Richard Curtis has revealed that he did not want Hugh Grant to appear in Four Weddings and a Funeral, 30 years after the film became a huge hit.
Three decades after the film’s release, the screenwriter said that British actor Grant, then 32, was too “glamorous” for the character he had in mind and instead wanted stars such as Jim Broadbent, Robbie Coltrane or John Gordon Sinclair will play the lead role. of Carlos.
Meanwhile, the film’s producer Duncan Kenworthy has claimed that Liz Hurly’s iconic safety-pin dress at the UK premiere event was a major factor in the film becoming so big, after the risqué outfit would appear on the front page of the newspapers for a week.
Hurly was in a long-term relationship with actor Grant at the time, they got together in 1987 and broke up in 2000.
speaking to The times, Curtis revealed his reasoning behind not wanting Grant for the lead role in the comedy-romance film. “I argued hard against Hugh Grant. I had a less glamorous person in mind because I’m a very unglamorous person,” he said.
Liz Curtis and Hugh Grant at the UK premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral in 1994
The great film Four Weddings and a Funeral was released 30 years ago, in May 1994.
Hugh Grant and Andie Macdowell star in Four Weddings and a Funeral
The screenwriter said the team interviewed about 70 people for the role, but found it difficult to find anyone with the “charm and wit” necessary to make the role work.
‘Hugh had it instantly. “He gives the impression of being irresponsible and that he can’t act, but he worked very hard on every line,” he said.
At 32, Grant had stated that he was about to leave the acting profession, but was satisfied with the script for Four Weddings after finding the protagonist funny.
Kenworthy, whose first time producing a film was with Four Weddings, recalled how Grant brought a recording of his best man speech at his brother’s wedding, which was “pretty funny.”
Kenworthy added that the crew wrote “wedding attire” on the invitation to the UK premiere, and about 10 percent were wearing wedding dresses.
The producer recalled why Hurly’s bold sartorial choice became such an important part of the film’s success. And then, of course, there was Liz Hurley’s dress, which wasn’t a wedding dress, almost not a dress at all. “That worked out really well for us too because she was on the front page of the newspapers for a week,” he said.
Hurly’s famous dress, which features large gold safety pins and a slit on the side, remains iconic to this day.
Hurly was in a long-term relationship with Grant at the time, they got together in 1987 and broke up in 2000.
Hurly and Grant at the UK premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral in 1994
Screenwriter Richard Curtis (pictured) revealed that he did not want Hugh Grant to appear in Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Andie MacDowell, who played Carrie, recalled meeting Grant for the first time and said she thought he was going to be “easy” because of his charm.
And Anna Chancellor, who played Henrietta ‘Duckface’, said she still loves ducks and even had one as a pet, Daphne, who she rescued from a neighbour’s garden.
The actor added that her husband calls her Duckface, while their daughter, who tragically died aged 36 last year after a battle with leukaemia, called her ‘Ducky’.
Last year, the film’s screenwriter, Curtis, said he was “stupid and wrong” for joking about the size of people in his films after his daughter confronted him.
The director said he regrets much of his work and that it was “inadvertent” and “not as smart” as it should have been.
He added that he would never use the words “fat” and “chubby” again.
But he defended himself by saying he had written a gay couple into the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Curtis said he felt “stupid and wrong” for thinking he couldn’t write about those parts because of his “very undiverse school” and “group of college friends.”
He said: “It felt like me, my casting director and my producers just weren’t looking outside.”