Hugh Grant’s best performances, ranked from least to most unhinged
As we prepare for the sight of Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa, here's a look back at his career arc from romantic leading man to whatever it is he's doing now
Film Features Hugh Grant
When you’ve been in the moviemaking business for as long as Hugh Grant has, you’ve earned the right to take whatever kinds of chances you want in the roles you choose. If that means poking a little fun at your own image as an aging, curmudgeonly actor whose best roles may be behind him (though we’d argue that’s certainly not true) or going completely off the rails as a digitally created Oompa Loompa in the new Wonka film, that’s your prerogative.
After years of struggling to get away from the kinds of romantic roles he was being offered after his breakthrough performance in Four Weddings And A Funeral, it’s been fascinating to track the progression of Grant’s projects as he continues to push boundaries on his own terms. If he ever cared what audiences thought of him, he certainly doesn’t anymore. And lately it seems as if he’s found a new sort of niche that suits him. That doesn’t mean we love his performances in beloved rom-coms like Notting Hill and Love Actually any less. He’s an actor of many talents.
Here, then, are our favorite Hugh Grant performances ranging from the most stable characters to the most delightfully unhinged.
37 Comments
C’mon, no Fletcher from The Gentleman?
Exactly
Best “Ah, fuck me!” in cinema. You know he had too much fun in that, as someone who’s been in Fleet Street’s crosshairs for most of his life. Up there with Tom Cruise going HAM as Les Grossman for the same reason.
After Colin Farrells coach , he’s the best thing in it .
I came to say.
Cloud Atlas erasure!
His nuclear power utility exec in particular was memorable. Probably topped only by Hanks’ cockney gangster / author.
I liked him more as a cannibal:
Came here to say this.
I’m glad I didn’t click through the slideshow only to find that Cloud Atlas was missing. Seriously, how do you leave out the movie where he plays a literal cannibal?
Good catch. And six roles. I don’t think I’ve seen the AVClub mention that movie once.
Fairly normal until the top two, and you left out The Gentlemen, that Fortuna flick that came and went; really most of the last ten years has been more exciting and relaxed than his early years of romantic jitteriness.
I thought his performance was also remarkably good in Sirens, but obviously, that’s not the chief reason we remember that film…
Thank you. I thought I was the only one who wondered why Sirens wasn’t included. But you don’t really think about Hugh Grant when you think about that movie.
Man, The Lair of the White Worm is so delightfully unhinged. My favorite part is Peter Capaldi’s bagpipe snake charmer scene, complete with kilt (and grenade accessory).Also glad that An Awfully Big Adventure was included. That was early proof to me that he wasn’t just another himbo romcom guy.
About a Boy is still peak Hugh Grant for me. I revisit that movie way too often.
I kind of defend Two Weeks Notice. That movie is way funnier than it has any right to be.
Like when he’s trying to decide on new stationary. Sandra Bullock licks both envelopes and goes “That one tastes better.”
“You’re brilliant. I’m getting you a bigger office!”
I will just leave this here.
My brother dated a woman from Galway for a long time, and while her accent was a bit different, this scene reminded me of her soooooooo much. If she got past “your man,” she’d usually get the famous person’s first or last name wrong. If you teased her about it she’d tell you to fuck right off. It was sublime.
One of my favourite scenes from one of my favourite shows. Just brilliant.
1. His role in The Gentlemen deserves a spot somewhere in the top half2. I kept looking at Hoult in Fury Road and trying to remember where I’d seen him before. It finally had to be pointed out to me he was the About a Boy kid. Quite the evolution3. His fight with Firth in Bridget Jones’ Diary is my favorite part of the movie. Everyone thinks they can fight until they have to
I don’t know that I fully agree with this list (there are clearly omissions in order to cap this at an arbitrary number), but I am on board with AV Club doing rankings based on a somewhat random criteria.
I really loved his turn in Dungeons and Dragons. He just exemplified the rogue character to a T – talking out of both sides of their mouth and being charming while doing it. Hugh had a field day being hard to hate too much while playing a almost certainly bad guy who could probably arguing you out of it. Makes sense he would hold a position of power like that.They really did the game well overall….even down to Pine’s utter eye rolling dislike of how good Xenk the Paladin’s is at what he does and their sometimes downright goofy self assuredness.
Guys? I dunno how to say this, but…I think I like Hugh Grant movies?
I’ve seen most of these and liked them, and liked his performances in them.
He got pegged as “Romantic Comedy Guy” early on, but I dunno. There’s something about the energy he brings that kind of elevates the material.
Even when people were teasing him over Paddington 2, I was like “Dude, he killed it in Paddington 2!” It feels weird to say a sentence like that, but it’s the truth!
He’s clearly taking over the “Will Do Any Movie, Will Do It Well, And Will Not Give A Fuck What You Think” role from Michael Caine now that Caine has retired.
He’s just good at being a scoundrel, and it’s fun to watch him. It’s the classic English actor career trajectory.
Right? I kind of came around to Hugh Grant when he started playing assholes, ‘cause he was really entertaining while playing an asshole. About A Boy is my favorite performance of his for that exact reason.
A major plus for his performance in Dungeons & Dragons is that he’s actually playing Boris Johnson, with a layer of contrived warmth that can’t hide some pathological narcissism.
Regarding The Lair of the White Worm: Directed by Ken Russell and loosely based on a lesser-known Bram Stoker novel, it’s as bonkers as you might expect.No, I would argue that it is much more bonkers than you would expect. I’ve watched that movie many times and I’ve never had anybody turn around and say to me, “yeah, that went just how I thought it would!”
I mean, it’s Ken Russell. Even when he played straight, as in “The Boyfriend”, he was extremely bonkers – I watched Lair a few months ago and what can I say, after “The Devils” it was just business as usual. Oh how missed he is.
I love this movie. My kind 0f bonkers.
When it comes to Hugh Grant, count me as team unhinged rather than team charming-befuddled.
No room in the list for Mickey Blue Eyes?
Forget about it.
I met him once at a party (the only ‘celeb’ party I’ve ever been to) and spent 20 mins chatting to him before realizing that he had far more important people to talk to.He was wonderful – polite, friendly, put up with my gushing, had some fun stories.All around good guy. Like REALLY good guy I saw some talk of him being a bit of a prick at a red carpet event and I don’t believe it. Maybe he just doesn’t suffer fools gladly…
Sorry to say that without those looks I don’t think he’d have gone very far. And he is always especially aware that he’s being looked at. Always “on”.