"The reason I turn down 99% of a hundred, I mean a thousand, scripts is because romantic comedies are..." — Hugh Grant

Women are frightening. If you get to 41 as a man, you're quite battle-scarred.

My mother was a teacher.

Frankly, I think I'm marvelous in rehearsal! Then you turn the camera on, and it gets stiff and tight. And then you trudge back to your trailer feeling sad. That's been my experience of film acting.

I never meant to be in romantic comedies; it's just what ended up happening. But they are tricky, in a post-1960s sexual revolution way. It was easier when you couldn't have sex scenes: everything crackled very nicely. They're not easy.