Hugh Grant must be a talented actor, because when he's simply being himself, he comes off as a serious a-hole. The source? None other than Jon Stewart, the anchor of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, and for my money, a more trusted news source than CNN.
The website Third Beat is reporting comments that Stewart made on Friday, while being interviewed by his Comedy Central colleague, Stephen Colbert, at a fundraiser for the Montclair Film Festival in New Jersey. During this candid chat, Stewart revealed that his least favorite guest of all time is Grant, who apparently has not been on the show since 2009 thanks to his hostile off-camera behavior. And Stewart vowed to "never" have him on again.
A clip of that appearance which ET.com posted is below (via Comedy Central), and what's remarkable is that on-camera, Grant comes off like the smug-but-charming rake that he often plays in movies (and the Murdoch phone-hacking scandal). He needles Stewart, but the interplay seems good natured.
The situation was much more unpleasant behind the scenes, however. Although Stewart explained that Daily Show producers have dealt with "dictators on the show," Grant was "giving everyone shit the whole time, and he's a big pain in the ass." The actor, who was appearing on the show to promote his film with Sarah Jessica Parker, Did You Hear About the Morgans? also angrily complained about the film clip that played during his segment, despite the fact that it had been supplied by the film's publicist.
Stewart told Colbert that Grant groused, "What is that clip? It's a terrible clip." It's unclear whether Stewart said the following directly to Grant or as an aside to Colbert, but the Daily Show anchor's response was, “Well, then make a better fucking movie.”
Reps for Stewart and Grant did not respond by post time.
[Third Beat, ET.com]
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