Hugh Grant booking
Equally famous and infamous, actor Hugh Grant is compelling whether playing the stuttering romantic
lead or cynical rogue. The BAFTA-award winning English actor was born in Hammersmith, West
London, in 1960. He is the second son of James Murray Grant, the boss of a carpet company and
former soldier, and Fynvola, a teacher who died of cancer in 2001. His older brother, also named
James, is a banker. Grant was later sent to Wetherby preparatory school and in 1979 won a
scholarship to prestigious Oxford university. Far from his solid middle-class background, Grant joined
the exclusive Piers Gaveston Society at Oxford – a group with a reputation for debauchery and
decadence. He excelled academically and became involved in student drama. In 1982, while still a
student, Grant made his big screen debut in ‘Privileged’, a film about Oxford undergraduates’ bedhopping. He is credited under the name Hughie – his childhood moniker. His ‘Privileged’ performance
caught the eye of talent scouts and he was persuaded to abandon plans for a doctorate in art history.
Grant decided not to sign up with the acting agency and instead, set about earning his Equity card as
an extra.
Following a few small television roles, Grant got his real first break when he was cast in the Merchant
Ivory film ‘Maurice’, in 1987. There followed a portrayal of Chopin in ‘Impromptu’ (1991) and the part of
a young English cruise passenger in ‘Bitter Moon’ (1992), directed by Roman Polanski. He was busy
acting during the early 90s but his big breakthrough came in 1994 when he played the stammering,
floppy-haired Charles in Richard Curtis’ ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’. Though he has played more
rakish and crop-haired roles since, the ‘Four Weddings’ charming-yet-bumbling character has become
the embodiment of Grant. Playing Andy MacDowell’s love interest, Grant’s irresistible portrayal won
him a Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture award, as well as a BAFTA
Best Actor award. It was at the London premiere of ‘Four Weddings’ that Hugh was upstaged by his
then partner, English actress and model Elizabeth Hurley. The couple had met on the set of ‘Rowing
With The Wind’, a behind-the-scenes look at the writing of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Grant played
Lord Byron and – making her debut as Claire, Shelley’s half-sister and Byron’s former lover – Elizabeth
Hurley also appeared. However, the night of the ‘Four Weddings’ premiere, Liz stole the headlines for
wearing a black, plunging Versace dress held together with gold oversize safety pins. Outside of his
acting profession, Grant has been a keen athlete, playing cricket and football in his younger years. He
currently loves golf and has been an avid art lover since his younger years, and has been collecting
fine art, a passion he inherited from his father. His comic icons include Monty Python and Fawlty
Towers, Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks’ films. Despite Four Weddings’ hype and star-promise, Grant
then starred in a series of films which barely registered – some spawned from his and Hurley’s
production company Simian Films.
Grant’s private life is the topic of just as much, if not more scrutiny than his screen persona. For 14
years, between 1986 and 2000, he dated Hurley but in 1995, he was arrested in Los Angeles on
Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard for indecent conduct with prostitute Divine Brown. Considerable
damage was done to Grant’s public image after his mug shot was beamed around the world. Grant
admitted to receiving oral sex from Brown but managed to win back public adoration for his honest
televised apologies. He pleaded not guilty and received a $1,180 fine and two years’ probation. In
1999, Grant again enchanted fans and critics with his performance opposite Julia Roberts in another
Richard Curtis film, ‘Notting Hill’, playing a similar role as the foppish, unlucky-then-lucky in love
admirer of Roberts’ film star character. He told reporters it felt weird to be kissing a silver-screen icon
but later found his usual dry-humoured self. “She is very big-mouthed. Literally, physically, she has a
very big mouth. It is a very big mouth. When I was kissing her I was aware of a faint echo.’’ ‘Mickey
Blue Eyes’ (1999), the story of an English auctioneer proposing to the daughter of a Mafia kingpin,
under-whelmed at the box office but Grant re-emerged with a change of tack. He played Daniel
Cleaver, the type of naughty boy your mother always told you to steer clear of, in international hit
‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’, in 2001. His character was loved and loathed by Bridget Jones but just plain
adored by audiences. Grant has said he feels most affinity with Will in ‘About a Boy’, based on Nick.
Price hire Hugh Grant
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