Hugh Grant Jokes He 'Got Too Old and Fat and Ugly' to Continue Making Romantic Comedies

"I got off with more interesting things," the actor told his 'Music and Lyrics' costar Drew Barrymore

Hugh Grant's rom-com days are behind him.

The actor, who rose to fame by starring in some of the genre’s best offerings (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones's Diary, Love Actually), is happy to be romantic comedy-free at age 63.

While promoting his latest film Wonka, Grant reunited with another rom-com legend, his Music and Lyrics costar Drew Barrymore, on her talk show The Drew Barrymore Show, and told her that as of late, his career has been “lovely.”

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Reflecting on his post-rom-com resurgence, which Barrymore, 48, dubbed the “Hugh-aissance,” the actor said, “I told you I got a bit better.”

“I got a little less bad after I had children, got married, got happier," he continued. "I got too old and fat and ugly to do romantic comedies obviously, so I got off with more interesting things."

Barrymore pushed back at this (“I don’t see you that way at all”) and suggested they reprise their on-screen chemistry as evidenced in 2007’s Music and Lyrics.

“We need to do another one,” she said.

Related: Hugh Grant Says Wonka Director Sent Him Naked Oompa Loompa Image: 'My Children Were a Little Alarmed' (Exclusive)

Elsewhere in the chat, Grant revealed that while he may be done with “sweet roles,” he still loves them.

“I love those films. I love the fact that people still like them, but I never felt comfortable really doing them," he told Barrymore. "I don’t know about you, but I prefer more of a mask. I want to be someone else. Then it frees me up and then I quite like acting.”

Since breaking free from the rom-com mold, Grant has acted in action flicks like 2023’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and dramas, like HBO's The Undoing, which earned him an Emmy nomination.

When asked what in his life — both professionally and personally — he still wants to accomplish, Grant had a surprising answer for Barrymore.

“I’ve done my personal life,” the actor, who is married to Anna Eberstein, with whom he has three children. He also has two children with ex Tinglan Hong.

Related: Hugh Grant Thought 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' Would Be 'a Giant Turkey': 'I Was Clearly Wrong'

“I’m very happily married, great girl, lovely children,” he said, adding that he is “done, finished, cooked.”

When it comes to his career, however, Grant has unfinished business.

“Professionally, I want to finish that book. I wrote half a novel and I need to finish it,” he revealed.

How, Barrymore asked, will Grant “find the time” to complete the novel? “Well, I won’t ever, and then I’ll die unsatisfied and miserable,” he joked.

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Grant has never been shy about disliking past roles — or at least, the things he had to do for them.

In 2022, during an ABC News special celebrating Love Actually’s 20th anniversary, the actor admitted that he hated his dance montage in the beloved holiday rom-com.

He said when he first saw the scene — which entails his character, the prime minister, dancing to The Pointer Sisters’ "Jump” — he thought, “Well, I'll hate doing that.”

“I didn't fancy doing the dance at all, let alone rehearsing it,” he said, and jokingly dubbed the now-iconic scene a “contractual guillotine.”

“And I'm out of rhythm, by the way, especially at the beginning when I wiggle my ass,” he added.

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