Elizabeth Hurley’s Son Damian Says Godfather Hugh Grant Tried to Warn Him Off Showbiz: ‘You’ll Hate It’ (Exclusive)

Writer-director Damian cast his mother Elizabeth in his new thriller 'Strictly Confidential'

Elizabeth Hurley’s son Damian has wanted to be a filmmaker since his mom gave him a camcorder when he was 8 years old.

But the Serving Sara star, 58, tells PEOPLE she wanted her only child to have what she calls a “regular life,” and so did Damian’s godfather (and Elizabeth’s ex), Hugh Grant, 63.

“Hugh, like Mummy, tried to warn me off show business: ‘It's a miserable, you'll hate it, don't do it.’ And I refused to listen, thank God,” says Damian, 22, who wrote and directed the new thriller Strictly Confidential, which stars his mother.

Related: Elizabeth Hurley Shrugs Off ‘Fuss’ Over Her Movie Sex Scene Son Damian Directed: ‘Felt Comfortable’ (Exclusive)

His words of warning were no match for the lure of Hollywood sets. The camcorder gift Elizabeth gave Damian dovetailed with her 2011-2012 stint on the CW TV series Gossip Girl.

“He loved it so much,” says Elizabeth, who brought him to set on his school break. “He was like, ‘Oh, I wish all my life had been like this.’ ”

Damian crouched behind the director, who sometimes let him yell “action” and “cut,” and the crew made him a makeshift dolly for his camcorder: a skateboard with a tripod on top.

“I used to crawl into the editing suite when no one was looking,” recalls Damian. “I thought I was really slick and everything, but they definitely knew I was there.”

A few years later, when Elizabeth starred on the soapy E! drama The Royals, Damian also became a fixture there.

"He’d always run my lines with me,” she says. “He’d learn everybody’s lines. So then he started running lines with all the cast!”

Related: Elizabeth Hurley and Son Damian's 'Twin-Like' Bond Made Working on Their New Thriller 'Phenomenal' (Exclusive)

By season 3 he scored a guest role as a European prince and reality star.

Soon Damian’s own career took off: He landed a contract with IMG and began modeling, starring in campaigns for Pat McGrath’s skin-care line.

The drama school graduate landed the deal for Strictly Confidential when a Lionsgate exec saw a short film he made and asked him to write and direct a feature film.

In the sexy, twisty mystery, Elizabeth stars as Lily, a wealthy woman whose daughter Rebecca drowned near the family home in the Caribbean.

A year later Rebecca’s best friend, Mia (Georgia Lock), and their group of twentysomething friends reunite at Lily’s beachside retreat, where secrets emerge.

“To immerse yourself in this world, it’s an adventure,” says Elizabeth.

Strictly Confidential is in theaters and on VOD today.

For more on Damian and Elizabeth Hurley, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE.

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