It’s been a while since we’ve seen Hugh Grant‘s charming British mug gracing the big screen; in fact, since 2012’s Cloud Atlas, Grant has only appeared in two movies — the little-known The Rewrite and the underappreciated The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
For a man who used to be ever-present, Grant essentially fell off the map. He’s set to star in this week’s release, Florence Foster Jenkins, acting across from legend Meryl Streep.
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In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Grant, 55, explained why he “lost interest” and took off from Hollywood.
“For a few years, I thought I was putting show business behind me, he said. “I was busy doing other things in life, particularly with politics. I was not out looking for films really. I lost interest. The scripts I was receiving were not satisfying.”
“I’m a terrible actor,” Grant continued. “I’m still learning. When I first started, I wish I knew then to trust myself more, really. I was in a terrible panic in the early part of my career. I used to pre-rehearse everything and then bring my pre-rehearsed performance to the set. Now, I’m learning to let it happen in the moment. American actors are much better at that than British actors. If I knew how to trust myself, I would have been much more relaxed. Maybe I would have less gray hairs today.”
In a separate interview with Howard Stern, Grant shared his thoughts on marriage and infidelity, saying that human beings aren’t necessarily meant to be monogamous, and affairs may actually spice up boring relationships.
“If you ask me the question, ‘Do I think human beings are meant to be in 40-year-long monogamous, faithful relationships?’ No,” he said. “Whoever said they were? Only the Bible or something. No one’s ever said that that’s a good idea.”
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“I think there’s something unromantic about marriage,” he continued. “As soon as you get married, you’re into possessiveness, ownership, jealousy, all these unhappy things, boredom, and if you don’t do those things, it can still be sexy, romantic, fun. There’s a lovely aspect of it sometimes, if you marry exactly the right person, your best friend, then it’s cozy and it’s lovely, but people make so many mistakes.”
“I’ve always admired the French and the Italians, who are very devoted to their marriages and take them extremely seriously, but it is understood that there may be other visitors at 5 o’clock in the afternoon. You never boast about it, you never say anything, but it keeps you together.”
Grant was the subject of much public scrutiny when he was caught having sex with a prostitute in his car in 1995.
Florence Foster Jenkins opens in theatres on Friday.
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