Ah, Hugh Grant. The actor so many love to hate.
It wasn't always this way – in 1994, the star burst onto international screens with one word...
"F**k."
He was a floppy-haired, 20-something Londoner who was running late to his friend's wedding.
As he ran around his cramped apartment muttering "f*ck", and drove down the freeway in a tiny orange car, yelling "f*ck, f*ckity, f*ck", women around the world fell in love with him.
But fast-forward three decades and things have... changed.
Hugh has changed, it seems.
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In March 2023, Grant attended the Oscars, seemingly against his will, and took part in what could be one of the most awkward red-carpet chats of all time with model Ashley Graham.
She's now revealed what went on when the cameras weren't rolling and, well... we're not sure it changes much.
Before the ceremony, Graham asked Grant a series of pretty standard questions on the red carpet. Like who he hoped would win.
To which he replied, "No one in particular".
She also asked what was he wearing. To which he replied his... "suit".
The interview quickly went viral with millions of people labelling Grant "rude" and a "d**k".
But now Graham has shared that the actor was "pleasant" before the interview.
"I could tell he didn't want to be there, that was obvious," she told The Sunday Times. But, "before we were chatting, he was very pleasant.
"Then we started rolling and he was like, 'I don't want to be here,' and I was, 'Okay, work with me! I get it! But, like, work with me.'
"I was trying my hardest to be my nice, upbeat self, and he gave me what he had."
Graham's not the only woman to have had an... unpleasant interaction with Grant, who was once beloved for his rom-com roles – but in recent years, has become notorious for being a... bit of a d-bag.
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Early in his career, Grant, and the movies he appeared in, were the epitome of comfort viewing. Watching a Hugh Grant movie felt like catching up with an old friend, or snuggling down to read one of your favourite books on a rainy day.
You knew what you were going to get when you sat down to watch a Hugh Grant rom-com, and you always felt slightly better about yourself, and the world, after you watched it.
After Four Weddings and a Funeral, Grant starred in Notting Hill, Nine Months, Mickey Blue Eyes, Two Weeks Notice, About A Boy, Bridget Jones's Diary, Love Actually, Music and Lyrics, Did You Hear About The Morgans and The Rewrite.
At some point, his roles transitioned from slightly awkward, flopped-haired love interest, to ageing bachelor learns the errors of his ways, and by the end of his rom-com reign, it was difficult to tell whether Grant was playing a character or simply playing himself.
One thing we knew for sure was that Grant had incredible on-screen chemistry with his female co-stars, the likes of which included Julia Roberts, Julianne Moore, Drew Barrymore and Emma Thompson.
Offscreen, however, it was a completely different story.
The now 62-year-old told SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show that Renee Zellweger was one of the few actresses he hadn't "fallen out with".
"I love Renee. Uh, she’s one of the few actresses I haven’t fallen out with," he said. "And, we, we got on very well together and, we still exchange long emails.
"Hers in particular, at least 70 pages each, interesting stuff, but quite hard to decipher. She's a properly good egg and a genius."
After starring in Notting Hill, Grant apparently fell out with Julia Roberts after he spoke about her "big mouth" in the media.
During a 2004 episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show, Grant said 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".
"I’ve probably made too many jokes about the size of her mouth. She might hate me by now," he replied.
But probably the most damning evidence of Grant's tense relationships with his female co-stars comes from an interview he did with Elle magazine in 2009.
The interviewer asked Grant to describe his female co-stars in three words and this is how he replied:
"[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. Julianne Moore: Brilliant actress. Loathes me. Rachel Weisz: Clever. Beautiful. Despises me. Drew Barrymore: Made her cry. Stunning film-star face. Hates me."
During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show in 2016, Grant was asked to clarify his comments.
"Julianne definitely hates me, Rachel Weisz, I think we got on fine but I don't know why I said that. Maybe I was going for a comedy triple I don't know...[on Drew Barrymore] she made the mistake of giving me notes, which, how would you take that?" he said.
This article was originally published in March 2023, and has since been updated with new information.
Feature image: Getty.
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