Hugh Grant's Divine Comedy

Hugh Grant, of course, is a mega-Hollywood star now even though he started with smaller, usually independent, usually British films. In Small Time Crooks, he finally sheds his trademarked earnest likeability for a role that's more sinister. I talked to Grant in New York about his new role and his career trajectory.

The Harvard Crimson: What's the best part about being British?

Hugh Grant: [laughs] What's so weird is that after all these years of it being a dowdy thing to be, it's quite hip now. I think I'm hip for the first time ever. You know, London is swinging, baby. Have you been there recently? It's amazing. I'm just trying to keep up and everyone's having a good old time. It's almost like the last days of Rome-it's all going to explode or some terrible disease is going to come. You can't really get anybody on the phone because everybody's either out partying or hung-over. And it's fabulous.

THC: The press built you up then tore you down. Are you past all that now? Can you act freely without wondering how the media will interpret it?

HG: Oh yeah, I can plow my own furrow, do my own thing. Sometimes I just wish I knew what my own thing was.

THC: You seem doubtful of your acting future. After Notting Hill, you said you were fed up with acting. Is there something else you could to as a creative outlet?

HG: I'm trying to segue-I started by sitting down to write my script, the one that I've been threatening to do for God knows how long. But then when Richard Curtis came in and did a fabulous rewrite on Bridget Jones, then I said I would love to do that.

THC: But that script you're working on will be completely produced by your own production company-

HG: Right. Our main project is supposed to be the one I'm writing. It's tough being the writer and the one pushing the writer. It's made me more schizophrenic than I already am.

THC: You don't like to act-

HG: I've always slightly dreaded acting.

THC: What do you specifically dread about it?

HG: The pressure, you know. The longer it goes on, you know, the worse it gets. There's a reading for Bridget Jones on Tuesday and I feel as nervous about that as I did about any of my earlier work. Sitting around a table, cold dreary May morning in England, the terrible, horrendous expectations.

THC: You haven't thought about switching to theater?

HG: I do occasionally get off at plays, but I'm not one of those actors who says, "Oh darling, that's my real home, I'm most happy when my feet are on the boards." Theater is fine for actors but I think it's misery for the audience. Nineteen out of twenty times, you're just dying for the play to end when you're sitting in the seats.

THC: Do you mind being cast again as the stuffy English gentleman? Again in this film-

HG: I'm not sure my character is stuffy in this film. [Pauses.] Is he?

THC: He's a little stuffy, yeah.

HG: Well, I thought I was more smooth than stuffy.

THC: Never inelegant, though.

HG: Elegant, yes. Elegant to the point of being sinister. That's what I was aiming for. Hence the little cravat and those Japanese flip-flop shoes. To give him the sense that it was all too good to be true.

THC: Was it too expository for you to have that scene where your character explains his entire scheme in detail?

HG: What a frightening thing to say because yes, that did cross my mind and now I'm going to go home and worry about it.

THC: Do you sense the burden of being held up to a higher standard of behavior or refinement because you're British?

HG: You know, when we did Four Weddings, we went though massive trouble to make sure that my circle of friends in that film covered the whole spectrum of class. But when I came here, it was always written about as a film with five English toffs - honeyed and posh. I always thought that was weird. I guess many think the British are like that. But I mean if you've seen Trainspotting, you must know there's differences.

THC: You've cultivated your endearing, sort of bumbling character in the romantic comedies. To get the sinister effect here, do you consciously instill the character with some of that in order to win the audience over or are you trying to create an entirely different relationship with the viewer?

HG: Well, um, hmmm. I don't think that I'm really that bumbling in this one. It's a more subtle character for her - I'm pulling her in like a fly into my trap. [pauses] Yes, that's what I think I'm going. So yes, the implication is that I'm stuffy and bumbling. Fabulous. [laughs]

THC: Are you as cultured as your character?

HG: I'm massively cultured, terrifyingly cultured.

THC: What role will you playing in Bridget Jones?

HG: Strangely enough, I'll be playing another shallow bastard. It's a brilliant choice for them to cast Renee Zellwegger as Bridget. I've met her a couple of times and she really is that girl - she has that sensibility. Her being American is a bit of a hurdle, but one that she easily will clear. She's been living in England for some months now working on the accent.

THC: Did you find Woody's spare directing style to your liking?

HG: The silence was unusual. I've only come across silence like that once before - with James Ivory, he also says very little. It is slightly unnerving - especially if you're an actor like me who likes a lot of gush bullshit. Lots of, "You were wonderful, sweetheart. That's the best thing I've ever seen," and then they'll add, "However, I wonder if we could just tweak it a fraction in this take." But it's not like that with Woody.

THC: What was the atmosphere like the first time you met him?

HG: It was on the first day of shooting. He's not one for rehearsal or big meetings. He's not one for rehearsals or big meetings. And I'm not sure he knew who I was... [laughs] He was standing there on the set and I thought I better go say hello. He looked quite pleased to see me but not extremely sure who I was.

THC: Earlier in your career, you experimented with riskier films like Maurice and Sirens. You virtually built a cult following - but can you reconcile that early work with what you do now or has your career momentum taken you to an entirely different standard for accepting projects?

HG: I sold out. [laughs] Well, for God's sake, those were the films I got offered. As a British actor, you don't get offered many blockbusters - in fact, you don't get offered many films, but I pretty much accepted any film that came my way. It wasn't me having incredible integrity -if you look at many of those films, you'll see they're pretty lousy.