Hugh Grant (Alex Fletcher) and Drew Barrymore (Sophie Fisher) Q&A

Hugh, could you take us through shooting that hysterical music video?  What was that process like?

HUGH GRANT:  Mm. You�d think it�d be fun, wouldn�t you?  'Cause it looks like it�s fun. (laughs)  But of course, it was torture.  It was the very end of the shoot, and we�d all had enough of each other.  It�s not easy for me.  I'm a man of 46.  I'm very ill-cast in the film. I'm not a music enthusiast.  I don't move very naturally. I don't sing very naturally.  I don't exist very naturally.  So, I find a lot of the pop stuff incredibly difficult.  He�d say, �Well, now, let�s just do some isolation shots where it�s just each member of the band standing by themselves and just freaking out.�  Well, I mean, forget it. Forget it.  That�s just not going to happen.  That�s why I play the keyboards a lot in that 'cause I found it easier if I had a prop.

DREW BARRYMORE:  You got your groove on.

HUGH GRANT:  Watching the film, I've only got literally one move, which is�

DREW BARRYMORE:  The pop hip?

HUGH GRANT:  Yeah, pretty much. (laughs) Yeah.

Did you watch Duran Duran videos?

HG:  I did watch a lot of Duran Duran videos, yeah.  I watched them at night to send me to sleep.

DB:  I got you a CD book.  I made you a whole thing.

HG:  That�s true.  Drew was concerned that I had no interest in music, so she bought me a lot of music, which was very kind of her.

DB:  Yeah.  Hundreds of albums.  And I put them all into a CD book for him, so he could be inspired.

HG:  Yeah.

What kind of albums were they?

DB:  Everything.  Everything from what pertained to the area of this but just a bit of everything.  There was everything, from The Clash to Joy Division to Duran Duran to Pat Benatar.  I would just see an album and be, like, �Oh, he has to have this Mazzy Star album even though it has nothing to do with the movie.  It�s so good.� (laughs)

Did you end up liking any of it?

HG:  No, not one of them. (laughs)  No, that�s not true, I'm very grateful for them.  And they look very good on my shelf.  Now I look like a human being because before I only had �Godspell.�

Isn't it true Andrew Lloyd Weber�s mother taught you how to play the piano?

HG:  Yes, she did.  Briefly.  Then I had a tantrum and gave it up. 

What kind of teacher was she?

HG:  She was very nice.  It was nothing to do with her.  Um, I remember distinctly going around there and I had to sit on three London telephone directories to be able to reach the keyboard.  And yeah, we did it for about a month or two.  I wish passionately I had gone on with it.  I just wish I had.

DB:  How very posh.  You should have seen my musical teacher.  He ate salmon and smoked cigarettes and was just, like, totally gross.

HG: (laughs) And that�s how you�ve turned out so musical.

DB:  (laughs) Right?  Exactly.  See, Andrew Lloyd Weber/weird, salmon-smoky guy.

HG:  Yeah. (laughs). I�ll just tell you something of what I remember about Andrew Lloyd Weber, actually.  I remember it was something his mother was always keen on, which was just, �Go for it.�  She said, �Just play, just play.�  And I kept saying, �Well, I don't know how to play yet.�  She said, �Just go for it.�  And she always played very loud and weirdly.  I went to a dinner party a couple of years ago in London.  Andrew Lloyd Weber was there.  And after dinner, he played.  And it is deafening.  I've never known a man hit the keys harder in my life.  People ran screaming into the night with their ears bleeding. (laughs)  Very nice chap, but too, too loud.  Sorry.

In the concert scene, did you have to try to play the piano in front of all those people?

HG:  That�s right.  Well, that I did learn.  Look, I took it very seriously.  I did it.  I had an incredible bunch of people around me, teaching me and schooling me.  And I was taught to play the piano for a few of these pieces, especially that last one at the piano.  And in the Madison Square Garden.  And yes, I can play, and when you see my fingers on the keys, they are correct.  If you were a pianist, you would know that.

DB:  (laughs) And if you're Andrew Lloyd Weber�s mother, she�d be saying, �Harder!�

HG:  Yes, she would be saying, �harder.� That�s a whole different story.

Do each of you sort of have that guilty eighties pleasure that you can talk about?

DB:  Sure.  I mean, I liked a lot of it.  We were talking about music of the eighties.  I was more into the start of alternative, coming out of the Sex Pistols and punk rock, going into Joy Division, Violent Femmes, New Order, Depeche Mode, and all of those kinds of bands.  But then I absolutely loved Madonna, and I was in love with every member of Duran Duran.  I had fantasies about marrying all of them.  There was so much joyful music that came out of the eighties, you know?  I don't understand why anyone would act embarrassed about loving that music because I just think it�s great.  It was a great time of life.  It seemed very free, and full of optimism and carelessness, and good times.  I liked it a lot.

That scene when you guys were singing together.  That�s really you singing?

DB:  Yes. And that�s Hubert, who has a very beautiful voice.

Wow.  Were you nervous?

HG:  Well, the funny thing is, to begin with, on the whole film, yes, I was incredibly nervous about the singing.  And a bit like Drew in that scene, I sounded like a mouse.  Nothing came out.  But after they�ve done this process now with the computer where basically they can make anyone sound good, you get more and more confident, and in the end, you actually sing much better anyway because you know they can fix you if you don't.  So, by the end of the film, yes, I came to quite love the sound of my own voice.  In fact, I�d like to sing for you now.  (laughs)

DB:  Adam Schlesinger, too, who was the one conducting our singing sessions.

HG:  � who wrote a lot of the music.

DB:  And produced it, and he really made me feel at ease.  I knew that I was having crows and vomit spewing out of my mouth.  And he was, like, �No, no, it�s okay.�  And he just sort of talked to me, and it�s true.

Have either one of you while you were doing this movie tried to write lyrics to a song?

DB:  I wrote a song while we were on this movie, actually.  I was listening to this album by Jenny Louis called �Rabbit Fur Coat.�  It was my favorite album of 2006.  I was obsessed with it, and she made me think I could write a song, and it�s probably really terrible, and I actually know her.  I should show it to her, and see what she thinks.  It�s probably pretty bad, but she was inspiring to me.  This movie was inspiring to me.  Adam inspired me.  He did make me feel like, �You can do this.�  He gave us a great amount of confidence, and a great sense of play.  I loved diving into the music while making this film.

Has Marc Lawrence got your voice, do you think? 

HG:  Well, I have so many voices.  I'm a very versatile actor. (laughs) But he certainly has one of them, yeah, definitely.

DB:  He so has your voice.  He didn�t write it for me, he wrote it really, I believe, for you and some actress to be placed in here, and then would rewrite it according to her, once he got whoever�s voice that was.  But reading the script, I was, like, �This is so brilliantly and clearly written for Hugh.�  You could just hear him right off the page.

Are you outing something here?  Is his name Hubert?

DB:  Sorry, I call him that. It�s probably unsexy, I'm sorry.  But I just think it�s so cute. (laughs)

That�s not your name, though.

HG:  Well, a lot of people have called me Hubert or Mungo, which is my third name.

DB:  Yes.  That�s your middle name, right?

HG:  Yeah, yeah.

DB:  Yeah, Mungo.  Hugh Mungo.  Get it?  (laughs)

HG:  Yup, yup. Heard that one, too.  (laughs)

What keeps you coming back to the romantic comedy genre? 

HG:  Listen, I've dabbled in other genres, and I'm not terrible.  I can do them.  I just I always slightly get the feeling of �I'm okay here, but someone else could do this better.�  And then it�s not really actually romantic comedy I'm crazy to do, but things where there�s a bit of comedy around, I'm more comfortable there.  Because I just feel I've got something to offer.  Rather than being deadly serious.

DB:  Although you can be.

HG:  Yeah, in real life on the set, I am nightmarishly serious (laughs), and angry, and sulky.  Poor Drew.

DB:  You're lovely.

HG:  She�s got a lot of lying to do over the next three days. (laughs)

Marc said in the notes that each of you had extremely different trailers, which he thought was interesting. 

DB:  Oh my God, if you walked in our trailers, you would see the night and day of the yin and yang of me and Hubert.

HG:  Yeah, Drew�s is all warmth and people, laughter and candlelight; there are fabrics lying everywhere, and things happening, films being made, magazines being shot, and everything.  Mine is a dank, empty cell with one furious little Englishman sitting in the corner, grinding his teeth to a fine dust. (laughs) No one�s ever, ever gone in there, I don't think, except a very timid dresser twice a day.