Hugh Grant on being too old for romcoms: 'I would look sinister and weird batting my eyelids'

Grant is currently starring in sort-of romcom The Rewrite with Marisa Tomei

Hugh Grant and Marisa Tomei in The Rewrite (Anne Joyce)

He was the lovably awkward William Thacker in Notting Hill, obnoxious womaniser Daniel Cleaver in Bridget Jones’ Diary and of course, the dancing Prime Minister in Love Actually.

But now, despite currently starring in sort-of romcom The Rewrite, Hugh Grant knows his movie glory days are past him.

"This film's more of a redemption story, with many other aspects to it," he says. "I do think that if it was just me and a girl batting our eyelids at each other in a full-out romantic comedy, I would look a little sinister and weird at the age of 54."

Grant has long been given slack for his lack of on-screen versatility, something that he happily jokes about, but does think is a little unfair.

"I could point to lots and lots of leading men or women in films who you could say are quite similar, really, in their parts, but I seem to get most of the stick for it," he said.

Of all his characters, Grant reckons his latest, struggling screenwriter Keith Michaels who finds himself out of work and takes up teaching, could make a good pal.

"I quite like Keith, I think I could hang out with him," he says. "He seems okay, he's quite agreeably negative. I would hate to hang out with the flesh-eating cannibal I played in Cloud Atlas. I would find that unsettling."

Grant also joked about his failure to be cast in the most coveted action role of all – James Bond.

"I do bring a natural menace to the screen so I've always been surprised that they never offered me the part," he says. "I don't really do films anymore but if I did I might have been tempted, ten years ago."