US Magazine – 1991

Richard E. Grant is not an actor for the squeamish. His portrayal of an unemployed alcoholic actor in the black comedy Withnail & I was almost too painful to watch, but too funny not to. Ditto his ad exec whose stress manifests itself in a live boil on his neck in How To Get Ahead in Advertising. Conquering another complex comic character in Steve Martin’s zany L.A. Story, Grant plays a closet homosexual who tries to remarry his estranged wife. “The role conforms to the cliché that all Englishmen are homosexuals,” says Grant, 33. “He’s somebody who hasn’t a clue with what’s going on in a country he really doesn’t understand, so he’s desperate to hang on to what’s familiar.” Martin, who wrote the script, had Grant in mind for the role even before the project was a sure thing. “I love his previous work,” says Martin. “I thought he was so eccentric and we really wanted that for the part. It’s so much easier to hire someone who can act eccentric rather than have to write it.”

To Grant, who was born in Swaziland and now lives in London, filming in L.A. was a lesson in foreign relations. “My jaw just dropped at the sights and at some of the people I met,” he says. “The geeks are galore.” Even so, if given a green card, Grant wouldn’t mind moving his wife, dialect coach Joan Washington, and their 2-year-old, Olivia, across the ocean. “Needless to say, the film industry in England is almost nonexistent,” Grant explains. “Hopefully, I’ll get more employment from your countrymen. But they’re keeping us out – so as not to add too much competition.” Grant laughs, then adds graciously, “You guys are stocked to Mars with brilliant actors.” The actor’s next British invasion takes place in Hudson Hawk, co-starring Bruce Willis. “I play Donald Trump on mescaline, basically,” he says. “I’m married to Sandra Bernhard, who’s doing an Ivana. We are completely insane, sexual sadists.” How insane? Replies Grant, gleefully, “We kill for fun.”