I'm calling it: Hugh Grant's metamorphosis is complete.
The iconic British leading man has completed his pivot from bubbling goof to fully-fledged psychopath by starring in his first film horror movie, Heretic. The A24 movie has just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before it hits theatres in November with reviews already praising Grant's 'chilling' performance.
The former rom-com lead steps into the sinister shoes of Mr. Reed, a theologian who lures two young Mormon sisters (played by The Fablemans' Chloe East and Yellowjackets' Sophie Thatcher) into his home. I am unwell!!!
Watch the creepy-as-hell trailer. Post continues after video.
Long gone are the days when Hugh was considered the king of rom-coms. The British actor's early career was shaped by playing bumbling bachelors in films Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, About A Boy, Bridget Jones' Diary, Two Weeks Notice, and Love Actually.
After leading critical flops Music and Lyrics and Did You Hear About the Morgans? Grant disappeared for a few years and reemerged as a campy villain in Paddington 2.
He made us wait, but Hugh's second act was glorious.
Since then, he's completed successful TV stints on A Very English Scandal and The Undoing, along with a delightful cameo in 2022's Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
But in 2023, Hugh made some real, err... choices.
Last year, Grant joined the cast of Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, an action-comedy alongside Jason Statham and Aubrey Plaza.
If you've never heard of this film then you're in the majority. The movie was a critical and commercial flop.
That being said, Grant received glowing reviews for his over-the-top Cockney character, Greg. "Grant is so committed that he throws off the balance of the ensemble because no one else is as good as he is," the AV Club wrote.
The 64-year-old actor next appeared in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, which garnered mixed reviews.
But once again, Grant's performance as conman Forge Fitzwilliam was heavily praised. "[He's] stealing scenes like there’s no tomorrow," wrote NME. "This board-game-to-big-screen romp is worth watching for Hugh Grant's campy conman alone."
Even when Hugh Grant is bad, he's good.
At this stage, it seems like Hugh Grant just signs on for random projects — picking and choosing parts as he pleases.
And what was his last kooky choice? Well, of course, he played an oomp loompa in Wonka, the origin story of Willy Wonka starring Timothée Chalamet.
No, really.
Wonka director Paul King is no stranger to the London-born actor, as he directed him on Paddington 2 and he had a rather odd reason for casting the star in his new film. "So I was really just thinking about that character; somebody who could be a real s**t, and then — ah! Hugh!" he told The Hollywood Reporter.
"Because he's the funniest, most sarcastic s**t I've ever met."
Watch the trailer for Wonka here and prepare to scream in the final few seconds. Post continues after podcast.
This isn't the first time a director has roasted Hugh. The Undoing director Susanne Bier once described the actor in a truly fascinating way. "In terms of Hugh Grant, with the things he's done, the industry has been very seduced by his charm and his fun and his beauty and his likeness and his wit and his brilliance," she told Sydney Morning Herald in 2020.
"But the undercurrent of that has always been something dark. And I don't mean dark as in sinister or evil. I mean dark as an immense sadness."
Hugh's pivot to doing more sinister and villainous roles reflects the tone of how he's been increasingly portrayed in the media. In a series of recent interviews, Hugh has come across as someone who hasn't always been easy to work with.
The actor told SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show in 2020 that he had "fallen out with" most of the actresses he's shared the screen alongside, with the exception of Bridget Jones' Diary costar Renee Zellweger.
He made some bizarre comments about Notting Hill leading lady Julia Roberts, joking on the Oprah Winfrey Show that she was "very big-mouthed. Literally, physically, she has a very big mouth. When I was kissing her I was aware of a faint echo."
In a 2016 episode of Watch What Happens Live when asked if he was still friends with Roberts, he replied "I've probably made too many jokes about the size of her mouth. She might hate me by now."
In a 2009 interview with Elle magazine, Hugh dug his hole even deeper by saying a plethora of unkind words.
The interviewer asked Grant to describe his female costars in three words. He summed up Julianne Moore as a "Brilliant actress. Loathes me." He described Rachel Weisz as "Clever. Beautiful. Despises me." Before using these words to recap Drew Barrymore: "Made her cry. Stunning film-star face. Hates me."
He went on to tell The Graham Norton Show in 2016 that his comments were "regrettable".
Hey now! Have a listen to the latest episode of The Spill. Post continues after podcast.
Hugh's on-set grudges weren't just with his female colleagues. During the same chat on SiriusXM, Grant revealed that former costar Robert Downey Jr. had "hated" him. "He took one look at me and wanted to kill me," Grant said.
This checks out as Downey once said this to People about Grant: "I kinda think he's a jerk. Don't know, I just think he is. My personal experience with him is I think he's this kind of self-important, kind of, like, boring flash-in-the-pan [expletive] Brit."
Sarcasm and self-depreciation are a big part of Hugh's schtick, but his sense of humour doesn't always land.
At the Oscars last year, when he was asked by Ashley Graham who he hoped would win, he simply replied, "No one in particular," before responding to the question of what he was wearing that evening with a remarkably unhelpful statement: "A suit."
But while Grant often plays the part of the villain in media interviews, it's seemingly all talk – there's no real bad blood under the surface.
Grant and Downey have since quashed their beef. After Hugh's 2020 radio interview, Downey tweeted, "A lot has happened over two decades!"
"I respect how Mr. Grant has matured as an artist... Let's break bread together soon," an invitation which Grant agreed to, with a sprinkling of his trademark sarcasm.
"Won't be easy as my five-year-old bakes it, but you seem strong. Respect," Grant responded on Twitter.
There might be no love lost between Hugh and some of his female costars, but he appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show in 2021 where they joked like old friends.
"You'll always have a place in my heart," Hugh told Drew.
Grant doesn't always say the nicest things about his costars, but what makes his clumsy comments more easy to stomach is that he's just as unkind about himself. "I got old and ugly and I'm not appropriate for romantic comedy films anymore," the actor told Sydney Morning Herald in 2020.
Just like his interview moments which teeter between iconic and awkward, Hugh will likely continue to make random casting choices throughout the rest of his career.
And you know what? We wouldn't have it any other way.
This article was originally published on July 13, 2023 and has since been updated with new information.
Feature image: A24/Warner Bros/Universal Pictures.
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