Hugh Grant Is Re-Creating Love Actually Scenes to Try to Stop Brexit
It’s Christmas Eve. The doorbell rings. Hugh Grant is standing on your doorstep. “I just need you,” he stutters. “On some…state business.”
It’s an iconic scene from the 2003 romantic comedy Love Actually, but it’s also a reality for British families right now (octopus-themed Christmas pageants be damned!). The 59-year-old actor has taken to knocking on people’s doors in the lead-up to the U.K.’s December 12 general election, asking them to cast their vote for candidates who want to revoke Brexit, the U.K.’s commitment to leaving the European Union.
The election—said to be one of the most contentious in modern U.K. history—is the country’s first since the 1920s to take place in December, and there is concern that freezing weather could cool voter enthusiasm.
That’s where Prime Minister David—Hugh Grant, that is—comes in. Grant told community members he doesn’t support a specific party, but he’s throwing his weight behind the liberal parties in the hopes that they’ll stop Brexit. And this time he’s not knocking on doors searching for a woman; he’s supporting one.
Wearing a sweater (a jumper?) over a button-down, Grant knocked on doors in North London on Sunday evening with Luciana Berger, a former Labour member of Parliament who quit the party after saying she experienced anti-Jewish hate speech and is now running as a Liberal Democrat. “She’s a great candidate,” Grant tells a surprised North Londoner, of Berger, in a video. “An M.P. with real principles.”
Even Gen-Z voters were impressed. “I don’t really know Hugh Grant, but I’m obviously a big Lib Dem supporter so I think it was cool chatting to Luciana Berger,” 19-year-old Sam L’huillier told MSN.
On Monday, Grant joined another Liberal Democrat candidate, Chuka Umunna, and once again took to the streets to campaign. “I don’t want to sound dramatic—even though you could argue that is my job—but I really think we are facing a national emergency,” he told a crowd of supporters. Later that day he traveled outside the city to advocate for yet another liberal candidate.
For years Grant had a reputation as a charming playboy. Reports of his romantic life, coupled with his winky, roguish interview style, gave him a semblance more akin to one of his bad-boy characters than a woke activist. But though his dimples are the same, his behavior has changed over the years. Grant’s Twitter account, complete with a picture of Audrey Hepburn dressed as a nun, posts constant political content. He’s also an active board member at Hacked Off, a campaign to hold the press in the U.K. accountable. His quotes these days contain fewer and fewer witticisms about tea with the queen and more comments like his August tweet in which he raged against current Prime Minister Boris Johnson, “You will not f**k with my children’s future. You will not destroy the freedoms my grandfather fought two world wars to defend.”
Asked by reporters about his habit of knocking on random doors, Grant referenced a gig from long before his Love Actually days. “I did use to sell fire extinguishers door-to-door,” he said. “I was very good.”
Ah, Hugh! Same dry humor, new desire to make the world a better place for his grandchildren. It’s just like he says—“If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around.” And if you open your door in London this week, Hugh Grant might actually be all around.
Jenny Singer is a staff writer for Glamour.
Originally Appeared on Glamour
