Hugh Grant says he is ‘more comfortable in revolting roles’

Actor known for playing ‘Mr Nice Guy’ has taken on more villain roles in recent years

Hugh Grant has said that as he gets older he is more drawn to “revolting roles”.

The actor, who turned 60 on 9 September, insists he is very different to the sensitive heartthrobs he portrayed in Nineties Richard Curtis films, from William in Notting Hill to Charles in Four Weddings and a Funeral.

“Richard always found it hilarious that the public might think I really was that nice guy in his films, because he knew very differently,” Grant told the Daily Mail’s Weekend magazine. “That was a real bit of character acting, because that Mr Nice Guy’s never been me.”

He added: “I do find that as I grow older I’m increasingly drawn to, and more comfortable in, revolting roles.”

In recent years, Grant has played baddies such as Phoenix Buchanan in Paddington 2 and Jeremy Thorpe in A Very English Scandal.

Grant in ‘Paddington 2' (StudioCanal)

In the same interview, Grant expressed his relief that his five children have stopped him from “turning into a slightly scary old golf-addicted bachelor”, which he admits was the direction he’d been heading in.

Grant will next appear in the Sky drama The Undoing alongside Nicole Kidman, which premieres next month.