Hugh Grant Calls ‘Notting Hill’ Ending ‘Nauseating’ Due to Easter Egg Detail

16 March 2023

Hugh Grant has picked the hill he wants to die on: A “Notting Hill” Easter egg, to be exact.

The deadpan actor revealed during a Wired video alongside “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” co-stars Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez that he found the ending of 1999 rom-com “Notting Hill” to be “nauseating” due to a small detail director Roger Michell included.

“Notting Hill,” which has been considered by many a rom-com classic over the years, stars Julia Roberts as Anna Scott, a famous actress who falls for local British bookstore owner William Thacker (Grant) while filming on location. The final scene shows Anna cuddling with William on a park bench as he reads a novel, one that had a special meaning to late director Michell.

“In that nauseating moment on the bench at the end, I’m reading ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ by Louis de Bernières, which was going to be his next film,” Grant said. “So it’s a little in-joke from Roger Michell, God rest his soul.”

Michell died in 2021 after helming films like “Morning Glory,” “Hyde Park on Hudson,” and “My Cousin Rachel.”

During the same video interview, Grant teased former co-star Drew Barrymore over her singing voice during 2007 rom-com “Music & Lyrics.”

“I’m auto-tuned a bit, but not as much as some,” Grant said of his songs in the film. “Drew Barrymore was in that film with me and I don’t think she’d mind me saying her singing is just horrendous. I’ve heard dogs bark better than she sings.”

Yet after “they tuned her up,” Grant noted Barrymore “sounded way better than me because she’s got heart and voice and rock ‘n roll.”

Grant recently admitted to losing his “temper” on sets and also went viral for a tense red carpet interview with Ashley Graham ahead of the 2023 Oscars.

“I lost my temper with a woman in my eyeline on day one,” Grant told Total Film of filming “Dungeons & Dragons” during production. “I assumed she was some executive from the studio who should have known better. Then it turns out that she’s an extremely nice local woman who was the chaperone of the young girl. Terrible. A lot of groveling…”

He joked, “I did a Christian Bale,” referring to Bale’s outburst at “Terminator: Salvation” cinematographer Shane Hurlbut after he walked into a shot.

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