'09
If it was anyone else, I would be rolling my eyes until they fell out of my sockets. But since it’s Hugh Grant, I’m willing to give him a pass. Hugh is talking about quitting the biz after fifteen years – and it’s not the first time Hugh’s threatened to pick up his toys and go home. He’s been talking about quitting since he first became a star, in Four Weddings and a Funeral (which is one of those rare rom-coms that stands the test of time, I just watched it a few weeks ago).
Hugh told Entertainment Weekly (via the Daily Mail) all about his constant “stage-fright” and his panic attacks at having to perform on camera. Considering he’s said this stuff again and again over the course of fifteen years, should we even take him seriously?
He said he had been on the verge of quitting acting before his life-changing audition for Four Weddings and a Funeral.
He has since described his job as a ‘miserable experience’ and threatened to retire at least twice. And now, just months after completing work on yet another movie, Hugh Grant is talking about throwing the towel in yet again.
Blaming a string of stage fright attacks, the 48-year-old actor insists he is ready to give up his day job at last.
‘I like everything about filming except the acting,’ he told US magazine Entertainment Weekly. ‘I’m wonderful in rehearsals, but I have never been very good when they actually switch the cameras on. In recent years I’ve had really bad attacks where I totally froze up. I though “Well, if I am going to get stage fright, then I am packing it in”.’
Despite being best-known for hit films like Four Weddings, Love Actually and Notting Hill, Grant said it was filming roles in comedies which made him ‘particularly nervous’. But the actor’s habit of threatening to quit – and then signing up for another movie – will have people wondering if he really is ready for retirement.
He claimed his Four Weddings audition would have been his last if he hadn’t landed the role in the 1994 film, which subsequently propelled him to international stardom. He then announced plans to retire after spending 10 years in the business, saying fear was beginning to get the better of him when he stepped in front of the cameras.
When 2004 came around he still seemed set on the idea, claiming film acting was a ‘miserable experience’ and ‘so difficult to get right’. But despite describing himself as ‘semi-retired’ after filming the sequel to Bridget Jones, he went on to make American Dreamz and Music and Lyrics.
Grants has admitted that he feels slightly embarrassed for threatening to quit acting and then signing on for new films.
‘I realise how ridiculous that makes me look,’ he told Entertainment Weekly. And this time it remains to be seen if he will stay true to his word.
His latest mutterings about retirement come just months after completing work on Did You Hear About The Morgans?, his first film in two years.
The movie, which also stars Sex and The City actress Sarah Jessica Parker, 44, tells the tale of a rich New York couple who witness a murder and are re-located to Wyoming. Despite his stage fright, Grant said he enjoyed filming in New Mexico and, as a result, had become a fan of country and western music.
‘I’m horrifying all my chic London friends,’ he said. ‘The only one I’m allowed to listen to is Johnny Cash. Apparently he’s okay. But I like hillbilly – beat that for uncool.’
Perhaps a potential role in the third Bridget Jones movie will be the next project to persuade Grant to do an about-turn on his retirement plan. Renee Zellweger, 40, has already signed up to play the hapless singleton in the third installment of the popular franchise. Production is expected to start late next year.
[From the Daily Mail]
I’m perfectly willing to blame Sarah Jessica Parker for this latest morose outlook on life. The man doesn’t work for two years, then works with SJP and suddenly he’s like “Seriously, I can’t take this anymore!” No, only joking. It’s not SJP’s fault. It’s Hugh. He’s a high-maintenance diva, and he always has been. Maybe I should blame the depressing country music? You know Hugh’s not listening to the Dixie Chicks, he’s probably listening to the “my wife left me and she took the hound dog and the beer with her” stuff.
It is good to hear he’s already signed on to the third Bridget Jones movie - hopefully the plot won’t revolve around the Darcy-Daniel-Bridget love triangle again. I’m saying a little prayer that they do something for Daniel Cleaver that really screws Bridget up in a more meaningful way – like giving him a wife and kids.
Hugh Grant is shown out in London on 7/2/09. Credit: Focus/WENN.com
Written by Kaiser
Posted in Careers, Hugh Grant
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20 Responses to “Hugh Grant says he’ll quit acting, signs on for third ‘Bridget Jones’ film”
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“You know Hugh’s not listening to the Dixie Chicks”
Yeah, but I don’t think ANYONE listens to them anymore, do they? I mean, yuck!
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I like him as an actor so I hope he doesn’t seriously quit. If cameras freak him out, maybe he should try broadway. I’m sure those million dollar paychecks help make those attacks somewhat bearable. Not a flattering photo, that lead one.
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I’d quit as well. First he has to pretend to enjoy that annoying mole on SJP’s face….yuck. Then he has to come back to the prune face of Rene. The combination of those two is enough to put any normal man directly into retirement mode! The hooker in the car was better looking than those two hags.
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Well, I believe his stage fright statment. While he’s beautiful to watch on screen, the flip side is that he always looks as though he is suffering through a bad case of hemorroids in his films.
I remember the one scene in “Extreme Measures” when it was obvious he had some difficulty in saying the term “metabolic meltdown”. It was pretty painful to watch, I couldh’t imagine whatit must have been like for him saying it. He was definitely a fish out of water in the role of a doctor.
Grant is rather limited as an actor; however, that hasn’t stopped a lot of actors and we could use some eye-candy.
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I love his acting, but I doubt he’d quit a cushy job like his. Especially not in this economy.
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I used to love Hugh. He was very hot when Four Weddings and a Funeral came out. My crush on him lasted at least 3 years, however, he has grown more douche like with each passing year. Hugh and Elizabeth Hurley strike me as two self serving gold diggers. Maybe Hugh doesn’t want to work anymore and just wants to marry an heiress who will support him and still let him sleep around? He always said he wanted to write a book but that has never happened either.
I love the comment about SJP giving him reason to want to quit acting. Didn’t I read somewhere that she made Matthew McConaughey miserable during the filming of Failure to Launch?
http://thesuperficial.com/2006/02/matthew_mcconaughey_doesnt_lik.php
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I love me some Hugh Grant!
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I could believe that it is something that he has struggled with for 15 years and probably at its worst he wants to quit. Like someone said above, the paycheck probably helps a bit (and lots of Ativan).
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I’m sure he’ll love working in a factory for minimum wage much more than acting.
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I think he wants to quit now because he’s getting old-looking and the whole “oh dear I’m so awkward and British” thing is only kinda cute if he’s cute too.
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Seriously, I need a Hugh Grant film now and again, he’s one of a few rare people that make me laugh! However, I also understand the anxiety thing.
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Huge Hugh fan. Hope he continues acting.
As for his aspirations of bagging a rich heiress, erm… best o’ luck to him on that. He may consider taking some pointers from those celebrity-golddiggers-who-shall-not-be-named.
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Since someone already ruined the third movie for me, I’m just gonna go ahead and spread the misery: Bridget gets knocked up by Daniel. Mark dumps her. End of the film.
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TinaWithPom – He’s already been going back and forth with Jemima Kahn for a few years now so maybe he doesn’t need the luck.
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Just his way to get more roles. He threatens to quit the business and the offers roll in. Simply genius !!! And by the look of those pictures, the man needs more sleep.
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He’s starting to look like Christopher Walken. lol
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He’s looking haggard. I wonder what his real problem is.
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@ Cinderella – I think it’s called “aging naturally.” He is, after all, pushing 50. We’re just so used to botox these days, and apparently, he’s not using it.
I don’t see where it says that he has signed on for BJ3, only that Renee Zellweger has signed on for it. GACK, really? Another one? I hope he passes. What a waste of film that would be. I liked the first book and the first movie. That was all they needed to do.
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He looks like my neighbor’s basset hound. Hang it up Hugh.
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I love Hugh and his movies. He is a good actor, he knows how to play his parts very good. I hope he doesn’t quit, I’ll miss him and his funny sense of humor. I hope he does sign up for the third Bridget Jones because the other two were very funny.
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