Hugh Grant Doesn’t Believe He Can Be a Rom-Com Leading Man Again: ‘I’m Too Old, Ugly and Fat’

During the ’90s, he was arguably the king of rom-coms — a title that continued into the 2000s — but Hugh Grant believes that that honor is done, mainly because he think he’s not exactly attractive anymore.

“I’ve gotten too old and ugly and fat to do them anymore,” the 58-year-old told The Hollywood Reporter, when asked whether he has an inferiority complex because he’s “just the guy from romantic comedies.” He joked, “Now I’ve done other things and I’ve got marginally less self-hatred.” While the actor usually played the nice guy in films like Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral, he reveals that he wasn’t that person in real life.

“People saw all those romantic comedies where I was being a nice guy written by [director] Richard Curtis, who is a very nice guy, and they used to think, ‘Oh, Hugh must be like that,’” the About a Boy star said. “But I’m vile. Really.” And yet, while he has his complaints about the films he was a part of now, Hugh wasn’t about speaking negatively of them at the time because he was being paid “tons of money.”

“I was very lucky … Most of those romantic comedies I can look squarely in the face — one or two are shockers, but on the whole I can look them in the face and people like them,” the Golden Globes winner explained. Hugh has always been open about his thoughts on his past films — he even once commented on one of his most popular movies, Love Actually.

“I don’t know why Love Actually is still so popular,” the 58-year-old told Daily Mail. “Everyone watches it at Christmas, which is nice … Do I remember anything from filming? I mean, there was the horror of that scene where I had to dance around …”

Today, Hugh isn’t on the romantic comedy route anymore, as he is currently filming a new HBO series, The Undoing, with Nicole Kidman.