Hugh Grant

Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor.

He established himself early in his career as a charming and vulnerable romantic leading man, and has since transitioned into a more dramatic character actor.

Hallmarks of Grant's comic skills include a Nonchalant touch of sarcasm and characteristic physical mannerisms.

Among his accolades, he has received a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and an Honorary César.

, his films had grossed a total of nearly US$3 billion worldwide.

In 2022, Time Out magazine listed Grant as one of Britain's 50 greatest actors of all time.

Grant was born on 9 September 1960 in Hammersmith Hospital, the second son of Fynvola Susan MacLean and Captain James Murray Grant.

His grandfather, Colonel James Murray Grant, DSO, was decorated for bravery and leadership at Saint-Valery-en-Caux during World War II.

Genealogist Antony Adolph has described Grant's family history as "a colourful Anglo-Scottish tapestry of warriors, empire-builders, and aristocracy."

His ancestors include Sir Walter Raleigh; William Drummond, 4th Viscount Strathallan; James Stewart; John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl; Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham; Sir Evan Nepean; and a sister of Prime Minister Spencer Perceval.

Grant's father was an officer in the Seaforth Highlanders for eight years in Malaya and Germany.

He ran a carpet firm, and pursued hobbies such as golf and watercolour painting; he raised his family in Chiswick, West London, and the Grants lived next to Arlington Park Mansions on Sutton Lane.

From 1969 to 1978, he attended Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith, at the time a direct grant grammar school.

He was educated on a scholarship and played 1st XV rugby, cricket, and football.

He also represented Latymer Upper on the quiz show Top of the Form, an academic competition between two teams of four secondary school students each.

In 1979, he won the Galsworthy scholarship to New College, Oxford.

He studied English literature and graduated with a 2.1 grade.

Viewing acting as nothing more than a creative outlet, he joined the Oxford University Dramatic Society and was Fabian in a production of Twelfth Night.

He also starred in his first film, Privileged (1982), produced by the Oxford University Film Foundation.

He received an offer from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, to pursue a PhD in art history, but decided not to take the offer because he failed to secure a grant.

After making his debut in the Oxford-financed film Privileged (1982), Grant dabbled in a variety of jobs, such as working as an assistant groundsman at Fulham Football Club, tutoring, writing comedy sketches for TV shows and working for Talkback Productions to write and produce radio commercials for products such as Mighty White bread and Red Stripe lager.

At a screening of Privileged at BAFTA in London, he was approached by a talent agent offering to represent him.

Still intending to begin his MPhil at the Courtauld Institute, Grant declined, but then later reconsidered, thinking that acting for a year would be a good way to save some money for his studies.

Grant first received attention for his roles in acclaimed period dramas such as Maurice (1987), for which he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, The Remains of the Day (1993) and Sense and Sensibility (1995).

Grant emerged as a star with Richard Curtis's romantic comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), for which he won the Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for Best Actor.

He starred in further romantic comedies such as Notting Hill (1999), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) and its 2004 sequel, About a Boy (2002), Two Weeks Notice (2002), Love Actually (2003), and Music and Lyrics (2007).

On Inside the Actors Studio in 2002, Grant credited his mother with "any acting genes that [he] might have".

Both his parents were children of military families, but despite his parents' backgrounds, he has stated that his family was not always affluent while growing up.

He spent many of his childhood summers shooting and fishing with his grandfather in Scotland.

Grant has an older brother, James "Jamie" Grant, a New York-based investment banker.

Grant started his education at Hogarth Primary School in Chiswick, then moved to St Peter's Primary School in Hammersmith, followed by Wetherby School, an independent preparatory school in Notting Hill.

In September 2006, a collection of Capt. Grant's paintings was hosted by the John Martin Gallery in a charity exhibition, organised by his son, called "James Grant: 30 Years of Watercolours".

His mother worked as a schoolteacher and taught Latin, French, and music for more than 30 years in the state schools of West London.

She died at the age of 67 of pancreatic cancer.

During the 2010s, Grant began to take against-type parts, starting with multiple roles in The Wachowskis' science fiction film Cloud Atlas (2012).

He received critical acclaim for his roles in Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) and Paddington 2 (2017), receiving two nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He took on television roles in the BBC miniseries A Very English Scandal (2018) and the HBO miniseries The Undoing (2020), earning two nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Actor.

Grant has been outspoken about his antipathy towards the profession of acting, his disdain towards the culture of celebrity, and his hostility towards the media.

He emerged as a prominent critic of the conduct of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation during the News International phone hacking scandal.

He has also starred in Guy Ritchie's action films, including The Gentlemen (2019), and played an Oompa-Loompa in Wonka (2023).