Top 10: Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant (no, seriously) has got to be one of the most quintessential British men since your boy, Bill Shakespeare, with all his, err, bloody well, errr, jolly British buggery stuttering. He’s been in the biz since ‘87 and is the Brit-master of the romcom/tragicom/bloody buggery stereotype com.
In no particular order, here’s our, err, top, uh, bloody top ten. Blimey.
Notting Hill
He was just a boy with a girl stood in front of him for most of this one. As William Thacker, a travel book shop owner (#niche), his life is thrown into a Hollywood mixer when A-List actress, Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) pops in and fancies the bloody, buggery pants off of him.
His Best Quote:
“Whoopsidaisies. It’s a disease I’ve got. It’s a clinical thing. I’m taking pills and having injections. It won’t last long.”
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Bastard Hugh is our favourite kind of Hugh. Sure, he’s got the stuttery, handsome chap down to a T, but we like the chain-smoking lothario who forces people to prefer wiping Saddam Hussein’s arse than spend any time with him. Hugh, as smooth-talking adulterer, Daniel Cleaver, is exactly that.
His Best Quote:
“Now these are very silly little boots, Jones. And this is a very silly little dress. And, um, these are, f*ck me, absolutely enormous pants.”
Love Actually
Not only does he play the Prime Minister here in what is some truly outrageous casting, but he gets to stand up to Billy Bob Thornton, aka POTUS, utter the words ‘love actually’ in the film which is surely actor goals, he falls in love with Tiffany from EastEnders and then he does what is probably the best dance Number 10 will ever see, including this superb crab leg move, to The Pointer Sisters. Baller.
His Best Quote:
“When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge – they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around.”
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Hugh plays loveable Englishman Charles who meets Carrie, a stunning American with the face and body of Andie MacDowell, at a wedding. Despite being unlucky in love, Charles is convinced his life’s about to change. Until it doesn’t. Over a handful of weddings – like four, or something – and one funeral in which we may or may not bawl our actual eyes out at, the pair repeatedly bump into each other and give Hugh all the training he’s gonna need to be the token Brit love interest to a beautiful brunette Yank.
His Best Quote:
“Erm, look. Sorry, sorry. I just, erm, well, this is a very stupid question, and… particularly in view of our recent shopping excursion, but I just wondered, by any chance, erm, eh, I mean obviously not because I guess I’ve only slept with nine people, but, but I, I just wondered, erm. I really fell, err, in short, to recap it slightly in a clearer version, er, the words of David Cassidy in fact, eh, while he was still with the Partridge family, eh, ‘I think I love you,’ and eh, I, I just wondered by any chance you wouldn’t like to… er… eh… no, no, no of course not… I’m an idiot, he’s not. Excellent, excellent, fantastic. Eh, I was gonna say lovely to see you, sorry to disturb… better get on.”
Maurice
Based on the E.M. Forster novel of the same name, this 80s romantic drama follows Maurice (James Wilby) as he stumbles through his school days to university where he meets his one true love, Clive. Despite being the one who confessed his love to Maurice in the first place, Clive calls the whole bloody thing off and ends up marrying a woman because he’s too upper class for his own good. Bloody blimey.
His Best Quote:
“Very well, I’m at your service. My advice there is to sleep here tonight and ask Anne. Where a woman is in question, it’s always better to ask another woman.”
About a Boy
Another role for Bastard Hugh. As Will, the happy bachelor who believes he’s an island – he’s bloody Ibiza – we see him slowly brought to earth when he meets Marcus, the young boy who’s bullied for singing Roberta Flack in class and for having a vegan mum who tries to kill herself. Kids are shits. Anyway, Will pretends to have a baby to get this woman to fancy him, then he buys Marcus some trainers and falls in love with Rachel Weisz.
His Best Quote:
“I couldn’t possibly think of a worse godfather for Imogene. You know me. I’ll drop her at her christening, I’ll forget her birthdays until her 18th when I’ll take her out and get her drunk and possibly, let’s face it, you know, try and shag her. I mean, seriously, it’s a very, very bad choice.”
Two Weeks Notice
In another tale of Brit Hugh meets Brunette American, billionaire George Wade employs the dedicated environmental lawyer Lucy (Sandra Bullock). As he starts leaning on her for basically everything, from legal stuff, to what’s in his wardrobe, she gets pissed off and hands in her notice. Of course, she regrets it because she fancies the pants off him just like Julia did.
His Best Quote:
“I own the hotel, and I live there. My life is very much like Monopoly.”
Music & Lyrics
DISCLAIMER: This film is awful. It’s just so, so bad. It is such a below average film.
We bloody love this film. It’s so bad, it’s good. It’s fun, ridiculous, and stars Hugh as singer who made it big in the 80s, who looks suspiciously like all of Spandau Ballet in one. Hooking up with Drew Barrymore who plays hapless (and quite annoying) plant waterer and accidental songwriter, Sophie Fisher, they start working together to make music, and, erm, other things.
His Best Quote:
“People wait their whole lives to see an ex when things are going really good. It NEVER happens. You could make relationship history.”
Sense & Sensibility
Starring a who’s who of British greats from Alan Rickman to Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson is the financially crippled Elinor Dashwood, who is totally in love with Hugh’s Edward Ferrars. Based on the 1811 Jane Austen novel, Hugh does some serious period acting here and is pulled between two women, one of whom actually wants to run away with his brother. Ouch.
His Best Quote:
“I, I’ve come here with no expectations, only to profess, now that I am at liberty to do so, that my heart is, and always will be, yours.”
Florence Foster Jenkins
Perhaps the perfect pairing: Hugh and Meryl. Hugh stars as St. Clair, the husband of Florence Foster Jenkins (Streep), a woman whose enthusiasm and ambition of being an opera singer far outweigh her talent. She’s actual shit. But because he’s adorable, St. Clair goes to pretty extreme lengths to ensure that Flo never discovers just how awful she is. But when she decides to sing at Carnegie Hall, he realises that the challenge of hiding of shittery is near on impossible.
His Best Quote:
“Is her instrument quite what it was? Perhaps not. But as Beethoven said, a few wrong notes may be forgiven, but singing without feeling cannot.”
