Sorry Hugh Grant! Richard Curtis wanted to cast Alan Rickman in Four Weddings and a Funeral

Curtis wanted to put forward Rickman for the lead role
Young Grant: Curtis told how he thought Grant was 'annoying'
PUBLICITY PIC
Safeeyah Kazi15 October 2018
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Richard Curtis has told how his first choice for the lead role in Four Weddings and a Funeral was Alan Rickman – not Hugh Grant.

The Love Actually writer opened up on the casting for the 1994 romantic comedy, admitting that despite finding Grant “annoying, too good-looking, and a bit posh”, he was outvoted on the decision.

Speaking at Cheltenham Literary Festival, Curtis said: “We auditioned about 70 people for Hugh’s part. Eventually it was down to Hugh and Alan Rickman.

“I went for Alan but I was outvoted. I just thought Hugh was a bit annoying, too good-looking and a bit posh.

First Choice: Curtis wanted Rickamn to take the lead role
Ian West/PA

“I was right about all of those things but he was also very good.”

Rickman, who died in 2016 aged 69, went on to star in Curtis' 2003 rom-com Love Actually as Emma Thompson's estranged husband.

Richard Curtis: The screenwriter told how he wanted Alan Rickman to play the lead in the film
PA Archive/PA Images

Curtis told how the hit was meant to be two separate films.

“Two of the sub plots were supposed to be separate films,” he said.

“The Hugh one I had an idea for a long time ago and you would have seen him coming into power and issues around that. And the Colin one he was going to go on holiday with his girlfriend then split up.”

Curtis added: “Those two were intended to be very unsuccessful films so I am very glad I managed to squeeze all the good bits out of them – 12 minutes each – into Love Actually.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in