Hugh Grant may be turning 60 in a few days away, but you wouldn’t be able to tell thanks to his undeniable charm and boyish good looks.
He’s accomplished a lot in his lifetime, like locking lips with Hollywood’s most beautiful women in romantic movies. He’s hit some low points as well…
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Curious to learn more? Keep reading about this English gentleman.
1. He comes from a prestigious family:
His mother was a school teacher who taught music. Meanwhile, both his father and grandfather served in the military.
His father, James Grant, even earned the rank of Captain and his grandfather earned many awards.
2. He studied English at Oxford University before pursuing acting:
He didn’t just study writing — he worked in it too, as he was an advertising copywriter .
Eventually, though, Grant got involved with theatre and even formed his own comedy troupe called the Jockeys of Norfolk.
3. He used to pretend to be his own agent:
What a sneaky but brilliant move!
He explained the whole thing on The Howard Stern Show .
“It was me on a different email account… I saved myself an absolute fortune,” he said.
4. He set up his dad with Matthew McConaughey’s mom:
Yes, really. These matchmaking plans happened on-the-fly during an interview with Mashable.
“Would your 87-year-old mother like a nice 91-year-old Englishman?” he said, referring to his father, James Gran
When *ET* sat down with the actors to promote their new film, *The Gentlemen*, it was discovered that their parents actually have a date set up!
“Yeah, we did set them up and it was red-hot,” Hugh said.
5. He almost cost Emma Thompson a job:
Before filming Sense and Sensibility , the actress was told that she was “too old for Hugh Grant.”
Thing is, she was only two years older than him. “I said, ‘Do you want to go take a flying leap?’” she told Vulture .
6. He banned his kids from acting:
He has five kids in total and a few different baby mamas.
“The older ones, I’ve seen in a few school plays. And luckily, they display no talent,” he told Vanity Fair about his kids acting.
At the root of the ban is Hollywood’s lack of happy actors.
“If I knew lots and lots of happy actors, I would recommend it. But seeing as I’ve never met a happy actor, I can’t,” he said.
Sorry, kiddos!
7. He took a break from acting to focus on politics:
“I’ve always been a reluctant actor. So taking a break wasn’t a great hardship, especially as I was so bound up in this political campaign,” he told Vanity Fair .
This “political campaign” stemmed from his involvement in the group called Hacked Off .
According to the group’s website, they help victims of the press.
Grant even wrote an exposé of an ex-paparazzo in 2011 for New Statesman .
He soon entered into a very public battle with American media mogul, Rupert Murdoch.
8. Another reason he took a break from acting was because of what he called the “yips.”
AKA stage fright.
“It’s a golf term,” he told Elle . “This happens in golf when you freeze up or jerk on an easy shot and miss it entirely.”
“I would be in the middle of a scene and get the yips. But I’m over that now.”
His solution was to go and see a therapist. “Now I’m shrinktastic!”
We’re so glad he wasn’t afraid to tackle this issue head-on! It is important that people take care of themselves.
9. Drew Barrymore apparently hates him:
This random fact was revealed in his 2009 interview with Elle .
When asked to describe Barrymore in a few words, he said, “Made her cry. Stunning film-star face. Hates me.”
He later revealed on *The Graham Norton Show* that she made the mistake of giving him acting notes while they were filming a movie together in 2007.
As it turns out, she’s not the only actresses not fond of him. Another is Julianne Moore.
10. He thinks *Paddington 2* is the best movie he’s ever done:
He told Vanity Fair that he was upset after Twitter users were making fun of him in the film.
“It’s particularly annoying in the case of Paddington 2 , because I genuinely believe it may be the best film I’ve ever been in.”
11. He’s not immune to scandal:
Back in 1995, the British actor was arrested in Los Angeles with a sex worker, Divine Brown.
They were having sex in his car out in public. At the time, he was in a relationship with Liz Hurley.
“Last night I did something completely insane,” he said in a statement at the time.
“I have hurt people I love and embarrassed people I work with. For both things I am more sorry than I can ever possibly say.”
In the end, Grand was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and attend an Aids education program.
12. He regrets the romantic movies he’s done:
They may be what made him a household name, but he wishes he did ones that were more “interesting.”
“Every decision I ever made was probably wrong,” he told The Hollywood Reporter .
“After (*Four Weddings and a Funeral,* released in 1994), and the world was my oyster,” he continued.
“I should’ve made interesting decisions and done different stuff. Instead, I repeated myself almost identically about 17 times in a row.”
