A
Minute With: Hugh Grant on Hollywood, hacking and
celebrity
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[October 09, 2014] By
Rollo Ross
LONDON (Reuters) - Actor
Hugh Grant, who became the poster boy for the charming
British fop in romantic comedies such as "Four Weddings
and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill," is delighted not to
be part of Hollywood anymore.
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Grant channels his feelings in his latest film, "The
Rewrite," as Keith, a washed up screenwriter who moves to a
small New York town to give a college course on the sometimes
cynical and occasionally realistic perils of Hollywood. The film
is out in UK theaters on Wednesday.
Grant, 54, has also been active since 2011 in the Hacked Off
campaign, which is dedicated to raising awareness about the
victims of press abuse. He gave evidence at the Leveson inquiry
into the culture and ethics of the British media and accused
several British tabloid newspapers of intruding into his
personal life and hacking his telephone.
The actor talked to Reuters about shedding the rom-com tag,
leaving Hollywood and his involvement in Hacked Off.
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Q: How do you feel about "The Rewrite" marketed as a
romantic comedy? Do you think that's acceptable in your eyes?
A: I did have that fight with Lionsgate, who are
brilliant and marvelous distributors, and in the end they
convinced me that the marketplace is so crowded with stuff now
that you have to give a simple message to the public. You can't
say, "Oh it's a little bit of a romantic comedy with other
genres mixed in." It becomes too confusing. So they wore me
down, except I did manage to get "romantic" taken off the comedy
(points to film poster).
Q: How do you empathize with Keith's views on Hollywood,
and how has your perception changed as you've gone through it?
A: This character still actually loves Hollywood and
wants to be part of it, and he's just sad that he's not and that
he can't get a job. I'm not quite like that in that I'm
delighted not to be a part of it anymore, apart from occasional
dippings of my toe. That doesn't make me a better person. That's
just my taste.
Q: Why do you not want to be part of it?
A: I never really was crazy to be out there acting,
performing, promoting, all that kind of stuff. It's fun once in
a while, but for some people it's their lifeblood ... I've never
felt like that. I've felt that there were other things in life
that were equally or more interesting.
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Q: You've taken on the hacking trial. There are certain
celebrities that sell themselves to the press and there are also
celebrity bloggers who are untrained journalists. What's your take
on that, because people's personal lives are still invaded?
A: I think there's a very common misconception in the
campaign that I've been part of in that it's to do with protecting
celebrities from intrusion and yet it's actually nothing to do with
that. That's the way the Daily Mail (newspaper) will portray it, to
belittle it and make it look ludicrous. But it's completely a
non-priority for me and the campaign.
It's about who really runs that country, the fact that prime
ministers have to call newspaper owners before they go to war to
make sure it's OK with the newspaper owner. And it's about that
incredible abuse of power (by) a few newspaper owners ... They live
above the law and above any code of ethics because politicians are
too afraid to take them on and that's what we have changed.
Q: You've had difficulty with the press in the past. How
would you cope if you were a new celebrity in today's world?
A: I don't know. I don't really know how it works anymore
except that I can see that, whereas in 1994 you didn't really have a
voice except from some rather grand PR statements through some PR
person. People now with giant Twitter followers, millions more than
people that read newspapers, at least they have a voice.
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But as I keep saying, what I campaign about is nothing to do with
celebrities. I think there's always going to be a tension between
the amount of intrusion that a person in show business wants and the
amount that they get and that's never been different throughout this
time shift.
(Reporting by Rollo Ross for Reuters TV. Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy
and Andre Grenon)
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