NatWest Sense website – 26th September, 2011

The Withnail and I star on travel tips, money and why he never became an action hero

Richard E Grant is best known for playing the shambolic Withnail in the cult comedy Withnail and I. He recently returned to TV in the costume drama, The Crimson Petal and the White, and will be seen later this year playing Michael Heseltine to Meryl Streep’s Margaret Thatcher in the movie The Iron Lady. Here, he takes us through his highs and lows.

BEST PIECE OF CAREER ADVICE
Never give up. I’m enormously proud that I have made a living as an actor for the past 30 years, when all the naysayers in my youth said, “You’ll never make it”. Now, of course, they say, “We always knew you would!”

Worst
Twenty years ago the producer on LA Story, a comedy I made with Steve Martin, took me aside and said “You know, kid, you could have a great career in Hollywood if you got pumped up. I mean really pumped to Schwarzenegger proportions. You could be an action hero.” It took all the muscle power I had to crank my jaw up from the floor. After which I fell about laughing.

BEST USE OF MONEY
The late, great actor Richard Harris advised me to buy property, no matter how small, and I have assiduously followed his maxim. I’ve also always tried to live by the old saying, “Neither a lender nor borrower be”. I have never borrowed money or taken out a mortgage, and I’ve always lived entirely according to my earning power.

Worst
Two former friends, who were in dire financial straits, asked to borrow money, which I was happy to lend them. As the years went by, without me ever asking for a penny in return, they became resentful of the fact that they had needed to ask in the first place. Eventually, they convinced themselves that I didn’t deserve reimbursement and that they were somehow entitled to the cash. Bitter lemons.

BEST THING TRAVEL HAS TAUGHT YOU
Only take hand luggage with you. It means you won’t have to wait forever at the baggage carousel, or queue for five years trying to track down the luggage your airline has ‘lost’. I’ve been a happy hand-luggage-only traveller after losing count of how many times my luggage has disappeared. You can always go shopping when you land.

Worst
Shortly after my father died, I went on an organised tour with my father’s widow to Hong Kong, Japan and Thailand. It was so awful that I vowed to avoid all organised holidays or coach trips for the rest of my life. There was always someone complaining about the lack of baked beans or Marmite.

BEST WAY TO SPEND A SUNDAY?
I love lying in bed until noon, lunch at Petersham Nurseries café in Richmond, then reading the Sunday papers from cover to cover.

Worst
My worst way to spend a Sunday would be filming in some remote, rainy location. The only way this could possibly be worse would be if the catering truck also broke down, and I had to eat at a Little Chef.