wales Today - but this was his first acting endeavour.

The 28-year-old explained he got the gig after he was recommended by a university friend who works for a casting agency.

"They were looking to have real journalists play a part in the film, and I was one of the four selected," he said.

"She recommended me and then I had to send in a little show reel type thing and I sent in some of the bulletins I had done for Wales Today."

Dan said he spent a Sunday filming in London in June 2024, first going through the makeup process and meeting the other journalists, before travelling to The Royal Courts of Justice to shoot his scene.

Dan Heard Daniel Heard wearing a suit, shirt and tie and standing in the BBC Wales Today news studio with the desk and screen behind himDan Heard
Dan Heard is used to the news studio from working as a broadcast journalist at BBC Wales

"It's part of a little montage of journalists reporting on a story, about halfway through the film," he said.

The film's main line-up were not there but, as the four journalists did a few takes, each saying their lines, filming with Renée Zellweger was simultaneously in full flow across London.

Dan added it felt "surprisingly normal" to shoot his scene, almost a recreation of his day job.

"I was just doing what I was kind of used to doing," he said.

"I was stood in the suit I wear for Wales Today, with an earpiece in, pretending to be fed lines," he said.

"It was like doing a piece to camera."

Dan continued: "I'm in it for about two minutes - a real kind of blink and you miss me."

Dan Heard Dan, who has short dark hair and glasses and is wearing a black puffy jacket and black backpack. He is smiling and looking at the camera and behind him is the Odeon cinema in Leicester Square, with twinkling lights and crowds of people outside.Dan Heard
Dan attended a preview screening of the film with some of the cast and crew at Leicester Square

But, despite his brief cameo, he has been inundated with messages from friends, family and colleagues on the first day of the film's release.

Having signed a non-disclosure agreement, Dan successfully managed to keep his role a secret before the film launched - including from his own parents.

"My mum is going to see it tonight, with my dad at our local cinema - it will be a bit of a shock for her," he said.

He and his partner travelled to London a fortnight ago for a special screening at the Odeon cinema in Leicester Square, but the main cast were not present, instead attending the official film premiere.

"We were at the cinema you see in the background in the first episode of Gavin and Stacey," Dan said.

"It's a bit surreal to be honest."