Hugh Grant: grumpy... or just British?

Hugh Grant has been promoting his new film, 'Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves' in preparation for the premiere on March 31. Just like many of Hugh Grant's awkward interviews, he also had something incredibly simple to say about the new action adventure fantasy film.

The actor told ET that he was unsure but ended up taking the job because 'it was funny'. "Someone said, 'They're sending you Dungeons & Dragons, and I thought, 'I don't think so,' and then I read it and it genuinely made me laugh," he recalls.

The movie had even more appeal to the 62-year-old acting great. Grant said to ET, "I like the idea of being a dungeon master. That sounds very British, very in control."

But do we attribute Hugh Grant's interview ignorance as being 'terribly British' or is he actually just a bit of a grump?

Hugh began his career as a romantic and rather uncomfortable leading man: very British and very charming. His roles have become more diverse with age, but many remember the chick-flick Hugh Grant from the 90s.

Hugh shot to fame in the early nineties after appearing in 'Four Weddings and a Funeral.' His boyish and English charm made him a real boy next door heartthrob.

Of course, his gawky character, William Thacker, in ‘Notting Hill’ just made the Brit even more likeable. Alongside Julia Roberts, the pair had chemistry, awkward moments and Grant brought a whole lot of British charm.

From there, Hugh Grant even managed to turn a baddie into an endearing character in the ‘Bridget Jones’ franchise. The RomCom genre, including the legendary box office hit ‘Love Actually’ suited the London-born actor and his cheeky smile was seen on DVDs everywhere.

Photo: Still from 'Love Actually'

In 1995, he won the BAFTA Award ‘Best Actor’ for the film ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ and he also won the Golden Globe in the category of ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical’ for 'Four Weddings and a Funeral.'

Photo: Still from 'Four Weddings and a Funeral', Universal Studios

But what is one of Britain’s best-known actors like behind closed doors and is his sweet, charming, and unassuming aura really a show of his true personality?

Let’s start with the big one - the infamous Grant/Hurley relationship. In 1987, he married actress Elizabeth Hurley and they both quickly became Hollywood’s golden couple, but they divorced in 2000.

The ‘Love Actually’ actor “remains my best friend to this day, but … he really used to annoy me,” Hurley said during a March 2015 appearance on 'Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen'. “I love him, but he’s very annoying.” They are still friends, despite the divorce and, of course, the infamous affair with a sex worker.

Photo: Still from 'Love Actually'

While still in the wooing stage with Liz Hurley, the actor was caught with a prostitute in his car in Los Angeles, California. He was subsequently arrested by the police, slapped with a $1,000 fine, and ordered to undergo AIDS education.

Recently Hugh Grant had something to say about the event. On 'The View,' he responded to comments about the British tabloids and invasion of privacy by saying: "Yes, well, everyone thinks, 'Oh, well, he’s just bitter because he got arrested with a hooker in 1995.'"

Perhaps he is not bitter like the tabloids say and is just frustrated with the way the incident was handled. Grant clarified that the scandal "was never uncovered by tabloids," explaining, "the bloody police gave everyone the information!"

In 2004, he married writer and campaigner Jemima Khan. The couple divorced in the year 2007.

Grant then dated Tinglan Hong on and off from 2011 to 2013. The pair welcomed their first child, a daughter called Tabitha, in September 2011. Their son, Felix, was born in February 2013.

But in the midst of the two children with Hong, Grant also fathered a child with producer Anna Eberstein. They called the boy John and he was born in 2012. The couple rekindled again after Grant went back to Hong and Felix was born. They then had two more daughters, one in 2015 and one in 2018.

"Do I think human beings are meant to be in 40-year-long monogamous, faithful relationships? No, no," Grant told Howard Stern on his SiriusXM radio show in August 2016. "Whoever said they were? I think there’s something unromantic about marriage. You’re closing yourself off." Two years later, the couple married after the birth of their second daughter.

On the Today show in June 2018, Hugh Grant then really changed his tune, saying marriage is "really nice. I can’t pretend it isn't." Grant added: "I should have done it before! But I'm just lucky, I'm lucky. I've got a great wife. I love her, yeah."

According to The Sun, Hugh lives in a six-bedroom semi-detached home in London's Chelsea area. The £17.5 million property is on one of the most exclusive streets in the area. It seems his home life has balanced out at least - but how has Hugh Grant behaved professionally?

There are no complaints from Hugh Grant about Renee Zellweger. "I love Renee. Uh, she’s one of the few actresses I haven’t fallen out with," he said on The Jess Cagle Show. "We, we got on very well together and, we still exchange long emails."

So, if she is 'one of the few' he hasn't fallen out with, then with whom did he?

In the 2007 film 'Music and Lyrics,' Hugh Grant starred with Drew Barrymore. In a recent interview with MailOnline, he said: "Drew Barrymore was in that film with me and I don't think she'd mind me saying her singing is just horrendous." He continued: "I've heard dogs bark better than she sings."

Grant told the ‘Oprah Winfrey Show’ in 2004 that Roberts was "very big-mouthed. Literally, physically, she has a very big mouth. When I was kissing her I was aware of a faint echo." His awkwardness and candidness in interviews don’t always go down well.

An interviewer from L Magazine asked Grant to describe his female co-stars in three words and this is how he replied:
"Julianne Moore: Brilliant actress. Loathes me.
Rachel Weisz: Clever. Beautiful. Despises me.
Drew Barrymore: Made her cry. Stunning film-star face. Hates me."

Image: Julianne Moore and Hugh Grant in 'Nine Months'

The actor did have some very complimentary things to say about some of his other co-stars, however:
"[Andie MacDowell] Southern belle. Charming. Gorgeous.
Emma Thompson: Clever, funny, mad as a chair.
Renée Zellweger: Delightful. Also far from sane. Very good kisser.
Sandra Bullock: A genius. A German. Too many dogs."

The actor told the Daily Mail in an interview about an incident on the first day of filming the blockbuster 'Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,' admitting he 'did a Christan Bale,'

Referring to Bale’s infamous rant at the cinematographer when he was filming 'Terminator Salvation,' Hugh Grant also confessed he had had a 'couple of tantrums.' What happened?

"I lost my temper with a woman in my eye line on day one. I assumed she was some executive from the studio who should have known better. Then it turns out that she's an extremely nice local woman who was the chaperone of the young girl. Terrible. A lot of groveling…" the actor confessed.

And that brings us to the way Hugh Grant came across to the world in the infamous interview with Ashley Graham on the Oscars 2023 red carpet. His brief responses to the interviewer’s questions made the actor seem aloof and uninterested, but that’s just Hugh Grant, according to a few celebs who have spoken out since.

Photo: ABC

He did slightly redeem himself later when presenting an award with Andie MacDowell and mentioning his face looked like a certain body part… But still.

After the red carpet car crash interview, Good Morning Britain's Susanna Reid said: "He's famous for being like that."

And then, another actress stood up to defend the Brit.

On the episode of the ‘Drew Barrymore Show’ following the Oscars, the actress defended her old friend. She said: "People are like, 'Oh, he’s such a curmudgeon, and she's so thrown.' I'm like, no, that is Hugh Grant."

"You think you’re getting this charming movie star," Drew Barrymore continued, "and what you really get is grumpy Hugh. And then you fall in love with grumpy Hugh."