- Overshooting 1.5C risks 'irreversible' climate impact: study
- Time running out in Florida to flee Hurricane Milton
- Demis Hassabis, from chess prodigy to Nobel-winning AI pioneer
- The long walk for water in the parched Colombian Amazon
- Biden-Netanyahu to talk as Hezbollah, Israeli forces clash
- France vows to step up drugs fight after police vehicles torched
- Air France says jet flew over Iraq during Iran attack on Israel
- Activists target Picasso work to protest Israel arms sales
- Let 'Emily in Paris' remain in Paris, Macron says
- Global stocks diverge as Chinese shares tumble
- Time runs out in Florida to flee Hurricane Milton
- Chad issues warning ahead of more devastating floods
- Record-breaking Root helps England dominate Pakistan in first Test
- German govt sees economy shrinking again in 2024
- Ex-UK soldier denies passing secrets to Iran intelligence
- Creator's death no bar to new 'Dragon Ball' products
- Three Kosovo Serbs on trial over 'secession plot' attack
- Van Gogh museum to launch Impressionism show
- French minister ups ante in Eiffel Tower Olympic rings row
- Japan PM calls snap election to 'create a new Japan'
- German police shut pro-Palestinian camp over Thunberg invite
- Chinese stocks tumble on lack of fresh stimulus
- Trio wins chemistry Nobel for protein design, prediction
- SE Asian summit urges end to Myanmar violence but struggles for solutions
- Wimbledon replaces line judges with electronic system
- Record-breaking Root hits hundred as England power to 351-3
- Record-breaking Root hits hundred as England's power to 351-3
- Sabalenka relishes 'much-needed' tennis rivalry with Swiatek
- Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson set for six weeks out
- Taylor Swift got police escort to London gigs after Austria terror plot
- Cook tips Root to break Tendulkar's all-time runs record
- British skull auction sparks Indian demand for return
- Joe Root: England's elegant Test record-breaker
- Braving war: Lebanon's 'badass' airline defies odds
- Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Hezbollah strikes Israel, says it foiled Israeli incursions
- Jurgen Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Sinner to face Medvedev in Shanghai Masters quarter-finals
- US weighs Google breakup in landmark trial
- Record-breaking Root guides England to 232-2 in reply to Pakistan's 556
- Japan PM dissolves parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- Chinese stocks tumble on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- 7-Eleven owner confirms new takeover offer from Couche-Tard
- Goodbye Tito? Tomb at risk as Serbs argue over Yugoslav legacy
- Restoration experts piece together silent Sherlock Holmes mystery
- Sinner avoids Shanghai deja vu with assured Shelton win
- Pyongyang to 'permanently' shut border with South Korea
- Trumpet star Marsalis says jazz creates 'balance' in divided world
- No children left on Greece's famed but emptying island
- Nepali becomes youngest to climb world's 8,000m peaks
RIO | -0.68% | 66.21 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.28% | 24.64 | $ | |
NGG | -0.34% | 65.675 | $ | |
BTI | 0.55% | 35.415 | $ | |
GSK | 0.45% | 38.19 | $ | |
SCS | 2.44% | 13.1 | $ | |
BCE | -0.15% | 33.46 | $ | |
BP | -0.41% | 31.9 | $ | |
BCC | 0.45% | 142.665 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.01% | 6.9 | $ | |
JRI | 0.3% | 13.2 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.11% | 24.8248 | $ | |
RBGPF | -2.48% | 59.33 | $ | |
RELX | -0.09% | 46.6 | $ | |
AZN | 0.12% | 76.965 | $ | |
VOD | 0.46% | 9.705 | $ |
Hugh Grant: romcoms are a 'big fat lie'
Romantic comedies made Hugh Grant one of the most famous men in the world, but he has a few doubts about their premise.
"The big question is whether the whole idea of a man and a woman belonging together -- and this being something we are all desperate for -- is true, or a big fat lie," Grant told reporters in Paris, where he was promoting his new film, fantasy blockbuster "Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Amongst Thieves".
"And I have a feeling it might be a big fat lie -- despite having made a whole career and fortune out of it.
"I mean, how many really happy relationships do you know? There's not many," he continued. "All those romantic comedies I made -- it would be very interesting to have the sequel now, which would presumably start with the divorce lawyers."
As usual, there was a large dollop of mischief in Grant's comments.
But in a separate interview with AFP, the 62-year-old struck a more serious tone when asked if he had been ambitious during his earlier years.
"I wish I had been more ambitious. I wish I'd had sharper elbows," he said, suddenly dropping his usual tongue-in-cheek delivery.
"Honestly, I think I've been too lackadaisical. I could have tried much harder when I was very bankable and popular in Hollywood," he told AFP.
"I could have made any film I wanted... but really I just wanted to watch the football."
- 'Too old and ugly' -
The self-doubt is nothing new -- Grant has been somewhat ambivalent about his fame ever since "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill" made him the world's favourite bumbling Brit in the 1990s.
It at least partly explains his disastrously awkward interview at the Oscars this month, when he was unable to muster the fake excitement expected of stars on the red carpet.
But lately, he seems re-energised by more villainous and more satisfying roles, playing the bad guy in "Paddington 2", HBO's "The Undoing", and now as a power-hungry criminal in "Dungeons and Dragons".
"Slimy villains do suit me rather well," he said with a chuckle.
"I have enjoyed myself a bit for the first time in the last six or seven years since I got too old and ugly to be the hero.
"Actually it's how I began -- doing characters and silly voices. And suddenly I got side-tracked into being a leading man, and I never thought I was particularly well-suited to that.
"It's really difficult being the lead guy, the hero," he added. "Well-paid, but hard."
- 'Maintain some mystery' -
Not that he ever made a conscious decision to switch to bad guys: "These things just plop on to my doorstep," he said.
Does he have any advice for stars who are breaking out today?
"Fame has changed so dramatically since it happened to me, due to social media," he told AFP, before pausing to reflect.
"I always fantasised about being in the mould of those mysterious film stars of the 30s and 40s where you never got to know who the real person was, and you and the studio were allowed to lie about you as much as they liked.
"I'd go for that -- try to maintain some mystery, don't have an Instagram account.
"But that's my advice to almost everyone in the world."
J.Oliveira--AMWN