„I Was Completely Marooned”. This $100 Million 2012 Movie Saved Hugh Grant's Career and Helped Him Enjoy Acting Again
Hugh Grant was at a difficult point in his career after the 2009 flop, but another film saved him and reminded him what he likes about acting.
Hugh Grant is probably most widely known for playing love interests in romantic movies, however, this has never been his passion, but rather something that happened to him, as he confessed during a recent interview with Vanity Fair. Grant admitted that at one point he stopped enjoying acting, but 2012's Cloud Atlas, in which $100-146 million was reportedly invested, helped him remember what he enjoyed most about his craft and move in that direction.
Grant additionally shared the story of how it even came about that he found himself involved in the Wachowski sisters' work after he had a failure under his belt with 2009's Did You Hear About the Morgans? The actor suspects that he only got roles in that project because the distributors wanted some familiar name.
I was completely marooned. The Wachowskis offered me just a few small little parts in Cloud Atlas, and to be honest, I was probably only offered that because some of their international distributors had said, “We need some more recognizable names. Cram someone recognizable in here”. They would’ve thought, “Oh, we don’t really want Hugh Grant, but we’ll give him some tiny parts”. They will deny that but I think it’s partly what happened.
Hugh Grant played six characters in Cloud Atlas. He personally asked to add one to the script. The character in question is screen husband Ben Whishaw. Thanks to his various roles in this production, Grant recalled where his adventure in acting began and what he likes best about the craft.
I thought, “Oh yeah, I used to really enjoy doing characters—in fact, I almost used to enjoy acting”. I started out doing silly voices, odd people, making people laugh at university, and then doing this comedy show in London. It was doing characters. Then through sheer chance, maybe because of the way I looked, I got drawn into the leading romantic hero. It went fine, but it’s not what I think I’m best at—partly because it’s less fun.
Grant admitted that after 2010, offers of more varied roles started coming to him. No longer just a love interest, he was able to prove himself more, including as villains, which he seems to have enjoyed more.
