Interview with Hugh Grant By Prairie Miller, Star Interviews - April 1, 2001 Fed
up once and for all with his nice guy persona, Hugh Grant is relishing the
distaste audiences will have for him as the scoundrel boss who breaks Renée
Zellweger's heart in bridget Jones's Diary (2001). The man once reluctantly
crowned by Empire Magazine as among the one hundred Sexiest Stars in film
history, Grant teased with fragments of information during this interview,
about the current state of his alleged intermittent relationship with old
flame Elizabeth Hurley. Grant also surprised with his equally ambivalent
commitment to acting, which he confessed drives him so far up the wall at
times, that he is ready to commit bodily harm to himself. How
do you feel about a movie where the audience is not rooting for you? Well,
yeah. I mean, I'm sick to death of Mister Nice Guy, I've done way too much of
it recently. And I think it has made the rest of the world start to vomit
slightly as well. So, Bridget Jones was a really blessed relief. Is
your character Daniel Cleaver evil, or just a confused guy? That
would be the modern take, wouldn't it? I don't know that he's evil. I think he
just had it too easy, that was always my theory about Daniel. For too long, I
think he was the clever, attractive and quite funny one in school, the
university and the early years of his career. You know, it was very easy for
him to pick up girls, and he just enjoyed himself. And now, the honeymoon is
starting to get a little sour. I think he's reached the sort of September of
that phase of his life. But I don't feel Daniel is that shallow. I always
thought he was quite deep, and really cared about literature, for instance What
about that all natural looking fight scene in the movie? I've
been trying to do something like that for years. You know, when the script
says 'they fight,' to ban the stunt coordinator from the set. Because they
always try to make it look so Hollywood. You know, we fight the way two middle
class educated Englishmen would fight. Which I've always maintained would be
sort of girlie and cowardly, you know? With squealing! But
in a real life brawl between you and Colin Firth, who do you think would
really win? Well,
obviously I'd win! How
come? Because
I've been trained. You know, I was trained to kill! But Colin did
marvellously, for someone who's not very, well, sporty. Do
you know women like Bridget Jones? Yes!
Very much so. I live in that world. That was one of the reasons that I loved
the book in the first place. Because half my friends are like that. Like
what? We
live in a world of Chardonnays and cigarettes. And sort of hopelessness Are
you one of the hopeless? Well,
certainly elements of it, yeah. I think that's the whole point of Bridget
Jones. It's all about that it's okay to fail. You know, set yourself a target
of "x" calories a day, and then fail. And it's all fine. Like what
Colin says to Bridget at the end, you know, I like you just the way you are. I
think that if there is a moral to this film, that's it. I
heard it was a hard sell, trying to interest you in this movie. The
only reason for that, was because I didn't feel they had the script quite
right for a long time. And I kept saying, it's not working. Just get Richard
Curtis to come in and help rewrite it. Eventually they did, and as soon as
Richard came on board, I signed on the dotted line. So that's all it was. What
did you think of Renée for this role, and her accent? A
lot of the British press were sniffy on that subject. And I can't pretend that
I didn't slightly raise an eyebrow myself when her name was brought up. I knew
she was a brilliant actress, and I knew she had all those lovable, slightly
victimy qualities that you need. But I just know from experience that accent
wise, even if you're an accent genius, crossing the Atlantic is the hardest
thing in the world either way. So I was a little scared for her. Was
it stressful for Renée too? After
Renée came abroad, accent wise she had a very brief Princess Margaret phase,
which was alarming! She was soon through that, and then there was a brief
phase where Renée sounded very slight as though she...had a stroke! You know,
everything was rather slur-r-red. But then Renée knocked that on the head.
And two weeks before we started shooting, her accent came perfectly into
focus. It's the best American doing English that I've ever heard in my life.
And not once did she stop speaking with that accent, until the rap party. When
suddenly this weird.....Texan appeared. I wanted to call security, I didn't
know who the hell she was! That
was quite a fascinating look at office life in Bridget Jones. Disgusting!
Yeah. Renée
said she went to actually work in an office to play the role. How did you get
into character for that kind of environment? Well,
you know I have an office, my film offices. So I know that syndrome. I fancy
offices, so there must be something wrong with me. Even the window cleaner
intrigues me. It's a very sexy environment. And I particularly like the whole
thing of being boss. Boss and employee....It's the slave quality that I find
very alluring. You
better be careful. This will be going into print, and it may result in your
office being deluged with employment applications! Speaking of offices, are
you more comfortable with Hollywood or the British film industry, or do you
like to keep a foot on both shores? Yeah,
I try to bestride the ocean. I think I'm happier like that, but basically
living in England. I don't know why, it just seems to be where I fit. But it's
very good being here, the whole American Influence is excellent. In
what way? It's
like a shot of adrenaline. Otherwise, there's a danger that you may
become....too drowned in Chardonnay and hopelessness, you know? You need a
little competitive edge occasionally What's
next on your plate? I'm
about to be in another film, called About A Boy (2002). It's from a book
written by Nick Hornby, who also wrote High Fidelity (2000). I play London,
hip, slacker, late thirties....That is, if I can play late thirties. We're
going to try. It's sort of a life of semi debauchery, really. And his latest
phase, is that he really fancies single mums. But it's quite touching, as well
as hopefully funny. How
come we don't see you in movies too often? You
know, I'm not as profligate...Wait, do I mean that? I don't mean profligate,
do I? Please help me here, with my vocabulary! How
about 'prolific?' Thank
you! Yeah, I'm not as prolific as I'd like to be. But I think a lot of that
comes from being so queeny about material. I just can't commit to things which
are lame. Does
that mean you're seeing more and more lame material? Everything
is lame! Lame, lame lame, that's the name of the game. Whew!
Glad I got you on a good day! How comes other actors aren't so discriminating? Well,
they love acting, that's the difference. Most actors really love it, that's
what they want to do. They burn to do it. And so they'll read a script and
think, that's an interesting part. And because they love acting, that blinds
them to the fact that the rest of it is pretentious nonsense, which it very
often is. Or commercial schlock. And because I rather hate acting, my eyes are
seeing something different. I'm looking for reasons not to do it! Then
why would you choose acting? I
didn't. I fell into it. And I keep meaning to fall out of it. I can't say I'm
not committed and passionate when I do it, but I think it was a kind of wrong
turn. What
would you rather be doing? I
don't know. I cling to the fantasy that I could have done something more
creative. Like actually writing a script, or writing a book. But the awful
truth is that I...probably can't! And I don't have the discipline, unless
there's a huge, imperative deadline hanging over me. And
film acting is incredibly tedious, just by its nature. It's incredibly, mind
numbingly slow. And it's also frustrating, particularly in comedy, because you
can make the scene work and get a great laugh in rehearsal. But then you've
got to go and film it. And by the time you've gotten to the location and it's
all set up, I often find that I can't make it as funny as it was in rehearsal.
And that makes me want to slit my wrists. In exasperation. Okay, on that happy
note...! Wait,
how does somebody who doesn't like acting, get good at it? Can anybody do
that? It's
not exactly that I hate acting. But yeah, a lot of people end up in jobs that
aren't perhaps their absolute, true calling. But they still commit all their
energies to it, and become quite adept. My father was in carpets for years. He
didn't really love carpets, but he became pretty good at....flogging them! Okay....A
lot has been made about your hair in the press, and the way it tends to flip
one way or the other. Ah,
yes.... Well
your hair is quite different today. Is this a new image? No,
it's for About A Boy (2002). You know, where I've got to be quite London, and
now. And that seems to mean short and spiky. So that's the idea. But I think I
look a bit like a female tennis player! Are
you getting fed up with the hair questions by now? Hmm...Just
slightly! Oops! No,
that's just fine. Elizabeth
Hurley told me at the interviews for Bedazzled (2000), that since you two
split up, your working relationship is better than ever, and she couldn't
imagine working without you for long. Well,
I'm afraid that's true. It's crazy, how we have become horribly co-dependent
over the years. Even the tiniest things. She has to make a little speech at
some charity thing tonight, and I've already had her on the phone saying, what
do I say? Or, how is this joke? And that is the case with us. Do
you feel like you two are attached at the hip emotionally? Yeah,
I think that may be true. I'm not an expert. But Elizabeth has become an
expert on that. Somebody gave her a book on co-dependency, and she says we
fall into every single category! Are
there any other romances brewing in your life right now? The rumours are
flying in every direction. No
comment. Just
like we root for the couple to get together at the end of Bridget Jones, lots
of people are rooting for you and Liz to get back together. Is that an idea
that intrigues you?
Well, I think it comes from a nice place. Yeah, I think it does. Ha! Cheery O!!
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