Hugh Grant on a press tour is truly the gift that keeps on giving – and his latest with Vanity Fair hasn’t disappointed.
The Love Actually actor is currently promoting his new movie Heretic, in which he plays the lead, Mr Reed, a man who invites two young Mormon missionaries into his home when they come calling, only for things to take a swiftly sinister tone.
Hugh answered the The Proust Questionnaire – a set of questions/parlour game popularised by French writer Marcel Proust, which allegedly reveals the true nature of the person answering – for Vanity Fair.
When asked ‘What is your idea of perfect happiness?’ the Wonka star responded: “Drinking a pint of London Pride while munching Twiglets and reading about Colin Firth having a critical and box office catastrophe.”
Hugh and Colin have long had a tongue-in-cheek frenemy relationship since starring in Bridget Jones Diary in 2001 – with Hugh having sponsored a chair at BAFTA HQ with the following message...
Hugh has also spoken to HuffPost UK in the lead-up to the Heretic’s release, where he revealed that he improvised scenes on the se.
Referring to a lecture-like speech his character gives at one stage of the film, comparing organised religion to the board game Monopoly, he explained: “I feel like it’s a lecture, it’s a party piece he’s done before. And has really honed it. Including the little jokes.
“And that’s how I learned it. I learned it so that he was incredibly fluent and adept with it.”
He continued: “I invented a few little grace notes that I felt he would have learned to put in to amuse his students. For instance, I’m describing Monopoly, and I’ve got out the little pieces, and I say, ’everyone has their favourite, I shan’t tell you mine, meow.’”
Meanwhile, Hugh has also spoken out about getting to know his Heretic co-stars, sharing that they bonded when he had a “meltdown” early on in the production process.
Heretic is in cinemas now.