Bridget Forrester is a fictional character from The Bold and the Beautiful, an American soap opera on the CBS network. She first appeared in 1992 as the infant daughter of Brooke Logan and Eric Forrester. The character was portrayed by actress Ashley Jones from December 2004 to January 2011 as a regular, but was dropped to recurring status and continued to make appearances up until February 29, 2012, when Bridget left for New York along with a few others. Since 2013, Jones has continued to make guest appearances on the soap.
Casting
The role was originated by various child actresses. Agnes Bruckner portrayed Bridget as a rebellious teenager from early 1997 to 2000. This was Brucker's first job as an actress, which she described as an "incredible experience" which taught her about the industry. In 2013, she said: "I was only 11 years old, and being on a soap opera, especially at such a young age for me, was basically a very important acting class, just because there were so many elements of working with different directors, memorizing your lines, working with different actors, really learning how to act on a set." Jennifer Finnigan portrayed the role from 2000 to 2004 when she was replaced by Emily Harrison who left the show after only a couple of months. Actress Kirsten Storms previously auditioned for the role in 1999.
In December 2004, two time Daytime Emmy nominee Ashley Jones (Megan Dennison, The Young and the Restless) took over the role of Bridget Forrester. In 2008, she spoke of her first day on set, revealing "I was so intimidated because I was working with Katherine Kelly Lang, and I had all these crying scenes", and also remembering that she felt on edge having replaced Finnigan. By June 2009, Jones had appeared in over 600 episodes of the series. Initially, she had only planned to remain in the role for only two years, but said: "I didn't see any reason to leave, and I didn't want anyone else to play Bridget."
Jones opted to be let out of her contract in December 2010 to focus on other projects. She returned in a non-contract capacity in October 2011. Having appeared last in early 2012, Jones returned to tape a four-episode appearance in May 2013. The actress noted that she "didn't want to go back for a wedding of funeral" because "this is too cool a character to come back and just sit in the background. That's not fun." Discussing a possible future return, she said: "This is a fun character the audience really responds to, so I'm open to whatever they might have in mind for her." In July 2015, it was confirmed that Jones would return to The Bold and the Beautiful for a short arc from August 7 to 12. In February 2016, it was announced that Jones who is also appearing on General Hospital would briefly return as Bridget from February 16 to 19.
In August 2018, it was announced that Jones would reprise the role. The actress returned on August 20, 21, 22, September 25 and December 25, 2018. In March 2020, she reprised the role for a three-day guest stint from March 26 to 30 of the same year. She reprised the role later that year on November 2.
Jones returned again on March 31, 2022.
Development
Characterization
Jones stated that Bridget values her family which is "ironically, the most inconsistent yet the most consistent thing in her life", calling her the only family member who has her "priorities straight". She also described Bridget as being the "voice of reason" and "moral compass" of the Forrester family, even acting as a "nurturer" to her parents. Furthermore, she opined that Bridget's deep "personal turmoil" acts as life experience, allowing her to offer advice to others. Bridget became a doctor, as she "lives to help other people", with Jones stating that this was the "most natural thing in the world" for her to do. She also felt that another part of Bridget's choice to become a doctor was because she's "been through a lot of emotional challenges", all of which she has come out a stronger person. However, Bridget later became a fashion designer for Jackie M Designs, designing ladies high fashion while embracing more of a "sensuality and strength". Jones saw this as Bridget "coming into her own" and becoming "in tune" with her sexuality, saying "She’s a renaissance woman".