Actor Hugh Grant has admitted he hated his character in the 1999 romantic comedy Notting Hill. He called bookshop owner William Tucker "despicable" because of the way he treated Hollywood star Julia Roberts' character in the film.
Speaking as part of Vanity Fair's "Scene Selection," Grant explained, "Every time I change the channels at home after a few drinks and this comes up, I just think, 'Why doesn't my character have balls? There's a scene in the movie where she's at my house and the paparazzi come to the front door and ring the doorbell, and I think I just let her walk past me and open the door. It's horrible."
The actor insisted that all of his romantic partners in real life had the same opinion of the character, "I've never had a girlfriend, and now a wife, who hasn't said, 'Why the hell didn't you stop her? What's wrong with you? And I don't really have an answer to that - that's how it's written. And I think he's mean, I really do."
"Probably all the time with Julia, like with any brilliant actress, you're thinking, 'God, she's really good. I'm not going to be as good as her. And she's good at emotions and has this quality where it seems like her skin is thin. You can see her soul," he elaborated.
Previously, Grant dispelled claims that he hates all his movie roles. He stressed that he was just looking for cracks in his previous performances.
"I've read that I hate all your movies. That's not true, the movies are often great. I'm just the one I hate. You're never comfortable with your own stuff. It's like the old days of answering machine messages, when you always felt nauseous when you heard your own voice. And when you're watching a movie, it's 50 times worse," the Hollywood actor told Hollywood Reporter. | BGNES
