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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Tina Campbell

Hugh Grant confesses his parents wanted him to be the Archbishop of Canterbury instead of an actor

Hugh Grant has revealed his parents were prouder of his brother being a banker than of him being a film star.

The Love Actually star, 64, said that his church-going mother would have preferred him to become the Archbishop of Canterbury and that both of his parents were “not supportive” of his chosen profession.

Appearing on the latest episode of The Graham Norton Show, he explained: “They were not at all supportive.

“My mother was a churchgoer and wanted me to be the Archbishop of Canterbury.

“In their world showbusiness meant nothing.

Hugh Grant said his parents were prouder of his brother becoming a banker (PA)

“I remember when Four Weddings And A Funeral came out, my mother went to a dinner party with like-minded people and when asked about her two sons she said ‘One is an investment banker and the other is a film star’.

“Another guest said, ‘How very interesting, which bank?.’ That’s the world I grew up in.”

Grant also spoke about his role in the upcoming fourth Bridget Jones movie, which will be released in UK cinemas on Valentine’s Day next year.

The Hammersmith-born star is reprising the role of Daniel Cleaver for the film which is adapted from Helen Fielding’s novel Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy and will see Bridget navigate life as a single mother after the death of her husband Mark Darcy.

Grant said he was “crammed” into the new film as there was “no obvious role” for him.

Hugh Grant will be reprising his role of Daniel Cleaver in the upcoming Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy (PA)

He told Irish host Norton: “It is a good and moving script – it is extremely funny but very sad.

“There was no obvious role for me, but I was crammed in.

“So we didn’t have a 60-year-old Daniel Cleaver wandering around looking at young girls, I made up a good interim story for him.”

Daniel was a former love interest of Bridget, played by Renee Zellweger, and is the main antagonist in the film series.

Also on the show was actor Sebastian Stan, who talked about his role playing former US president Donald Trump in the film The Apprentice.

Graham Norton’s guests this week are actors Hugh Grant and Sebastian Stan, singer Neneh Cherry, comedian Greg Davies and singer Perrie Edwards

Stan, 42, said: “Naturally there were a lot of people asking, ‘Why do this?,’ but every time I was told not to do it, all I could think about was doing it.”

Asked about his approach to playing the Republican presidential nominee, he said: “I tried not to do an impersonation. It is bizarre but I didn’t know if I was going to get it right and I still don’t really know.

“It’s just my take on the situation.

“I also had to put on weight to play him so for a month-and-a-half I just ate ramen with soy sauce, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with Coca-Cola. It was a very interesting experience.”

Singer Neneh Cherry and comedian Greg Davies were Norton’s other guests, while singer Perrie Edwards performed live in the studio.

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