The directors Hugh Grant calls “the bravest in the world”
The early part of Hugh Grant‘s career primarily saw the actor being cast as something of an emotional, romantic leading star – and with good reason, for his efforts in the likes of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’ Diary and About a Boy, saw Grant prove that he was a master in such roles.
However, eventually, romantic comedies proved to be enough and in a similar move to Matthew McConaughey, Grant sought out roles that were against his previously established type. His performances in movies such as Florence Foster Jenkins, Paddington 2 and Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen proved that there is far more to Grant’s bow than was initially thought.
One of the most interesting of Grant’s movies, though, is the 2012 science fiction epic Cloud Atlas, directed by the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer. Grant featured alongside the likes of Tom Hanks and Halle Berry in playing several different characters from multiple eras of time.
Grant’s characters were a different mode of acting for the British star, and he once explained how it was a “laugh” to portray someone more evil than he was used to. “I have six cameo parts in this strange, ambitious film,” the actor said. “I do a lot of killing and r*ping. But it was a laugh. I slightly called my own bluff. In one of the parts, I am a cannibal, about 2000 years in the future, and I thought, ‘I can do that. It’s easy.'”
While Grant clearly enjoyed performing in Cloud Atlas, he was less than impressed by how it was received on a critical basis but also more on a commercial basis. The film sadly flopped at the box office following polarising reviews and did not manage to make its budget back at the theatres.
Still, Grant believes that the film ought to be given its fair dues and paid his respects to the Wachowskis. “I thought Cloud Atlas was amazing,” he said. “[The Wachowskis] are the bravest film-makers in the world, and I think it’s an amazing film.” Though Grant clearly loved working with The Matrix directors, he also admitted to being “frustrated” by the film’s overall reception.
“It’s frustrating to me,” the actor added. “Every time I’ve done something outside the genre of light comedy, the film fails to find an audience at the box office. And sadly, Cloud Atlas never really found the audience it deserved. It’s miserable; it’s a very cruel world. No one should go into it.”
So according to Grant, Cloud Atlas is worth another go. Check out the trailer below.
