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

but this got so Sinister cuz you're not remotely weird anymore I am I'm a freak yeah give me three freakish things about you let's pretend okay good see that we've only just seen each other instead of having a chat 3 seconds AG go next never since I last saw [Music] you I was thinking about this actually on the way here I was like oh when was the first time we met and it must have been the screen test for About a Boy yeah maybe baby oh maybe baby that was what it was that's the sort

of thing I say okay it's just been a while since you called me baby which I don't actually remember the screen test at all I think when I'm in like high stress scenarios I think I kind of just panic and and don't take in anything of what's happening so I don't have any recollection of it apart from I know that I had to wear a school uniform but I didn't go to a school that had uniforms at the time so I like borrowed like my mom's old like boat shoes but we like painted them with

a marker black and then the which would have been per for the character what do you remember anything else I don't remember your audition very well I I just remember we all thought oh great great we got him we've got him he's brilliant the things I remember most about about a boy was not really anything to do with making a film it was the cricket match oh at the end yeah yeah yeah how is your Cricket terrible terrible I remember that but I yeah I'm never good at Cricket and I remember once getting in not

getting in trouble but I remember I was a kid so I was like I cared about doing the acting but also there was like a stage next to the one that we were filming on that was open with nothing in it and we'd run there in between shots and I'd go and play cricket with with some of the crew and then I came back one time and I was like dripping sweat and everyone was like we we're ready to shoot and now this kid's bright red dripping sweat and we got dry his hair and everything

and I was like oh no I've made a mistake I shouldn't have done we all hated you for that yeah I hated myself I still this is more this is this chat is more about me saying all these things that I'm embarrassed and still think daily about make it good I don't know now um what was what was that time like in your life when we filmed that I have no memory at all I don't know I reckon it was I tell you what was happening I'd done all those you know romcoms but for about

a boy I felt oh everyone's going to see a whole new side of me I cut that ghastly hair off and uh and I'm doing an accent in that film so I feel less I felt it was a it was something new what he on me then well I I recall being he was slightly kind of London bit bit a bit sort of North London okay Marcus you know he wasn't little Lord posht that I've been doing up till then why would you want your mom to go out with someone like me don't think you're

too bad I mean told lies but apart from that you him okay I remember the story of that that about a boy it had been bought by some other people and they going to make into a film I put my little hand up cuz I loved the book and they said sorry we don't really like you and then thrillingly they lost the rights to the book and it went to Robert dairo and his company and they said we like you very much and uh that was nice and and and we set it up there I

didn't know any yeah the last moment it all all the money fell through it was going to be made by new line at the last moment I don't know they decided they didn't want to make it and so we shopped it around everyone wanted to make it including working title and that's how we did it right right right okay and then we had to find you we just needed the right weirdo there you are perfect but this is what's so Sinister cuz you're not remotely weird anymore I am I'm freak yeah give me three freakish

things about three freakish things I don't think you're freaky at all and you're as far as I can make test me here right now how many kids have you got five five yeah what's the age what's the Aging 13 down to six that's part why I look knacked I have a six-year-old and I understand yeah why you feel knacked yeah I was telling you this before when I haven't seen you but I only just before this I couldn't move my neck for the last 3 days cuz they were jumping on my back whilst I was

screaming you can't hurt me and then I woke up the day after and I couldn't move and I couldn't swallow and my neck was yeah sheer Agony so I I get what parenting is I think now just slowly being broken apart are you quite good as a dad yeah uh yeah I think I am are you enchanting is the only word enchanting that's what the word they would use they couldn't they couldn't use any other on the back of about it boy which did well people liked it that was lovely yeah were you immediately scooped

up into other things I think you were no and yes there's that weird period where it was like there was a su success of that film and that gave me like a great start but then there was also I was very aware as a kid everyone talking about the fact that child actors don't make it as adult actors very frequently and that was something that I'm not as dumb as I might appear and I was very attuned to that so it was like this weird part of me where I was like oh I want to

keep doing this I like this but there weren't like tons of opportunities and there was also this awareness of me of being like maybe this isn't going to work out which was kind a strange feeling to take on that young but this isn't this isn't completely about how it influenced my life but I think it did influence me quite a lot in terms of the person I am and and the actor I am sometimes because I and I didn't notice I was doing this I wasn't consciously doing it but I did this TV show called

The Great where I played the EMP yeah you're marvelous did you ever think that I behaved and spoke I've read reviews that said you did but I don't see that at all I wasn't consciously doing it but I think occasionally there was little things because it was such an influential of my life working with you and at that point and looking up to you and what you did and that experience I think there are little triggers that occasionally it's not an impression of you but I think there are little things occasionally that they're almost how

I have my interpretation of how you would do it does that make sense because you're so dry and funny and and perfect of those sort that sort of Comedy so nice of you to say that so dry I I did watch some of Peter or the great or whatever it was called I I didn't see Catherine the Great so we can't call it Peter the Great it's about her it's her story by waset was great that was me yeah well I was actually Peter thei yeah it's you were his son oh whatever anyway you were

marvelous but it's funny how yeah early influences can seep into you as an actor and then reemerge when you least expect them you don't even know you're doing it no my first Triumph as an actor was imitating our chemistry teacher Mr Hammond at school yeah he always had his hands deep in his pocket and he'd say you boys need to come and have a shower and uh he has frequent his delivery I find it some when I'm when I'm struggling with the role I suddenly realiz I see I'm creeping into Mr Hammond again it's like

a possession yeah that's weird how it comes back completely unrelated but I I saw Tony KET I work with Tony and then but we're speaking to her recently we were doing some press for a movie and she told me that her karaoke song is killing me softly oh but she was like oh no the cool version the Fuji's version I was like I think that's the version that we were doing in the film s with song killing me soft who the hell is that you did the one time two time and all that right when

you were singing and playing the what does one time mean that's what they do in the song what do you mean I'm not going to sing it no go on sing it it's very touching and marvelous that end scene yeah which we cooked up I cooked it up with the with the whites cuz that's of course not the ending of the book The sing the singing or like the whole concert is invented how's your golf golf is uh I'm 16 handicap how about you that's very poor and disappointing I would have thought you get better

well no but this is my thing so Hugh got me my first lessons and a set and my first set of clubs as a rap gift for from about a boy do you remember that yeah and you signed the golf bag actually as well Char I can't remember what you wrote I think it was just your name you signed your name so I have a signed hug Grant golf bag it's better than the rap present I gave to my son on the undoing which was box of cigars his mother was Furious how old was he

11 so now three films three films well I think if you if you want to get a prize this year you have to choose one it's absurd I'm not I'm not going to choose I went to see heretic no no we're on you well they did send me the um the oneway the racist and you were brilliant and I love watch that one yeah I did oh great thanks for watching absolute top film oh thanks yeah yeah I'm proud of that one I think it's a good film I I would vote for you for that

you're marvelous I would and also I tell you what it's annoying I don't really like anyone being good in anything I just feel jealous instead of pleasure but you you American accent so good now oh yeah yeah it's got a lot better cuz you live here maybe that helps and and also I found recordings of Bob Matthews the character that I was playing so I could kind of locate the exact sounds he was making I thought that was brilliant I thought I watched the trailer of NOS foru it's good yeah fil me really fil me

there is a devil in this world and I have met him but you could never please me as he could it's like so cinematic how it how it looks the sound of it how it Robert and his whole team are like M I feel like that movie why did she say to you at one point you could never satisfy me like him oh yeah almost this love triangle and she's suddenly horrible to him in that moment yeah yeah it's a bit that was a good good touch do you think it's a better horror film NOS

Fatu or heretic they're very different but I liked heretic lot and you were brilliant in it very charming and funny as always wow what how did it come about what what were you thinking going into it well um heretic two two lovely weirdos from Iowa wrote and directed it and uh I just thought I was quite Brave CU it's so talky it breaks all those rules you know about films having to have pithy economical dialogue and be in lots of different locations cuz it's really only one house I thought that's a challenge but I did

think I could have some fun with him being uh making him into groovy Professor I won't keep you if you wish to leave but I want you to choose which door to go through based on your faith correct me if I'm wrong but I felt like the thing about heretic was the fun that you were having playing away from the tone of horror movie in some ways right exactly I thought if if he thinks he's fun and he's quite jokey then then his real aims is diabolical aims and what's coming will be all the more

unexpected and ghastly not unexpected but ghastly that's how the tension builds in a nice way and you get some good laughs there's a few laughs I agree there's a few laughs there's not really too many laughs in Nosferatu I wouldn't say twise it's very specific cuz it's like Gothic horror and Robert Edgar is such a master of like creating worlds and tension for him performance- wise it was all about honesty and authenticity but then also he would give us lots of movies to watch performance-wise kind of the Soviet Cinema and Bergman movies and and he

hates when actors move their eyebrows so there was like specific things in terms of performance that he' be like this is kind of keeps you all in they move their eyebrows yeah Christ I I will never work with them though I can't can't keep my face door the eyebrows ones is sometimes tricky is it true Clint Eastwood only does one take pretty much yeah yeah and then goes to play golf one take maybe two and he's like doesn't say act action or cut he's just like whenever you're ready but I love that go stop I

have a bad that's havean reaction to action you do oh why what does it oh the worst words for me are turning over or rolling I can't bear it SE up immediately action is awful Steven friers yeah has a very bad action habit really yeah he goes and one two three action go look Cut cut stepen this is an intimate little scene between two people and that's just terrifying don't don't don't sorry sorry sorry sorry yes you're absolutely right right okay right off we go again one two 2 three action he can't stop anyway I

find all those very frightening so I would have loved Clint no you you'd appreciate how he works cuz also sometimes if you're just hanging out and sitting there he'll just start you won't even notice that he started the cameras rolling and like it's all very calm and relaxed and he's a very easy come easy gu which I think is what makes him special as as a filmmaker is that ability to kind of trust the process but also the audience where he doesn't try and force anything you know it's just very simple like this is it

and also because the older I get or as the years Roll by with filming keeping everyone calm is 90% of the battle particularly actors I think yeah just keep them calm keep them loose M funny enough I I noticed that I've had a lot of high maintenance girlfriends in the past who used to get photographed by very famous fashion photographers and you notice the common denominator in the really famous fashion photographers was how easy the whole thing was yeah you know there would be Patrick De melier you know oh it's nice when you sit there

it's fun you you know not on the set or anything he just come and snap snap snap yeah very calm lovely do you think you're a calming pres I feel like you you're no but on set do you think like I feel like did I calm you on a about a boy I don't remember you probably did I was quite Cal on that one but I feel like you you care I remember you caring and wanting to do maybe more takes and try things and like I wouldn't say the word I'm thinking of is neurotic

but I wouldn't say neurotic I would say like you just care and you want it to be good you see in those days I think I met it was a big change for me when I realized it's a mistake I think for film actors to think this is how I'm going to do it i' I I I was excellent doing it in my trailer just now or in the bathroom last night and I must get that one when we roll the camera that's a huge mistake right and I did that for years and uh I

think it's much better to have some vague idea of what you the scene's about and know the lines and then completely make it up right when the camera rolls yeah yeah was a big change for me that was something surprisingly that Clint Eastwood was kind of similarly minded with where I remember one time him walking by me on Z and he said uh what are you thinking about the scene or what are you thinking and I said absolutely nothing and he said that's my kind of actor walked on and I was like perfect there we

go let's roll it um so there is something about that I think well yeah I have a film of Hughes that I think is underappreciated Mickey blue eyes oh I love people who love Mickey BL I love that movie so so much it's not perfect I think that's an underappreciated one from your catalog Mobsters in New York still come up to me and like that film yeah they really well we worked with a lot of mobsters on with when we made the film they were great they could do anything we had a man called Rocky

sausage cuz he you know he used to be a butcher or whatever and he was our liazal man with a mob and he was just brilliant if you filming on the streets of Manhattan and there was a problem with helicopters ruining the soundtrack he'd say give me give me the phone and he'd take the phone he'd call JFK the uh you know control tower yeah no helicopters all gone I like to I like to imagine them picking up the phone at the other end of being Rocky sausage is on the phone again they were brilliant

do you have any cool nicknames like that do you have a rocky I wish I wish that would be a good one I had and my girlfriend at the time she was so good with the mob she was producing the film yeah and she was brilliant with these beautifully quite High powerered Mobsters yeah she used to sit on their knee and say now tell me where you get your nails done cuz they're so much better than mine they loved her That's a classic film I love that one yeah what you get stopped for them um

X-Men not too much X-Men because I was mostly in like big blue furry prosthetics for that I don't really know if I get stopped that much I think normally it's mistaken for somebody else if someone's stopping me or thinking that I went to school with them or something M been like no think so sorry are you nice when you're stopped and someone says can I have a selfie uh I am I think I'm nice um I think so because I'm like you know what I'm I well this is 10 seconds out of my day and

if it makes their day better even if they think I'm someone else then that's fine that's get off my back most of the time I tell you about the man I stopped for petrol somewhere in Long Island and the guy who's I was paying said you know what you look like that Hugh Grant no offense n taken a lot taken let's do this again next week maybe for another recap