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Would you ever do a sitcom with me? No. You haven't even finished the sentence.
Hugh Grant reveals his brutally honest, hilarious side in this candid interview full of sharp wit and unexpected stories.
Key Takeaways
- Hugh Grant’s humor is rooted in brutal honesty and self-deprecation.
- He is refreshingly candid about his personal and professional struggles.
- His quick wit turns even awkward moments into comedic gold.
- Grant’s relationship with fame and media is complex and often frustrating.
- The actor’s charm is enhanced by his ability to keep people relaxed despite his bluntness.
What the video covers
- Hugh Grant showcases his brutal honesty and razor-sharp comedic timing in a unique interview style.
- He shares amusing anecdotes about his difficult relationships with agents and personal mishaps.
- Grant humorously recounts incidents of road rage and awkward celebrity encounters.
- He discusses his complicated feelings about Christmas traditions and holiday decorations.
- The actor reveals his struggles with fame, paparazzi, and how his children react to his films.
- Grant talks about his experiences working with other celebrities like Jason Statham and Robin Williams.
- He openly admits to forgetting lines and being uncomfortable during auditions.
- The interview highlights Grant’s ability to deliver comebacks with deadpan sincerity.
- Despite his charm, Hugh Grant remains refreshingly candid and self-deprecating throughout.
- The video captures a side of Hugh Grant rarely seen in typical celebrity interviews.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction and Hugh Grant's Interview Style
- 02:00Agent Stories and Hollywood Arrest
- 03:51Personal Relationships and Quick Wit
- 05:12Holiday Traditions and Christmas Humor
- 06:30Celebrity Encounters and Zoo Anecdote
- 08:20Audition Challenges and Acting Struggles
- 11:57Fame, Paparazzi, and Family Reactions
- 14:35Final Thoughts and Humorous Reflections
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
No, you don't. You don't need to. If you only know Hugh Grant as the charming leading man, prepare to see a very different side of him. With his brutal honesty, razor-sharp timing, and complete lack of enthusiasm, Hugh can
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turn almost any conversation into comedy. Here he is at his absolute funniest. I'm the counter Paddington. He finds the good in people, and I find the bad.
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I've already found the bad in you, to be honest. Ouch! After I brought you that.
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[laughter] I'm hurt. And his friend came up to sort of try and protect him, and I was feeling very manly, and I said, "Do you want some?" And to my horror, he said, "Yeah, I do." He put [laughter] his camera down, and
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he was gigantic. So, I immediately chickened out and said, "Well, let's all calm down here, you know." So, how difficult was it breaking up with Liz? Was that difficult or You were together a long time, weren't you? Just pulled that in from nowhere.
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I don't know, 'cause you come in. You can't just say that like that. Backstage, and we discussed a few topics we might talk about, and that never came up, but okay, it's up now.
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[laughter] Well, Judas. Oh, please. Hugh never made life easy for his agents, and decades later, he's still gleefully revealing why. And judging by his stories, negotiating film deals was probably the easy part, especially when their biggest client got himself
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arrested. I remember calling my agent and saying, "I think there's been a mistake, 'cause you sent me a good script." And [laughter] and uh we Not not only was I terrible in the film, uh but I then chose to get arrested here
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in Hollywood a week before the film came out. I remember on the night of the event, calling my agent, who was a very, very um nice guy, great, good agent, very powerful agent here, but who never says anything negative about anything. Everything's
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great. And I said, uh hi, I said, um so, I've just been arrested with this hooker. Um, is that bad?
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And he said, Oh, that's not great. [laughter] But, in real life, didn't you pretend to be your own agent?
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I did. Uh, I've never been very good with being agented or with agents, and I have fired them left, right, and center. I fired one poor man, who was a brilliant agent, just because I saw his
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anus. His shower broke down. He wanted to borrow my bath in my suite, and I said, "All right." And I forgot he was in there. And I walked in, and he was on all fours washing. Who washes
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like that? I've never heard of such a thing. And anyway, the view was awful at the time.
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Grant is perfectly capable of keeping his temper, provided nobody puts him in traffic. Behind the wheel, his usual grumpiness apparently becomes full-scale road rage, and he's remarkably honest about how ridiculous it can get.
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A man I stopped for petrol somewhere in Long Island. And the guy who was I paying, said, "You know what? You look like that Hugh Grant. No offense." [laughter] None taken. A lot taken.
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I had bumped into my car. He hadn't, actually. And I attacked his car, not him, and ripped the windscreen wipers right off his car. And as soon as they were in my hand, I thought, "What in God's name
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have I done? But I'm so sorry." And drove him to the garage to um [laughter] Yeah, I was on my way to my wedding with my wife. I was very late. And uh trying to cross the road in Sloane Square in
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London, and a man falls off his bike in front of us, idiot. So, I Oh Christ.
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Tried to pick him up. And along comes Guy Ritchie, who I know a bit, 'cause I did The Man from U.N.C.L.E. with him. And he said, "Sorry, Hugh, it's my assistant.
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He's always falling off his bike. Get up, get up." There is almost no distance between what Hugh thinks and what he says. With comebacks this fast, nobody around him is safe. And as always, he delivers it as though he hasn't said anything funny.
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Do you keep in touch with people who presumably from the sound of things you had with her?
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Say that again, but clearer. Slower. Slower is the key with you. You know what? I'm so thrilled you came to the show. Will you come back? And I Don't just say no to get a cheap laugh now.
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I was just about to. I know you are. I can read your mind. But would you Would you come back?
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No. Because the first day I worked with you, I forgot my lines. I loved that.
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[laughter] OH, STOP IT. GENIUS. I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU DO IT. But you put the most uptight people at relaxed. But it is very tough.
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But But you are all relaxed. You're nice. I'm really uptight still. [laughter] It was the person standing opposite me in the rain.
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Is it still raining? [cheering] If Hugh Grant has any Christmas spirit, he hides it exceptionally well. Father Christmas irritates him, while the Elf on the Shelf seems to offend him quite a bit as well.
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The whole Santa Claus thing, what's that? It's terrifying, the idea of some old pervert coming down the chimney
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into a kid's room. [laughter] I I I used to beg my dad to lend me his shotgun so I could shoot the bastard.
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Done all your Christmas shopping? I love Christmas. I bet you do. [laughter] I'm that kind of guy.
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[snorts] I can tell. Crimbo gets me excited thinking about it. [laughter] Done all my present shopping already.
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Good. Yes. Um before I came here this morning, I put up some more decorations.
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[laughter] He doesn't know what Elf on the Shelf is. I've seen that little little green man.
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Yeah. Yeah, one of my boys has one of them. What? You're meant to move him around, are you?
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They move. You don't move them. Oh, I see that. Sometimes they move. All right.
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In the middle of the night. That's brilliant. Well, I can't wait to tell my children who've literally never slept in 4 years now that a little green thing moves at night. That's a brilliant idea.
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Fantastic. Great. Most guests arrived on Alan full of compliments and carefully rehearsed stories, but Hugh is not like any other guest. He always carries his brutal honesty with him. He delivers it so politely that it caught Ellen totally by
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surprise. I think we I think we did meet. I think we I think you gave me an award. I've only won one.
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It was tiny. It was about as big as that flower. And it was for um for being nice to the press. Incredible when you think how times have changed.
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Yeah. Just a huge fan. I think that you're fantastic and funny and smart and all those things.
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I wish I thought that about you. Um but I [cheering] No, I so I so do. I so do. You know, these magazine covers which uh they're they're everywhere and for some reason I look in every single one I look like
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Ellen DeGeneres. And I [laughter] I love Ellen. I love her, but I just I you know, it would be nice to look different from her.
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[laughter] Hugh once went on holiday with Jason Statham only to discover that even the animals preferred Jason. At the zoo, they completely ignored Hugh and flocked to Statham.
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You you're allowed to stroke the dolphins. And my family was allowed [laughter] to stroke the dolphins first.
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The dolphins were quite nice to us. They sort of went And then Jason Statham bends over the dolphins and they go mad, you know, it's like it was like this. They're up on their tails. They were doing backflips.
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And I was a little hurt that the dolphins preferred After dinner, you go to a sort of amphitheater and everyone sings together. And on the first night you think, "These people are freaks.
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This is a cult. This is ghastly." But by the third night, you know, you're singing, "Hands up. Give me hands up." You just love it.
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[laughter] I I liked it. Hugh Grant has spent decades winning over millions of viewers, but his own children won't even watch him. And beneath the jokes, the rejection clearly stings.
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I I make my children watch one of my films [laughter] every evening. And laugh at the jokes. If they don't, they don't get fed.
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Yes. It's a good rule. They don't I think they think that everyone's daddy is on the side of buses. You know, they don't [laughter] It's surprising that everyone was ri
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changes your life." And you're thinking, "Oh, shut up." And now that I have, I have to say it is it is quite life-changing. I recommend it.
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Yeah. Get some. Okay. Lots of people hate me. My son hates me. [laughter] Yeah, he came to see Paddington 2 the other day and all he said throughout the whole film is, "Why is Daddy in it so much?"
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And what do your kids think of uh Dad being a new Oompa Loompa? I think shame really. I you know Other kids have international human rights lawyers [laughter] Their dad is an Oompa Loompa.
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Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Auditions are already uncomfortable enough. One of Hugh's became particularly disastrous when he was asked to perform in an American accent, an experience he remembers less as an audition and more as a public humiliation.
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Well, it was only slightly heavy in that I don't do that many films, but it was such a good script and I love Mark and and Yes, I thought I could I thought I could be good.
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And you were. And he offered you a LOT OF MONEY. [laughter] [applause] I GOT ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH THE FIRST PAGE AND I JUST saw him out of the corner of my stand up and then he started to go, "Oh my god. Oh my god."
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And then was sicker than any man I've ever seen in my life. It was like a cat BEING SICK. IT DID YOU GET THE JOB?
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OH YEAH, I GOT THE JOB. BUT I SLEPT WITH HIM AS WELL, SO [laughter] NOW CAN YOU DO AN AMERICAN ACCENT?
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Not after my one experience doing it. I did it for a TV thing and for some reason it came out incredibly low and incredibly slow.
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[laughter] And and And really bad. Well, that's not so bad. [applause] Hugh's leading ladies know better than anyone that the charm comes with conditions. Put him beside a former co-star and the polished movie star act quickly gives way to teasing and exactly
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the kind of honesty publicists dread. Like I don't have a subtle bone in my body.
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Right. Do you think? I disagree profoundly, yes. My inner voice tells me the opposite.
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Right, Nicole. Yes. Where did we first meet? Ever? What? Can you remember that? To me it's very special. To you clearly.
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No. [laughter] I seem to be having a slightly more English accent now that I'm talking to you.
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Should I go a bit Aussie? [laughter] Don't you notice that I've suddenly started talking?
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have. He's a private investigator, actually. Ooh, I'm finding that strangely attractive. [laughter] I'd like quite like a dodgy bloke.
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find him attractive. You sound like You sound like a bloke that could flog me a toaster off the back of a van or something like that. Quite like that.
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Yeah. Bit dodgy. And Matthew, you play you [laughter] play a a I THINK YOU DO SWITCH SEATS.
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I WALKED IN AND I RAN into you and instead of saying hello, I grabbed you by the collar and I fully started kissing you.
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Yes. I remember that. [laughter] The quickest way to understand Hugh Grant might be to hear him talk about his parents. Even his family memories somehow come with a punchline and listening to him, you begin to see exactly where that famously dry outlook
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began. Were your parents supportive? Not at all, no. They they [laughter] is is one of your middle names, yes?
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Yes. Okay. Hugh Were you a giant baby? How did this happen? It's actually Hugh John Mungo.
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Hugh John Mungo, okay. Uh I don't know how it happened. I had very unkind parents.
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[laughter] Well, they're hopeless at that. I I they they're just not of that world. Dad is the one who famously tried to give Julia Roberts his coat at the premiere of Notting Hill.
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You know, you can't get worse or more embarrassing than that. Um Christian philanthropist, rather proper, and the cat would say, "Fucking feed me, YOU BITCH." [laughter] SOMETIMES WE'D SAY, "MOM, MOM, YOU YOU SAID THAT." AND [laughter] SHE'D SAY, "NO, DARLING,
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I promise you I have no control." Richard Curtis helped turn Hugh into one of the world's biggest romantic comedy stars. Grant has spent the years since repaying him with complaints, insults, and public humiliation. Somehow, that appears to be their love language.
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I didn't expect the fact that he would actually try and direct me. Um I don't like to be directed. I just like praise and flattery. And uh he actually tried to improve me and make me do different things. I didn't care for that at all.
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Yeah, how dare you? Mhm. I have apologized. [laughter] The only person who didn't want me, and in fact took an instant and violent dislike to me, that he did everything in his power to stop me getting the part,
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was the writer. And it is this [cheering] [applause] who we are going to honor tonight.
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Because there I would be in one of the the lulls in my career because of some flop or some arrest or whatever.
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And and I'd be frankly desperate for Richard's next film. And I'd be told, "I'm sorry, he's away for a year in Africa uh saving starving children." I found that annoying and frankly selfish.
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Hugh can remember an old grievance for decades, but names and details are another matter. When his memory deserts him in an interview, he doesn't even flinch.
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And you have Sandra Bullock as a degree of separation. Yes. How's she doing? She's lovely. She's lovely.
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I haven't seen her for ages, but um I my children love her. What's the What's the What's the What's the little yellow people?
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The Minions. The Minions, and she's the baddie in the Minions. Yeah. Scarlett No, something man. What was it? What he was doing? What?
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[laughter] What? Gangnam. I invented Gangnam Style in music and lyrics. [laughter] Yeah. Uh what can we tell uh our audiences without spoiling it for them about the elusive Waverly, especially those who are not familiar with the '60s TV
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series? Yeah, um well, he's he's the boss. I'm trying to remember. [laughter] He's Hugh doesn't hide his most embarrassing moments. He saves them for interviews.
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And the worse he looks in the story, the funnier he makes it. Nothing is too awkward once he knows it will get a laugh.
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And one by one these kids went up the ladder and they learned to swing beautifully and they get caught and then they'd fall gracefully into a net. And it was my turn.
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I get up the ladder and totally freaked out. I I couldn't handle the height at all. I couldn't even be helped across onto the platform. And in in the end I had to be brought down by one of the
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acrobats over his shoulder like a piece of paper. [laughter] And I went up to This is so bad.
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He said, "What about that watch you're wearing madam?" And I said, "No, no, no, I got that ages ago in France. That's that's fine." "In France, sir?
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Did you Did you declare that when you came into the country?" And I thought, "Never lie to these guys." I learned that lesson with the carpets. So I said, "You know what? As a matter of fact, I didn't. You are now
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charged with smuggling." [laughter] Retroactive smuggling. Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. [applause] That was weird cuz the people I campaign with give me a party every year. And at each one, they introduce me to another person who did something terrible to me. And
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it's just strange. [laughter] They say, "Oh, Hugh, I don't think you've met Bill. He burgled your flat in 1996." And you go, "Oh, hi. Hi. Well, have a drink. I I think you know where everything is, you know."
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[laughter] He is one of the few people who can turn being annoyed into a genuine talent.
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Very little escapes his irritation, and he's never shy about explaining why. Nonetheless, he is entertaining, especially when complaining.
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If I'm making a a text message, which you heard I love to do, and I have to wait, you know, you sometimes there's three letters on the same button, and you press it, then you have to wait.
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I'm almost in in despair with rage at having to wait those second and a half.
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Which is why you need a BlackBerry. Yeah. That That would solve everything. Yes. You become very If there's a very nice elderly person in front of me in the queue at the post office, I I want to throw them bodily
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to the floor. And that can't be healthy. So, listen, I'm very unhappy about how good you are in uh the Lobster.
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So, the rumors I've heard about you are true. You are a fan of Schadenfreude.
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That's exactly right. I don't like anyone have any having any success. But you you are very good. Uh it's a brilliant film.
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I I don't like working with very good actors cuz they show me up. And I was aware that he'd won bloody Oscars and things like that.
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I was not very happy about it. No, yeah. Yeah. And what do you think about when you're going to work with Hugh Grant?
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Well, what you probably don't know about Hugh is how jolly of a character he is. [laughter] Hugh seems to be always looking for the laugh. Give him the most ordinary question, and within seconds, the conversation has gone somewhere nobody
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expected. Like this time when he was asked about his health. a big fuss about health. I go to see the doctor a lot.
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Um I have a lot. Yeah, there was one who asked me to stop coming after a bit.
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I've had very, very bad luck with with doctors. Um I had I had one I used to go and I used to say, "I've got this terrible throat." And he go, "Oh, it's so bad." He always had what I had what I had
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except worse. [laughter] Oh, let's get Secret Santa out of the way first here because you're the last one. You haven't been given yours yet.
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Here you go. Thank you very much. Let's open this up and see if you like this.
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Could you do it for me? I don't really unwrap my own presents. I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOU re-gifted that to someone. I want to hear that you've used that and you've enjoyed it, okay?
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Yeah, yeah, no, definitely. So, enchanted by everything French. And uh it doesn't matter what it is. I I just love it. They say, "Would you" the butcher says to me, "Do you want the tête de veau?" You know, the head of the
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cow. Oh, we we do. Excuse me. Do you want the the tripe, which is the the intestines? Yes, yes, I'll have that.
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Fame offers absolutely no protection from Grant. From Meryl Streep to Timothée Chalamet, nobody is too respected, too young, or too successful to become the punchline. In fact, the bigger the star, the more tempting the target.
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Well, do you think Would your agent have ever sent you an Oompa Loompa overall to even consider? Would that have even crossed your path?
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Oh, I yes, I think so. They they know that I'm into the freak show stage of my career now.
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It's all I can get. Where does uh Timothée Chalamet rank ON THAT LIST? [cheering] [applause] WHAT?
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I I'M ASSUMING THIS IS NOT PART of the show that's going to be broadcast. I'll I'll tell you the truth.
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Um to be honest, I didn't like him. And um None of us did. Which is very short-sighted, but chooses she's not wearing glasses in this film, char- character thing. And she doesn't like to wear lenses because the camera
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can pick them up. So, actually, even if [clears throat] you were Meryl Streep and I was Hugh Grant, I could be Denzel Washington and she wouldn't.
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[laughter] Did you guys ever know each other before this movie? No, I'm not on it either. We had no scenes together. So we've really just met.
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JUST NOW. WOW. [laughter] WITH HUGH, AFFECTION OFTEN SOUNDS very similar to disrespect. The words can be brutal, but the intention rarely is.
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It's simply his way of keeping sincerity at a safe distance. I'm thinking of going to Dignitas in Switzerland and having myself put down.
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[laughter] Oh, we should have a joint party. Why don't we have a big party together?
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We have no mutual friends. No. I don't know if you remember, you you gave an interview to Elle magazine, and they asked you about your various leading ladies. Do you remember some of the things you said about them?
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I think it was regrettable. [laughter] He basically is Paddington in a human costume. And he brings all that niceness and he actually likes people.
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What a perv. I should just point out that if I don't win, I get very nasty.
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No, no. What are you He is remarkably honest about his vices. Some he happily blames on his friends.
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This doesn't change the fact that he loves to party. Was it hard giving up the butts?
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Giving up the what? You know, the cigarettes. [applause] So, is it hard giving those up?
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But what if you call them butts? Butts. Oh, butts. He's wearing patches. You know, you're all supposed to wear the nicotine patch.
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Yeah, and you're meant to wear three, then two, then one. Right. She's still on 20 patches.
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Got them all up and down her arm. Yeah, everywhere. She has see-through ones. [laughter] Uh I was very drunk. Um And you on my way.
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Yeah, you more than that. You were embarrassing. Okay. [laughter] His reputation as a ladies' man is no secret, least of all to Hugh. He's happy to admit it, and whenever he tries to play it down, another celebrity seems
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ready to correct the record. He was so grumpy all the way. [laughter] I was.
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So grumpy. He knew me. He'd known me for years. There was nothing there for him.
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He knew that I wasn't going to cough up. In fact I did let you down on that. I was grumpy, fat, bad, and got arrested halfway through the shoot.
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[laughter] Yeah. Same question that I I put to Matthew. Have you ever taken anything from a movie just as a momento, a keepsake at all?
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Yeah, I took home an extra once. [laughter] She was furious. Absolutely furious. What's your favorite thing about America?
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Um Well, I love cheerleaders very much. [laughter] I can't think of a leading lady I haven't fancied. I think I you got to fancy them. Yeah. Yeah. Otherwise, it's no fun. What's the point of doing the film?
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[laughter] Are you going to have more babies? You've got five already. You're going to get a football team together?
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No, absolutely not. I'm taking myself to the vet's to be [laughter] He may complain about almost everything, but his children bring out a slightly different side of him. The sarcasm never disappears, though neither does the affection he tries so hard to hide.
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Yeah, I mean there's a lot to dread cuz it's I'm old and it's noisy and it's unbearable. And I do a lot of hiding in the loo.
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[laughter] I do a lot of sleeping in there now. That's every parent. Yeah, is it?
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Yes. I'm like in the bathroom. There's a lock. There's a lock, but they they pretty much broken it now.
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What movie do you show them first? I can't I can't I can't get them interested in any of my stuff. I I chain them to chairs and try and show them [laughter] They've got shocking taste.
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They want to watch Fireman Sam for Christ's sake. [laughter] But it's a very nice surprise.
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Yes. And is it is In fact, the baby's name in Chinese, cuz the mother is Chinese, means happy surprise.
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Really? Yes. And what is the baby's name? Chelsea. Chelsea? Yes. That's the baby's name?
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It's one of the baby's names. And and and and do you have to say it like Chelsea like that? Do you have to Do you have to be that surprised?
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Yes, I find it helps. I think Well, at least they could, if they wanted to. I mean, they they might want to. But, mine don't even want to watch me.
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[laughter] Listen to this. They're sitting there watching Dinotrux. I say, "No. What about watching Daddy's [laughter] film?" Oprah once turned Hugh's famous leading ladies into what should have been a harmless little game. Hugh immediately looked as though he'd been ambushed into
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giving evidence. His reluctance only made every answer funnier. Oh, I don't know. I I'm getting very awkward. I'm going to cross my legs the other way.
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Let's talk about your girlfriend, because we're seeing you all in all the magazines. I know that that's not your doing, but anyway, how are you feeling about this relationship?
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Oh, god. Um I really want to shut you up. [laughter] Give me one word to describe the following leading ladies. Sandra Bullock.
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Oh, what a horrible game. [laughter] Um Sandy is silly. She's silly. Emma Thompson. Uh very very nice. Um a bloke, to all intents and purposes, actually. She's got a very blokish sense of humor. Like a Like a guy. Um Okay, she is a man. I
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can reveal [laughter] Nobody cuts Hugh Grant down faster than Hugh Grant himself. Like many British stars, he treats compliments with suspicion and turns his own flaws into the joke. Even with all his success, he rarely escapes without criticism.
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Look, you look like you lost weight. You look like you're ready to go. You look like you're in shape. Have you been doing something? Are you working out?
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What's going on? What? You know what I mean? You look trim. You look ready.
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Are you Are you chatting me up? A little bit. Some souls never get better, like mine.
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In fact, in some ways, they get worse. I'm horrified at how thin and fit you are now. I was rejoicing in the fact that Colin Farrell had got fat.
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And um You're not. So you obviously did a Bridget Jones. Inside I might be. I mean [laughter] I think so. I think you're going to be huge.
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In my infinite masochism and miserablism I scour the internet for negatives, you know. You do?
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Yeah, I look through Rotten Tomatoes for the green splats. You don't. do. Yeah. And then when I read them I think, yeah, that's right.
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[laughter] His parents left him with no shortage of stories. Some explain the man he became.
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Others make him even harder to explain. Either way, life in the Grant household was clearly never dull.
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I said, "No, no, it's not up your alley. You wouldn't like it, you know, really." And he said, "No, nonsense. I've got a television upstairs. If you show me how to work it, we'll watch it together." So I then had to sit there with my old
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dad and, you know, watch this thing where I bring Vaseline into the room [laughter] spread it on Ben Whishaw, poor old Paddington.
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[laughter] It was at that point that my father said, "Well, I think I might go to bed now." [laughter] Cuz I imagine, being British, I imagine there's a certain I don't imagine there was talk at the dinner table about
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the sort of the way Americans do about [laughter] sex and sex education and everything. Or or maybe not.
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No, no, you're right. No, no, no, that was never never really the the main topic of conversation.
Speaker A
[laughter] But my mother was a a church-going teacher. She wanted me to be the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Speaker A
[laughter] And to be honest, I haven't given up hope. Most stars spend interviews avoiding the wrong answer. Hugh seems determined to locate it. The subjects others politely sidestep are often the very ones he discusses most openly.
Speaker A
Do you know what? It's like it's a rom-com yeah. But it's like for adults. You know what I mean? It's like not a romantic comedy really. They've billed it as a romantic comedy to try and sell tickets. But actually it just
Speaker A
Oh, it has [laughter] Are you going to get spoiled like a lot of American stars?
Speaker A
Hope so. [laughter] What way do you like to be spoiled? Oh, any way I can get it, you know.
Speaker A
Like more cappuccinos or Cappuccinos on the run, you know, yeah money. Airplanes. Nice hotels.
Speaker A
And you never know with chemistry anyway. No. Uh, you know, sometimes you think, "Oh, we get on so well. This must look great on camera." And actually it just goes flat. And other times you frankly loathe each other and it sparkles.
Speaker A
Oh, that's funny cuz you think, don't you? Yeah, but sometimes hate comes over as love.
Speaker A
I used to do plenty. Now I do less and less and less. Why is that?
Speaker A
I got into the habit of not working and it's lovely. Yeah. You know, I'd had done quite a lot and then I met a new girl and started going on a lot of holidays and I thought, "Well, this is much nicer. This is all I
Speaker A
want to do now." Hollywood has an unwritten rule. Every co-star was wonderful. Hugh has never shown much interest in that rule. Ask about someone he's worked with and the interview becomes their performance review.
Speaker A
Well, you worked together as if you were, you know, you've been doing this for years and years, isn't it?
Speaker A
Yes, it's strange. It's strange cuz he has an interesting, you know, all actors I think have a sort of thing they fall back on. I, I, you know, blink my eyes a bit too much and other people, you know,
Speaker A
do make funny noises in their throat and stuff and his kind of tip as an actor is to hit to the nearest English person and this is Uh, Drew Barrymore.
Speaker A
[laughter] She made the mistake of giving me notes. Which how would you take that? When you're acting with someone and they I thought we did very well, didn't I?
Speaker A
[laughter] Paddington Bear is voiced by Ben Whishaw, who I'm also working with at the moment uh, in a thing about Jeremy Thorpe. He's playing Norman Scott, my lover. So, I've spent all year trying to either kill, imprison, or
Speaker A
Ben Whishaw. Is there anything? As actors, you mean? Or yeah, or as people. Oh.
Speaker A
Well, [laughter] I can see Charlie's I was surprised by how cool Charlie is. He's a natural natural cool. Now, I don't know whether that's you or or pharmaceuticals.
Speaker A
He's He's cool. He's laid-back. And I'm I'm not at all. I'm wound up like a whippet.
Speaker A
Politicians hold a special place on Grant's very long list of irritations. Unlike traffic or Christmas, this is one subject where the annoyance feels entirely serious. The jokes remain, but they have much sharper teeth.
Speaker A
Which is a nice thing to watch about politics right now. [laughter] Yeah, that's right. That's right. But they are freaks. I mean, I I've Who would go into that job? You're not paid very much. And really, that whole
Speaker A
thing is true. It is show business for the ugly. They're They're narcissistic, egomaniacal, sociopathic, and with absolutely and very very rarely any interest in the country or its welfare.
Speaker A
What makes it a very English scandal? Why is it so very English? Well, I think partly because um this murder plot instigated by my character was so amateurish. You know, if it was done by an American, they'd have just
Speaker A
killed the guy. But this was hopeless. This was junior varsity. Yeah, it took weeks and they got they missed the guy and got the dog instead and it was just amateur time.
Speaker A
Then there was Robin Williams, the rare co-star unpredictable enough to keep even Hugh Grant on his toes. Hugh immediately noticed one thing and couldn't get it out of his head.
Speaker A
Now, working with Robin, I don't Did you know Robin Williams prior to this? Well, obviously I knew who he was.
Speaker A
Right, but I mean, but you hadn't No, I'd never met him. I'd never met him. No, that was I mean, he's a very nice chap. Very very hairy. I was That was the first thing that surprised [laughter] me.
Speaker A
[cheering] He is hairy. Quite hairy. I just I mean, really amazing amazing. There were days I thought we were doing Congo and it was but Well, it was just the first thing I noticed. They They said, "Here's Robin
Speaker A
Williams." And you know, I took a step back and I go wow. Um But he But having [laughter] said that, as I say, very supportive and and very fun too funny for me. I I like you know, I don't
Speaker A
That was the thing. I thought I'm doing fine in this film and then he comes on to do uh his few weeks and uh you know, by the end of the first day you want to slit your wrists.
Speaker A
Because he's so He once tried to escape romantic comedies by making a thriller. Unfortunately, audiences escaped too, leaving his grand reinvention largely unseen.
Speaker A
Well, no. I mean, that's what we tried to do. I've been trying to do it for years in fights things. Which makes me sound as though I do a lot of fight scenes, which we all know is bollocks,
Speaker A
but I I I [laughter] Uh suddenly there were agents saying, you know, "Hey baby, we can make you a star." And I thought, "Well, okay. That would be amusing for a year and then I'll go on and do my other career." And
Speaker A
and here I am, you know, God knows 18 years later. So So I thought, "Well, that's enough romantic comedies. I'll show everyone I can do a thriller." Yeah.
Speaker A
So we made a thriller and 14 people worldwide went to see it. So It I got a letter with a script saying we've we've we're making Paddington 2 and there's this part of a extremely self-obsessed ex-famous actor now fallen
Speaker A
on hard times. [laughter] I was a fraction hers. His greatest struggle with acting was never the camera on set. It was the cameras waiting outside. The paparazzi turned fame into something he deeply resented. And even after all these
Speaker A
years, that anger has never really left him. But I never liked them round my house.
Speaker A
It felt like that was my bubble. And I especially if there were girlfriends with their children around. I did once lose my temper. Twice lost my temper very badly. Twice got arrested.
Speaker A
[laughter] But they you all went to that lunch with him, didn't you? Yeah. But I I shied at that fence.
Speaker A
Um I don't know why. I I was frightened of him. Someone told me he was a paparazzo.
Speaker A
That they've never really been my cup of tea. So had a choreographer, brilliant choreographer. And we used to have these sessions in a big studio in downtown New York. And he'd stand there and he'd say, "Okay, Hugh. so just going to play the
Speaker A
music really loud, and I want you to just express yourself." And he'd put the music on, and half an hour later I'd still be standing there, stock still. There's I had no self to express. There isn't There's literally
Speaker A
There's no dance in me. It was how to make me look in my mid-20s.
Speaker A
And um they failed dismally. It was a very expensive team of makeup and hair people and costume people. And they managed to reduce me from 46 to 45, I'd say.
Speaker A
[laughter] And you see You've seen the film. You see a a bunch of, you know, mid-20s uh pop musicians, and then this tragic middle-aged Parisian prostitute wearing too much rouge and a lot of semi-visible lifting tape on my face.
Speaker A
Most inexperienced fishermen catch nothing. Grant somehow caught a swan instead, because apparently even his quiet hobbies must end in disaster.
Speaker A
My brother was an excellent fisherman. Yeah. And I never caught anything except a swan.
Speaker A
Which I think might be illegal. It was awful. I was so pleased to get something. I reeled it in anyway. I played [laughter] it.
Speaker A
It's therapeutic. I I have deep reservoirs of acting narcissism and neurosis and anger and hatred of others to that I was able to tap.
Speaker A
Did you base it on Uh yeah, well, I was lucky enough to get salmonella in Sweden.
Speaker A
[laughter] I was poisoned by the local poisoner. Uh some veal. I left a ton away. It was perfect cuz he was a he was a sort of quite emaciated figure.
Speaker A
While filming in India, he stepped into a taxi and discovered that his driver appeared far too young to be behind the wheel. It became one of the strangest journeys of his career.
Speaker A
Working with children, I know you've worked with um children uh a lot of times. Is that something that uh you look forward to?
Speaker A
I'm marvelous with anyone I work with. Uh-huh. [laughter] But uh I know. I have Look, children actors, fine. I've done a lot of that. I draw the line at children crew.
Speaker A
Oh. I Yeah, I He "Yes, my name is Bisu. I'm your driver for the whole film." And I said, "Oh, can you drive, Bisu?" He said, "Very well, sir. Very well." And uh I had my doubts, but uh he did
Speaker A
drive me, and sure enough, within 4 days, crashed quite badly. Oh, no. Well, he was 11.
Speaker A
[laughter] Hugh isn't especially fond of cats, which is surprising considering they share his suspicion of people and permanent look of irritation. Perhaps the resemblance is exactly the problem.
Speaker A
You grant you like cats. Up to a point. I don't know how to lie. I adore them.
Speaker A
But I don't like it when they suddenly jump on you, yawn, cut their meat in your face, then turn around and show you their My brother's you've met Jamie.
Speaker A
Mhm. I have. I realized the other day for the last 30 years he's been going to bed in a t-shirt rather short and nothing else.
Speaker A
My My brother does that. What's that? It is unacceptable, man. Oh, that is weird.
Speaker A
No, it's not. He's like he's like in a little mini he looks disturbed. I think they call it Winnie the Poohing, don't they?
Speaker A
[laughter] Yeah. Do they? I think it's called Winnie the Poohing. He did have a very short He had a little top and no bottoms.
Speaker A
Do they call it that? Seriously. [laughter] When Hugh realized he was getting out of shape, he hired a personal trainer, and let's just say that his training was slightly unconventional.
Speaker A
But I was I was saggy. That's what it was. I was you know have you ever had that thing where you're washing your face I was shaving and then I rinsed my face like this in the basin, and I
Speaker A
looked up at the mirror to the side, and my eyes looked up and my face stayed down in the basin.
Speaker A
And that's when I knew I had to do something. So now I have this fantastic Swedish woman who comes three times a week, and uh [applause] The whole idea of a trainer is not very appealing, but she's so kind. She takes
Speaker A
me to the park, and she um she throws sticks for me like a dog. I I have to fetch them. She's very strict if I don't fetch them fast enough. And then we go back to the house, and she puts me
Speaker A
on on of my sitting room and wrestles me for half an hour. Really? Mhm.
Speaker A
Nothing reveals how much Hugh cares about acting quite like someone else being better at it. He may dismiss his own career, but when a co-star steals the scene, the wounded pride becomes impossible to hide.
Speaker A
There's an amazing cast in the film. Uh when you're surrounded by so many other great actors, does that make you up your game or or does it mean you can kind of relax a little bit because it's it's a
Speaker A
team effort? How do you guys approach that? Well, I certainly don't like anyone to be too good in any scene that I'm in.
Speaker A
Um I'm going to try and bring them down if I [laughter] possibly can. Get in their head a little bit or something like that?
Speaker A
Yeah, I don't want any of that nonsense. No, but halfway through it and you said, "You're not going to do it like that, are you?" Well, I I don't like anyone being good in a scene with me. I
Speaker A
I hate that. I was supposed to be full of love for you and I felt nothing but undiluted loathing.
Speaker A
[laughter] I had no idea how much TV was worth here. Yeah. This guy, um Simon Helberg, who's in Florence Foster Jenkins, Yes.
Speaker A
uh when he came over to to work on the film, I might have been vaguely patronizing to him because he hadn't done films before.
Speaker A
Yeah, look at this. Gradually you realize not only is the guy a much bigger star than me, he's maybe the richest man I've ever met.
Speaker A
For someone who claims not to enjoy acting very much, Hugh has difficulty switching it off. An ordinary interview can suddenly become a scene and he is truly good at it.
Speaker A
The movie is The Exorcist. The power of Christ compells you. Or uh Do you know?
Speaker A
[laughter] The power of Christ compels you. I'll act it. Will you act it out, please?
Speaker A
[groaning] Good. What am I I'm going to act the title. Please. Very good acting.
Speaker A
[laughter] I'll do it again. Yes, please. I don't understand. He's confused. Thank you. I wouldn't have gotten that without you, right?
Speaker A
Long before Donald Trump entered the White House, he briefly shared the screen with Hugh in Two Weeks Notice.
Speaker A
Years later, Hugh's recollection of him was about as flattering as you'd expect. Given that he was he acted with me, uh protocol and being well brought up I demand that I can't I can't be negative about him. I'm never negative about
Speaker A
people I work with in case they're negative about me. Um at least I'm not publicly. I am I stab them in the back behind their back.
Speaker A
By this point, it's difficult to tell whether Hugh attracts strange situations or simply notices the absurdity everyone else misses. Either way, even an ordinary day seems to leave him with a story worth telling.
Speaker A
Action is awful. Stephen Frears Yeah. has a very bad action habit. Really? Yeah. He goes and 1 2 3 Action!
Speaker A
[laughter] CUT. CUT. STEPHEN, THIS IS AN INTIMATE little scene between two people and that's just terrifying.
Speaker A
Yes. Don't don't Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. I enjoyed what you brought to Tony the Tiger, especially the shirtless scene and the you know that whole rampage.
Speaker A
Well, I've wanted I've wanted to get my boobies out for some years. And you did and we thank you. So, My pleasure.
Speaker A
What do you look for in a woman? Um inner beauty. Inner [cheering] Just a great soul. I I don't care about experience anymore. Um Thank you for watching if you are still here. What celebrity would you like to
Speaker A
see next? Do you prefer longer videos? I'll see you in the next one. You'd look good in a mustache.
Speaker A
me down. I tried a mustache for my character in pre-production. Oh, and no? Well, Didn't need it.
Speaker A
the mother of my children refused to have sex with me while I had it. So, I Deal breaker.
Speaker A
It was a bit. Yeah, for sure. a massive But then I showed it to Stephen Frears, rather proud of it, and he said, "Get it off immediately." I won't have sex with you.
Speaker A
Yeah, he also stopped shagging me. Yesterday you met with the American press. Were you expecting some kind of questions about, you know, the American president popping in 10 Downing Street?
Speaker A
Was there anything funny about the questions you were asked? From the American press? Yes.
Speaker A
[laughter] Never. I sometimes had to hold a hand in the scene, and it was cold like a like a a nervous person. It's not possible, is it?
Speaker A
Do you get nervous before you do your big bang scene? Excuse me, it's Alan Carr here.
Speaker A
Oh, here you are.
Topics:Hugh Grantcelebrity interviewcomedybrutal honestycelebrity anecdotesroad rageChristmas humorfilm industry storiescelebrity mishapscelebrity wit
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