Hugh Grant is one of those actors who hates watching himself on screen and notoriously sh-ts on a lot of his movies. At this point, it’s somewhat endearing because although he’s not old (64), he’s cultivated this cranky, old man yells at clouds persona. It’s kind of impressive. Anyway, Hugh recently did Vanity Fair’s “Scene Selection” segment, where the reporter replays certain scenes for an actor and then they give their thoughts on it. As you can imagine, Hugh has lots of thoughts.
One of those opinions is about his character, Will, in Notting Hill. I think Notting Hill is my favorite rom-com after When Harry Met Sally. A quick refresher: Will is a normie bookshop owner who gets involved in a relationship with a famous movie star, Anna, played by Julia Roberts. The big struggle for their characters is getting past all of the paparazzi attention that’s suddenly thrust upon them. In one particular scene, they have a romantic evening only to wake up the following morning and find that the paps have unexpectedly figured out where they were. Will discovers them first and when Anna asks him what’s wrong, he does nothing to stop her from opening the door and having hundreds of cameras flashing in her face. Hugh has some harsh words about Will over that scene. He considers him to have been a “despicable” coward.
Hugh Grant is known to not be the biggest fan of his past movies, but he has specific issues with his character in the 1999 rom-com Notting Hill. The actor recently partook in Vanity Fair’s “Scene Selection,” where he shared why he thinks his character William Thacker is “despicable.” Grant stars opposite Julia Roberts in the film.
“Whenever I’m flicking the channels at home after a few drinks and this comes up, I just think, ‘Why doesn’t my character have any balls?’” he said. “There’s a scene in this film where she’s in my house and the paps come to the front door and ring the bell and I think I just let her go past me and open the door. That’s awful.”
The rom-com classic, directed by Roger Michell, sees famous actress Anna Scott (Roberts) fall in love with William, the owner of a bookstore in Notting Hill. However, the paparazzi’s fascination with her complicates their relationship.
“I’ve never had a girlfriend, or indeed now wife, who hasn’t said, ‘Why the hell didn’t you stop her? What’s wrong with you?’” Grant added. “And I don’t really have an answer to that — it’s how it was written. And I think he’s despicable, really.”
Well, I didn’t have Hugh Grant giving a somewhat woke take about his most famous rom-com character on my bingo card, but here we are. I also didn’t have me defending Will’s actions either, but here I go. I just rewatched that scene (and then some) and honestly, Will was clearly taken off guard by the hundreds of paparazzi at his doorstep and too stunned to say anything other than a weak protest when Anna goes to open the door. I agree that it was awful to let her open the door and he definitely didn’t have the balls to stand in front of it to prevent her from opening it, but I don’t know if that makes him despicable or just human. I think his passive reaction to Anna’s freakout afterward is way worse! Am I way off base here? Is sentimentality clouding my judgment?
Hugh talks a bit more about working with Julia Roberts in Notting Hill. He also gives his opinions on Love Actually, Bridget Jones’s Diary, A Very English Scandal, and more. You can watch his entire segment below:
Photos credit: Lounis Tiar/Avalon, Justin Ng/Avalon, Getty and via YouTube
I always found it completely bizarre how Anna just randomly kissed this stranger she had just met.
i’ve never understood why she went and opened that door. It never made sense to me. It wasn’t her house, the house wasn’t on fire, what did she expect to see outside, an ice-cream truck?
I am out of sync with most people when it comes to “Notting Hill.” I enjoy the movie for it’s setting, music, and some of the performances (particularly Will’s wacky flat mate Spike). But I don’t find it very romantic. It was the same with “Four Weddings And A Funeral.” The central relationship doesn’t click for me.
But it is funny to see Hugh’s reaction to that scene. He’s so curmudgeonly and it appeals to me.
Same. I actually disliked the movie overall and found both characters unappealing. I do like Four Weddings though not for the main pair, for the friends.
Four Weddings is one of my all time favorite movies, and yes for the friends mostly – although I do love Hugh. The funeral scene, no matter how many times I’ve seen it always has me ugly crying.
It was a very unrealistic movie. More of a fantasy.
I love him, grumpness, not so great reputation and all.
He is soooo good in Heretic.
I just enjoy him so much!!
I liked him in Notting Hill, I liked him in Four Weddings in a Funeral, I liked him in Man from UNCLE, I liked him in Florence Foster Frances Jenkins… I think I might just be a fan.
He was one of the very few good things in Man From Uncle–he gave the movie the retro cool it was trying so hard to nail…
Guy Ritchie gets great villainous performances from him. Hugh seems to have a blast in those films.
A Very English scandal is good. Hugh and Ben Whishaw are perfect. Story is pretty much based on what happened, and the absurdity just ratchets up tighter and tighter until it explodes into broad comedy – and then suddenly whips into a sad and human ending.