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