There’s no doubt that Hugh Grant is a great actor. Since he made his debut in the Oxford-financed film Privileged in 1982, this English actor has appeared in more than 70 movies and TV shows. Although his career has now evolved to more dramatic roles, Grant first gained recognition for playing the leading man in a wide variety of romantic comedies, such as Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), for which he won the Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, Notting Hill (1999), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), and Love Actually (2003).
However, after more than four decades in the industry, Grant has had his fair share of controversies. In fact, this actor has had issues with his many of his co-stars over the years. For example, Grant made fun of the size of his Notting Hill co-star Julia Roberts' mouth during a 2004 interview. And most recently, the English actor revealed that he and Drew Barrymore didn’t have the best relationship while working together in Music and Lyrics, all because the actress tried giving him notes for his role.
In 2007, Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant Co-Starred In This Commercially Successful Romantic Comedy
In 2007, Hugh Grant starred opposite Drew Barrymore in Music and Lyrics, a romantic comedy-drama film that was meant to be a parody of pop culture and the music industry. Written and directed by Marc Lawrence, the film focuses on the relationship that evolves between former pop music idol Alex Fletcher (played by Hugh Grant) and aspiring writer Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore) as they struggle to compose a song for an aspiring pop singer.
The film opened on February 2007 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, ranking as number one at the box office after grossing almost £2 million in its opening weekend. It was later released in the United States and Canada, where it ranked number 4 at the box office. Ultimately, Music and Lyrics made more than $145 million at the box office across the world.
Despite its commercial success, the movie received mixed reviews. Overall, it was Grant’s performance what the critics seemed to love the most. Although he admitted he neither listens to music nor owns any CDs, the English actor learned to sing, play the piano, and dance, plus he studied the mannerisms of prominent musicians to prepare for his role as a has-been pop singer. According to the San Francisco Chronicle’s review of the film, "Grant strikes precisely the right note with regard to Alex's career: He's too intelligent not to be a little embarrassed, but he's far too brazen to feel anything like shame.”
Hugh Grant Revealed That There Was A Lot of Tension Between Himself And Drew Barrymore On The Set Of Music And Lyrics
Most recently, Hugh Grant appeared on The Graham Norton Show along with his Florence Foster Jenkins co-star Meryl Streep. During the show, the English actor revealed that many of his former co-stars dislike him. The list of leading ladies who Grant humorously claims that don’t like him includes Julianne Moore (“loathes me,” the actor said), Rachel Weisz (“despises me”), and Drew Barrymore (“hates me”).
When asked about why he thinks his former Music and Lyrics co-star hates him, Grant explained that it all arose from an issue they had behind the scenes. “She made the mistake of giving me notes,” Grant said of Barrymore, explaining that this only created more tension between the two actors behind the scenes.
Hugh Grant Heavily Criticized His Music And Lyrics Co-Star Drew Barrymore’s Singing Skills
In a recent interview with Wired to promote his latest film, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Hugh Grant revealed what he really thought about Drew Barrymore’s singing skills for Music and Lyrics. When asked if it was actually him singing in the movie, the English actor responded, "Yes, well, I do, but I'm auto-tuned beyond belief.”
"Actually, that's not true; I'm auto-tuned a bit, but not as much as some. Drew Barrymore was in that film with me, and I don't think she'd mind me saying her singing is just horrendous," the actor then added. Grant then said that he’s “heard dogs bark better,” then he continued, "But having said that, once they tuned her up, she sounded way better than me — because she's got heart and voice and rock 'n' roll, whereas I sounded like Julie Andrews, and I'm meant to be rock 'n' roll."
Despite what Hugh Grant has said about Drew Barrymore, the actress has nothing but good things to say about her Music and Lyrics co-star. In response to Grant’s comments, the actress posted a video of herself singing a song from the movie on her Instagram account. And in an interview with TV personality Ross Mathews on her talk show, she admitted that there were no hard feelings over Grant’s comments. “If you know Hugh, like, that is his way of loving you,” the actress explained.
