Hugh Grant & Nicholas Hoult Reunite 21 Years After 'About a Boy'

Vanity Fair

It's been 21 years since Hugh Grant &amp; Nicholas Hoult starred in the movie 'About a Boy.' Hugh and Nicholas reunite to discuss everything from the first time they ever met, the wrap present Hugh got for Nicholas, to their latest projects including 'Nosferatu' and 'Heretic.'  Director: Funmi Sunmonu Director of Photography: AJ Young Editor: Christopher Jones Senior Correspondent, HWD: Rebecca Ford Coordinating Producer: Emebeit Beyene Production Manager: Andressa Pelachi Production Coordinator: Elizabeth Hymes Camera Operator: Oliver Lukacs Audio Engineer: Will Miller Production Assistant: Fernando Barajas; Lauren Boucher Groomer: Kiki Heitkotter (for Hugh) Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds

Transcript

00:00But this is what's so sinister, because you're not remotely weird anymore.

00:02I am. I'm a freak.

00:04Give me three freakish things about you.

00:06Hello.

00:08Let's pretend.

00:10It's good to see you.

00:12That we've only just met each other, instead of having a chat.

00:14We have spoken never.

00:16Since I last saw you.

00:23I was thinking about this, actually, on the way here.

00:25I was like, when was the first time we met?

00:27It must have been the screen test.

00:30Yeah, maybe baby.

00:32Maybe baby?

00:34That's the sort of thing I say.

00:36It's just been a while since you called me baby.

00:38Which I don't actually remember the screen test at all.

00:40I think when I'm in high-stress scenarios,

00:42I kind of just panic

00:44and don't take in anything of what's happening.

00:46So I don't have any recollection of it.

00:48Apart from, I know that I had to wear a school uniform.

00:50But I didn't go to a school that had uniforms at the time.

00:52So I borrowed my mum's old boat shoes.

00:54But we painted them with a marker black.

00:56Which would have been,

00:59Which would have been perfect for the character.

01:01What do you remember? Anything else?

01:03I don't remember your audition very well.

01:05I just remember, we all thought,

01:07Great, we've got him, he's brilliant.

01:09The things I remember most about a boy

01:11was not really anything to do with making the film.

01:13It was the cricket match.

01:15Oh, the end, yeah.

01:17How was your cricket?

01:19Terrible.

01:21I remember that.

01:23I'm never good at cricket.

01:25And I remember once getting in,

01:27I was filming on, there was open with nothing in it.

01:29And we'd run there in between shots.

01:31And I'd go and play cricket with some of the crew.

01:33And then I came back one time and I was like,

01:35dripping sweat.

01:37And everyone was like, we're ready to shoot.

01:39And now this kid's bright red, dripping sweat.

01:41And we've got to dry his hair and everything.

01:43And I was like, oh no, I've made a mistake.

01:45I shouldn't have done that.

01:47I remember we all hated you for that.

01:49And I punched you.

01:51This chat is more about me saying things

01:53that I'm embarrassed and still think daily about.

01:56I don't know now.

01:58What was that time like in your life

02:00when we filmed that?

02:02I have no memory at all.

02:04I don't know.

02:06I tell you what was happening.

02:08I'd done all those rom-coms.

02:10But for about a boy,

02:12I felt, oh, everyone's going to see

02:14a whole new side of me.

02:16I cut that ghastly hair off.

02:18And I'm doing an accent in that film.

02:20So I feel less,

02:22I felt it was something new.

02:25What accent were you doing?

02:27Well, I recall being,

02:29he was slightly kind of London.

02:31A bit sort of North London.

02:33Okay, Marcus, you know.

02:35He wasn't little Lord Poshington

02:37that I've been doing up till then.

02:39Why would you want your mum

02:41to go out with someone like me?

02:43I don't think you're too bad.

02:45I mean, told lies, but apart from that,

02:47you seem okay.

02:49I remember the story about a boy.

02:51It had been bought by some other people

02:53and they gave me a little hand up

02:55because I loved the book.

02:57And they said, sorry, we don't really like you.

02:59And then thrillingly,

03:01they lost the rights to the book

03:03when it went to Robert De Niro

03:05and his company.

03:07And they said, we like you very much.

03:09And that was nice.

03:11And we set it up there.

03:13I didn't know any of this.

03:15Yeah, the last moment,

03:17all the money fell through.

03:19It was going to be made by New Line.

03:21And that's how we did it.

03:23And then we had to find you

03:25who just needed the right weirdo.

03:29There you were.

03:31But this is what's so sinister

03:33because you're not remotely weird anymore.

03:35I am. I'm a freak.

03:37Give me three freakish things about you.

03:39Three freakish things?

03:41I don't think you're freaky at all.

03:43And you're...

03:45Just test me here right now.

03:47How many kids have you got?

03:49Five.

03:51What's the age?

03:53Thirteen down to six.

03:55That's partly why I look knackered.

03:57I have a six-year-old.

03:59And I understand why you feel knackered.

04:01I was telling you just before

04:03when I haven't seen you,

04:05I couldn't move my neck for the last three days

04:07because they were jumping on my back

04:09whilst I was screaming,

04:11you can't hurt me.

04:13And then I woke up the day after

04:15and I couldn't move and I couldn't swallow.

04:17As a dad?

04:19Yeah, I think I am. Are you?

04:21Enchanting is the only word.

04:23That's what the word they would use.

04:25They couldn't use any other.

04:27On the back of About a Boy,

04:29which did well, people liked it.

04:31That was lovely.

04:33Were you immediately scooped up into other things?

04:35I think you were.

04:37No and yes, there was a weird period

04:39where there was a success of that film

04:41and that gave me a great start

04:43but then I was very aware as a kid

04:45that adult actors don't make it as adult actors

04:47very frequently and that was something

04:49that I'm not as dumb as I might appear

04:51and I was very attuned to that.

04:53So it was like this weird part of me

04:55where I was like, oh, I want to keep doing this,

04:57I like this, but there weren't like tons of opportunities

04:59and there was also this awareness of me

05:01of being like, oh, maybe this isn't going to work out,

05:03which was quite a strange feeling to take on that young.

05:05But this isn't completely about how it influenced my life

05:07but I think it did influence me quite a lot

05:09in terms of the person I am

05:11and the actor I am sometimes

05:13because I didn't notice I was doing this,

05:15I wasn't consciously doing it

05:17but I did this TV show called The Great

05:19where I played the Emperor of Russia.

05:21Yeah, yeah, you were marvellous.

05:23Did you ever think that I behaved and spoke?

05:25I read reviews that said you did,

05:27but I don't see that at all.

05:29I wasn't consciously doing it

05:31but I think occasionally there was little things

05:33because it was such an influential part of my life

05:35working with you and at that point

05:37and looking up to you and what you did

05:39and that experience,

05:41that's my interpretation of how you would do it.

05:43Does that make sense?

05:45Because you're so dry and funny and perfect,

05:47that sort of comedy.

05:49Nice of you to say all that.

05:51I did watch some of Peter or The Great

05:53or whatever it was called and I didn't see it.

05:55Catherine the Great.

05:57We can't call it Peter the Great, it's about her,

05:59it's her story.

06:01Well, I was actually Peter the Third.

06:03Yeah, you were his son or whatever.

06:05Anyway, you were marvellous.

06:07But it's funny how early influences

06:09can seep into you as an actor

06:11and then re-emerge when you least expect them.

06:13You don't even know you're doing it.

06:15My first triumph as an actor

06:17was imitating our chemistry teacher,

06:19Mr Hammond, at school.

06:21He always had his hands deep in his pocket

06:23and he'd say,

06:25you boys need to come and have a shower.

06:27And he has frequently,

06:29his delivery,

06:31I find it sometimes,

06:33when I'm struggling with a role,

06:35I see I'm creeping into Mr Hammond again.

06:37It's like a possession.

06:39Yeah, it's weird how it comes back like that.

06:41Completely unrelated,

06:43but I saw Toni Collett recently,

06:45I worked with Toni,

06:47but we were speaking to her recently,

06:49we were doing some press for a movie

06:51and she told me that her karaoke song

06:53is Killing Me Softly.

06:55But she was like, oh no, the cool version,

06:57the Fugees version.

06:59I was like, I think that's the version

07:01that we were doing in the film.

07:03Who the hell is that?

07:05You did the one time, two time and all that, right?

07:07When you were singing and playing the guitar?

07:09What does one time mean?

07:11That's what they do in the song.

07:13What do you mean?

07:15I'm not going to sing it.

07:17No, go on, sing it.

07:19It's very touching and marvellous,

07:21that end scene.

07:23I cooked it up with the Whitesies,

07:25because that's not the ending of the book.

07:27The singing?

07:29The whole concert is invented.

07:31How's your golf?

07:33This is my thing.

07:35Hugh got me my first lessons

07:37and my first set of clubs as a wrap gift

07:39from about a boy.

07:41Do you remember that?

07:43You signed the golf bag as well.

07:45I can't remember what you wrote,

07:47I think it was just your name.

07:49It's better than the wrap present

07:51I gave to my son on The Undoing,

07:53which was a box of cigars.

07:55His mother was furious.

07:57How old was he?

07:59Eleven.

08:01Three films.

08:03If you want to get a prize this year,

08:05you have to choose one.

08:07It's absurd.

08:09I'm not going to choose.

08:11I went to see Heretic.

08:13They did send me

08:15The One Way, The Racist.

08:17You were brilliant.

08:19Did you watch that one?

08:21Yes, I did.

08:23It's an absolute top film.

08:25I'm proud of that one.

08:27I would vote for you for that.

08:29I don't really like anyone

08:31being good in anything.

08:33I just feel jealous instead of pleasure.

08:35Your American accent is so good now.

08:37It's got a lot better.

08:39Because you live here.

08:41Maybe that helps.

08:43I found recordings of Bob Matthews,

08:45the character I was playing,

08:47so I could locate the exact sounds

08:49he was making.

08:51I thought that was brilliant.

08:53I watched the trailer of Nosferatu.

08:55It's good.

08:57I have met him.

09:01But you could never please me as he could.

09:03It's so cinematic.

09:05How it looks, the sound of it.

09:07Robert and his whole team

09:09are like masters.

09:11I feel like that movie...

09:13Why did she say to you at one point,

09:15you could never satisfy me like him?

09:17Almost this love triangle.

09:19She's suddenly horrible to him in that moment.

09:21That was a good touch.

09:23What do you think is a better horror film,

09:25Nosferatu or Heretic?

09:27They're very different.

09:29But I liked Heretic a lot.

09:31You were brilliant in it.

09:33Very charming and funny, as always.

09:35How did it come about?

09:37What were you thinking going into it?

09:39Heretic.

09:41Two lovely weirdos from Iowa

09:43wrote and directed it.

09:45I thought it was quite brave

09:47because it's so talky.

09:49It breaks all those rules

09:51about films having to have

09:53lots of different locations

09:55because it's really only one house.

09:57I thought that was a challenge.

09:59But I did think I could have some fun

10:01with making him into a groovy professor.

10:03I won't keep you if you wish to leave.

10:05But I want you to choose

10:07which door to go through based on your faith.

10:09Correct me if I'm wrong,

10:11but I felt like the thing about Heretic

10:13was the fun that you were having

10:15playing away from the tone of a horror movie.

10:17Exactly.

10:19I thought if he thinks he's fun

10:21then his real aims,

10:23his diabolical aims

10:25and what's coming

10:27will be all the more

10:29unexpected and ghastly.

10:31Well, not unexpected, but ghastly.

10:33That's how the tension builds in a nice way.

10:35And you get some good laughs.

10:37There's a few laughs, I agree.

10:39There's not really too many laughs in Nosferatu,

10:41I wouldn't say.

10:43Tone-wise it's very specific

10:45because it's that gothic horror

10:47and Robert Eggers is such a master

10:49of honesty and authenticity,

10:51but then also he would give us lots of movies

10:53to watch performance-wise,

10:55kind of the Soviet cinema and Bergman movies

10:57and he hates when actors move their eyebrows.

10:59So there was specific things in terms of performance

11:01that he'd be like, this kind of keeps you all in.

11:03They move their eyebrows?

11:05Yeah.

11:07Christ, I will never work with them now.

11:09I can't keep my face still for too long.

11:11The eyebrows ones are sometimes tricky.

11:13Is it true Clint Eastwood only does one take?

11:15Pretty much, yeah.

11:17One take, maybe two,

11:19and he doesn't say action or cut,

11:21he's just like, whenever you're ready,

11:23go, stop.

11:25I have a bad Pavlovian reaction to action.

11:27You do?

11:29Awful.

11:31The worst words for me are

11:33turning over or rolling.

11:35I can't bear it.

11:37It sees up immediately.

11:39Action is awful.

11:41Stephen Frears has a very bad action habit.

11:43Really?

11:45One, two, three, action!

11:47Cut, cut.

11:49Stephen, this is an intimate little scene

11:51between two people and that's just terrifying.

11:53Sorry, sorry, sorry.

11:55Yes, you're absolutely right.

11:57Off we go again.

11:59One, two, three, action!

12:01He can't stop.

12:03Anyway, I find all those very frightening.

12:05So I would have loved Clint.

12:07You'd appreciate how he works.

12:09Because also sometimes if you're just hanging out

12:11and sitting there, you won't even notice

12:13that it's all very calm and relaxed

12:15and he's a very easy come, easy go.

12:17Which I think is what makes him special as a filmmaker.

12:19That ability to kind of

12:21trust the process but also

12:23the audience, where he doesn't

12:25try and force anything.

12:27It's just very simple.

12:29And also because the older I get

12:31as the years roll by with filming,

12:33keeping everyone calm is 90% of the battle.

12:35Particularly actors, I think.

12:37Just keep them calm.

12:39Keep them loose.

12:41I've had a lot of high-maintenance

12:43girlfriends in the past who used to get photographed

12:45by very famous fashion photographers.

12:47And you notice the common denominator

12:49in the really famous fashion photographers

12:51was how easy the whole thing was.

12:53You know there would be

12:55Patrick Demachelier.

12:57It's nice when you sit there.

12:59Not on the set or anything.

13:01He'd just come and snap, snap, snap.

13:03Very calm. Lovely.

13:05Do you think you're a calming person?

13:07I feel like you're...

13:09I feel like...

13:11Did I calm you on about it, boy?

13:13I don't remember. You probably did.

13:15I was quite calm on that one.

13:17I feel like you care. I remember you caring

13:19and wanting to do maybe more takes

13:21and try things.

13:23I wouldn't say...

13:25The word I'm thinking of is neurotic, but I wouldn't say neurotic.

13:27I would say that you just care and you want it to be good.

13:29You see, in those days, I think,

13:31it was a big change for me

13:33when I realised

13:35it's a mistake, I think, for film actors

13:37to think, this is how I'm going to do it.

13:39I was excellent doing it in my trailer

13:41just now or in the bathroom last night

13:43and I must get that one when we roll camera.

13:45That's a huge mistake

13:47and I did that for years

13:49and I think it's much better to have some vague idea

13:51of what the scene's about

13:53and know the lines

13:55and then completely make it up

13:57when the camera rolls.

13:59That was a big change for me.

14:01That was something, surprisingly,

14:03that Clint Eastwood was kind of similarly

14:05minded with. I remember one time

14:07him walking by me on set and he said,

14:09what are you thinking about the scene?

14:11And I said, absolutely nothing.

14:13And he said, that's my kind of actor.

14:15And I was like, perfect, there we go.

14:17Let's roll it.

14:19So there is something about that, I think.

14:21I have a film of Hughes

14:23that I think is underappreciated.

14:25Mickey Blue Eyes.

14:27I love people who love Mickey Blue Eyes.

14:29I love that movie so much.

14:31It's not perfect.

14:33The mobsters in New York still come up to me

14:35and like that film.

14:37We worked with a lot of mobsters

14:39when we made the film.

14:41They were great. They could do anything.

14:43We had a man called Rocky Sausage.

14:47He used to be a butcher or whatever.

14:49He was our liaison man

14:51with the mob and he was just brilliant.

14:53If you're filming on the streets of Manhattan

14:55and there was a problem with helicopters

14:57ruining the soundtrack,

14:59he'd say, give me the phone.

15:01He'd get the phone, he'd call JFK,

15:03the control tower.

15:05No helicopters. All gone.

15:07I like to imagine them picking up

15:09the phone at the other end of the alley.

15:11Rocky Sausage is on the phone again.

15:13They were brilliant.

15:15Do you have any cool nicknames like that?

15:17I wish, I wish. That would be a good one.

15:21My girlfriend at the time, she was so good with the mob.

15:23She was producing the film

15:25and she was brilliant

15:27with these beautifully dressed,

15:29quite high-powered mobsters.

15:31She used to sit on their knee and say,

15:33now tell me where you get your nails done

15:35because they're so much better than mine.

15:37They loved her.

15:39It's a classic film. I love that one.

15:41What do you get stopped for then?

15:43X-Men.

15:45Not too much X-Men because I was mostly in

15:47big blue furry prosthetics.

15:49I don't really know

15:51if I get stopped that much.

15:53I think normally it's mistaken for somebody else if someone's stopping me

15:55or thinking that I went to school with them or something.

15:57No, I don't think so. Sorry.

15:59Are you nice when you're stopped?

16:01Someone says, can I have a selfie?

16:03I am. I think I'm nice.

16:05I think so.

16:07You know what?

16:09This is 10 seconds out of my day

16:11and if it makes their day better,

16:13even if they think I'm someone else,

16:15then that's fine. That's going off my back most of the time.

16:17Ever tell you about the man,

16:19I stopped for petrol somewhere in Long Island

16:21and the guy who I was paying said,

16:23you know what, you look like that Hugh Grant.

16:25None taken?

16:27A lot taken.

16:29Let's do this again.

16:31Are you free

16:33next week maybe

16:35for another recap?

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