Hugh Grant launched his career as a reliable rom-com heartthrob — but says filming comedies is a ‘miserable process’

Hugh Grant at the “Heretic” premiere and as Daniel Cleaver in “Bridget Jones’s Diary.”

Tristar Media/WireImage/Universal Pictures

Hugh Grant called filming comedies a “miserable process.”In the 1990s, he cemented his status as the go-to rom-com heartthrob. Grant is best known for films including “Notting Hill,” “Love Actually,” and “Bridget Jones’s Diary.”

Hugh Grant launched his acting career with romantic comedies such as “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Nine Months,” and “Notting Hill” — but he said filming them is a “miserable process.”

In the early stages of his career in the 1990s, Grant starred in many comedies, including “The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain” and “Mickey Blue Eyes.”

“Notting Hill” was one of the biggest British rom-coms of the 1990s, and he continued to work with its writer, Richard Curtis, on other movies.

His status as a reliable rom-com heartthrob continued to drive his career in the 2000s, but he has recently started experimenting with different genres, including the 2024 horror movie, “Heretic.”

In an interview with Variety published on Monday, Grant said of romcoms: “I just think ‘com’ is difficult. I don’t know about ‘rom.’ Rom is not easy — and you need to mean it — but com is certainly very difficult.”

On comedies, he added: “It’s a miserable process. You’ve probably been on comedy film sets and there’s no laughter. You’re doing it in a vacuum and if you’re very lucky, you might hear a stifled snort from someone sitting near the monitor. That’s gold to you.”

The actor also discussed how he’s viewed as “grumpy” online, and said that his previous comments about “Wonka” in 2023 were misconstrued. At the time, he said he “hated” playing an Oompa-Loompa.

Grant said: “That’s what the internet does. It scrubs humor, and it scrubs context to create little clickbait moments. It’s one of the reasons I loathe it with such violence, really.”

In total, Grant’s movies have collectively made $4.1 billion since he debuted in 1982, according to TheNumbers.com.

That includes 20 rom-coms, as well as a handful of action movies including: “The Gentlemen,” “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre,” and “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.”