Renée Zellweger Gets Real With Hugh Grant About Why He Comes Off As ‘Curmudgeonly’

Renée Zellweger thinks the grumpiest grump in Hollywood is a bit misunderstood.

On Wednesday, Vogue UK published a delightful — albeit occasionally snarky — piece in which Hugh Grant interviews his “Bridget Jones” co-star in conjunction with the release of the franchise’s fourth installment, “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,” which will premiere on Peacock on Feb. 13.

Toward the tail end of their interview, Grant, in predictable fashion, began bemoaning his distaste for most human beings — including himself.

“You’re right, I’m not very friendly,” Grant eventually says to Zellweger self-deprecatingly.

But the Oscar winner had a different perspective of Grant’s “get off my lawn” public persona.

Renée Zellweger and Hugh Grant.

Getty

“No! I don’t think that’s true about you at all,” Zellweger said. “I feel like you save your energy for the people that you really, really love and care about, and who know you really, really well. I don’t think you’re curmudgeonly. I think you’re funny. But I don’t think that you suffer superficial conversation. It exhausts and bores you, and you’d rather watch cricket on telly.”

It was only fair of Zellweger to give her opinion of Grant — whom she’s known since they worked together on 2001’s “Bridget Jones’s Diary” — because earlier in the interview, Grant shared with her what he’s “always thought” about her.

“Shall I tell you what I’ve always thought of you?” he asked his co-star.

“Do I want to know?” Zellweger asked.

“With a lot of other actors, you think they’re really great and then suddenly you see a little glint of steely, scary ambition and you realise this person would trample their grandmother to get what they want in this business,” Grant explained. “But I’ve never seen that glint coming off you. So either it’s very well disguised or you are quite nice.”

Zellweger hugs Grant at the premiere of "Bridget Jones's Diary" on April 2, 2001, in New York City.

Spencer Platt via Getty Images

“I’m actually just very boring,” Zellweger said with a laugh. “Meanwhile you’re fascinating, with a vast hidden trove of outstanding skills. You’re hilariously brilliant at everything you hate. And, though you hate humans, you’re a very good and loyal friend. I like you very much. And I love working with you.”

It’s easy to understand how Grant gained his Grinch-like reputation, which was ramped up thanks to a live interview he gave a few years ago.

In 2023, the “Love, Actually” star had a very awkward encounter with model Ashley Graham while she was interviewing him on the Oscars red carpet.

These “annoying” questions included:

Graham eventually hit her breaking point and quit the interview, prompting Grant to seemingly roll his eyes at her.