Line #2 Creator/HughGrant


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hughgrant.jpg]]
2	->''"Most actors really love it, that's what they want to do. They burn to do it. And so they'll read a script and think, that's an interesting part. And because they love acting, that blinds them to the fact that the rest of it is pretentious nonsense, which it very often is."''
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4	Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960 in London) is an English actor.
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6	He is best known for his long association with writer Creator/RichardCurtis in a string of wildly successful British {{Rom Com}}s, including ''Film/FourWeddingsAndAFuneral'', ''Film/NottingHill'', and ''Film/LoveActually''. His standard role in these films was as a bumbling but well-meaning quintessentially British UpperClassTwit, who had to overcome his BritishStuffiness and repression to win the heart of a (usually American) female love interest. In the late 1990s, he began taking roles that had him actively PlayingAgainstType, often as a jaded English cad, such as Daniel Cleaver (an {{Expy}} of ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice'''s George Wickham) in ''Film/BridgetJonesDiary'', and ''Film/AboutABoy'', while occasionally blending the two types together (such as in ''Film/MusicAndLyrics''). In another big instance of PlayingAgainstType, he played ([[ActingForTwo among other characters]]) a slave-trading reverend, a {{Jerkass}} and vindictive husband who sends his brother in a retirement home against his will. He also did ''Film/DidYouHearAboutTheMorgans.''
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8	He went into semi-retirement for a number of years as he turned his attention to the campaign for tighter restrictions on the British media (including giving evidence for the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leveson_Inquiry Leveson Inquiry]]). This, however, hasn't prevented him from appearing in a few recent films, such as ''Film/CloudAtlas'', the film remake of ''Film/TheManFromUNCLE2015'', as well as in the 2014 rom-com ''Film/TheRewrite''.
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10	There's also his turn as the well-meaning St Clair Bayfield in ''Film/FlorenceFosterJenkins'' (a combo performance with Creator/MerylStreep, [[AwesomeDearBoy which they've clearly mutually enjoyed]]). It was this experience that got him back into acting full time[[note]]Plus, he learned just how much money Creator/SimonHelberg made off of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' and wanted some of that dough, himself[[/note]], leading to his memorable performance as LargeHam Phoenix Buchanan in ''Film/Paddington2'' and portrayal of Jeremy Thorpe in ''Literature/AVeryEnglishScandal.''
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12	!!Hugh Grant on TV Tropes:
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14	* ''Series/TheLastPlaceOnEarth'' (1985)
15	* ''Series/AVeryPeculiarPractice'' (1986) (1 episode)
16	* ''Literature/{{Maurice}}'' (1987)
17	* ''Literature/WhiteMischief'' (1987)
18	* ''Film/TheLairOfTheWhiteWorm'' (1988)
19	* ''Film/{{Impromptu}}'' (1991)
20	* ''Film/BitterMoon'' (1992)
21	* ''Literature/TheRemainsOfTheDay'' (1993)
22	* ''Film/FourWeddingsAndAFuneral'' (1994)
23	* ''Film/{{Sirens\|1994}}'' (1994)
24	* ''Film/TheEnglishmanWhoWentUpAHillButCameDownAMountain'' (1995)
25	* ''Film/NineMonths'' (1995)
26	* ''Film/SenseAndSensibility'' (1995)
27	* ''Film/ExtremeMeasures'' (1996)
28	* ''Recap/DoctorWhoTheCurseOfFatalDeath'' (1999)
29	* ''Film/MickeyBlueEyes'' (1999)
30	* ''Film/NottingHill'' (1999)
31	* ''WesternAnimation/RobbieTheReindeer'' (1999)
32	* ''Film/SmallTimeCrooks'' (2000)
33	* ''[[Literature/BridgetJones Bridget Jones's Diary]]'' (2001)
34	* ''Literature/AboutABoy'' (2002)
35	* ''Film/TwoWeeksNotice'' (2002)
36	* ''Film/LoveActually'' (2003)
37	* ''[[Literature/BridgetJones Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason]]'' (2004)
38	* ''Film/{{Housewarming}}'' (2005)
39	* ''Film/AmericanDreamz'' (2006)
40	* ''Film/MusicAndLyrics'' (2007)
41	* ''Film/DidYouHearAboutTheMorgans'' (2009)
42	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePiratesInAnAdventureWithScientists'' (2012)
43	* ''Film/CloudAtlas'' (2012)
44	* ''Film/TheRewrite'' (2014)
45	* ''Film/{{The Man From UNCLE\|2015}}'' (2015)
46	* ''Film/FlorenceFosterJenkins'' (2016)
47	* ''Film/Paddington2'' (2017)
48	* ''Literature/AVeryEnglishScandal'' (2018)
49	* ''Film/TheGentlemen'' (2019)
50	* ''Series/TheUndoing'' (2020)
51	* ''Film/GlassOnion'' (2022)
52	* ''Film/OperationFortuneRuseDeGuerre'' (2023)
53	* ''Film/DungeonsAndDragonsHonorAmongThieves'' (2023)
54	* ''Film/{{Wonka}}'' (2023)
55	* ''Series/TheRegime'' (2024)
56	* ''Film/{{Unfrosted}}'' (2024)
57
58	!! Tropes associated with his work:
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60	* AwesomeDearBoy:[[invoked]] He considered himself retired from films in TheNewTens, but he did ''Film/FlorenceFosterJenkins'' just to work with Meryl Streep.
61	* CareerResurrection:[[invoked]] Both ''Film/FlorenceFosterJenkins'' and ''Film/Paddington2'' helped bring him back into the limelight after a career downturn in the 2010s.
62	* CastingGag: He plays Emma Thompson's love interest in ''Literature/SenseAndSensibility'', and her brother in ''Film/LoveActually''.
63	* CreatorBacklash:[[invoked]]
64	** He ''hated'' the infamous dance scene in ''Film/LoveActually'', calling it "absolute hell".
65	** On the subject of ''Film/{{Wonka}}'' and playing as the Oompa Loompas, he admitted before the film's worldwide release how much he despised his time on set, in large part because of having to act for motion-capture, which was physically uncomfortable and confusing as he received little to no direction on how much to "act with [his] body" (which was ultimately replaced with animation in post).
66	* DeadpanSnarker: No matter the role, you can always expect him to get plenty of one-liners and sarcastic remarks.
67	* FakeAmerican:[[invoked]] In the MadeForTVMovie ''Our Sons'' and ''Film/CloudAtlas''.
68	* HostilityOnTheSet:
69	** [[invoked]] Mildly between him and Julia Roberts while making ''Film/NottingHill'' (he famously complained about having to kiss her because of her "large mouth"). She has since forgiven him and said she'd be willing to work with him again.
70	** He and Creator/RobertDowneyJr famously did not get along while filming ''Restoration'', with Grant saying RDJ took an instant dislike to him and responding in kind. The two had a very tense relationship for years until making up on Twitter in 2018.
71	* IAmVeryBritish: He's known for his fairly refined, upper class accent.
72	* LargeHam: When he wants to, he can ''really'' bring in the ham as Film/Paddington2 gloriously illustrated.
73	* PlayingAgainstType:[[invoked]]
74	** ''Literature/BridgetJones'' as the HandsomeLech Daniel Cleaver. He's joked that it's the role closest to his own personality.
75	** ''Literature/AboutABoy'' he plays a disaffected and unsympathetic loner who pretends to be a single father to pick up girls.
76	** ''Film/CloudAtlas'' is quite different too from his romcom fare, playing multiple roles across the years in a sci-fi epic, including a [[ImAHumanitarian cannibalistic]] tribe chief.
77	* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Mike Newell admitted to thinking Hugh was completely wrong for ''Film/FourWeddingsAndAFuneral'' because he was "too handsome" (the haircut he was given was an attempt to make him look less attractive). The Jane Austen Society likewise complained that he was too good looking to play Edward Ferrars in ''Literature/SenseAndSensibility''.
78	* StarMakingRole:[[invoked]] ''Film/FourWeddingsAndAFuneral'', ''Film/BitterMoon'' and ''{{Film/Sirens\|1994}}'' all came out around the same time, and turned him into a star internationally.
79	* ThrowItIn:[[invoked]] ''Film/AboutABoy'' has a shot where Will is reflected in the mirror looking depressed. This was between takes where Hugh happened to be looking a little tired - so they got the shot without him knowing.
80	* TypeCasting:[[invoked]] In romantic comedies as the bumbling British gentleman who usually finds love with an American girl.
81	* UnbuiltCastingType:[[invoked]] Before his typecasting as that charmingly desirable English gentleman wooing an American love interest, he starred in ''{{Film/Sirens\|1994}}''. There he plays a well-meaning but poor husband whose marriage lacks passion because of his idolization of his repressed wife. He in fact has to learn how to put passion back into their marriage.
82	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: He was the first choice for the role of the [[Characters/DoctorWhoNinthDoctor Ninth Doctor]] in ''Series/DoctorWho'' before Creator/ChristopherEccleston was cast. However, he turned it down due to his belief that the revival would not take off. [[OldShame He later expressed his regret at turning down the offer having seen how successful the series turned out.]] He previously portrayed a non-canonical version of the Doctor in [[Recap/DoctorWhoTheCurseOfFatalDeath "The Curse of Fatal Death"]].

Context Creator / HughGrant