From Divine Brown, to dancing in his jocks and needing a whole lotta vodka, Hugh Grant holds nothing back in a revealing new interview CBS News.
The 55-year-old was as charming as ever as he sat down with the American news outlet to discuss some of the biggest moments in his life.
And while he may be one of Hollywood’s most beloved leading actors, Hugh is under the impression that he is difficult to work with.
“I’ve driven people mad on films that I’ve made. I want more takes, I want to try new lines. Then I want to interfere in the editing process and I want to interfere in the advertising process, everything, everything,” he said.
“Pretty much Barbra Streisand in trousers, I am!”
But that doesn’t mean the world isn’t captivated by the star.
One of his most iconic film moments has to be that dance in the Richard Curtis’ rom-com Love Actually. But Hugh admits he felt very little love for his grooving.
“I dreaded the dance scene in Love Actually more than having my teeth extracted,” he revealed.
“And you know, the thing is, you gotta be in the mood for dancing. You know, it takes me quite a lot of vodka before I really want to, or if I’m alone at home with no one around, I like a bit of a dance sometimes in my pants.”
Every girl wanted to be Andie MacDowell in Four Weddings and a Funeral.
The British star swooned his way into hearts everywhere following his role in Four Weddings and a Funeral.
But according to Hugh, the 1994 flick, which scored him a Golden Globe, was never meant to be a hit.
“When the film was rough cut together, the producers and everyone sat together and watched the film and agreed it was the worst thing ever perpetrated in the history of cinema. There was no laughs. It was just awful. And I felt the same. And we all wanted to emigrate before the film came out,” he mused.
At the height of his ’90s glory he was dating “it girl” Liz Hurley until – as Hugh described it – his “hiccup” of a summer.
The 1995 bump in the road was, of course, when he was arrested for lewd behaviour in a public place with prostitute Divine Brown.
Hugh Grant and Liz Hurley.
Divine Brown and Hugh Grant’s mugshots.
Reflecting on his arrest, Hugh said: “I was very naughty. I was very drunk. And yeah, it was regrettable.”
“It was entirely to be expected, that there would be a huge hullabaloo about that, particularly given this rather absurd persona that I had been given about who I was on the back of Four Weddings.
“People thought I was this nice character I played in that film. And so I suppose the contrast between that person and this seedy behavior was juicy stuff. And I quite understand why it was a big story.”
Hugh also recently chatted to The Late Late Show’s James Corden, and gave an unexpectedly candid answer when Corden recalled meeting the Notting Hill star and Hugh told him his whole life story during the encounter.
Of the memory a lighthearted Hugh quipped: “I do that now, I can’t tell you why. I have to stop. I spent half my life campaigning for privacy and the other half revealing everything about myself.”
Corden then asked Hugh if he’d been to therapy, a flippant question which got a semi-serious answer from the actor.
“Only once, I went mad in 2007,” Hugh said, matter-of-factly. “I got massaged into madness. I went on a holiday in the Maldives and I was extremely bored, so I thought, ‘I’ll have another massage.’ I was having about 30 massages a day. At the end of the holiday, I felt a little strange … I got on the plane to go home, opened the newspaper reading the football results, and I burst into tears. And I couldn’t stop crying for three weeks. It was completely absurd … so I went to see shrinks then.”
True to life Grant was well-known for playing bachelor roles, like this one in About A Boy.
Grant didn’t talk further about his mental battles, but did jest that he “can’t stop” having kids and when another guest on the talk show, Bryce Dallas Howard remarked on her mystical ability to predict pregnancies Hugh jokingly begged for her help.
“Oh God, predict mine. They’re out of control,” Grant said.
“How many kids do you have?” Bryce asked.
“Well, four at the last count, but I can’t stop. If you feel anything coming off me, let me know,” the celeb dad quipped.
Hugh welcomed his youngest child in December last year – it was his fourth child in four years to two different women.
