Remember the glory days of noughties rom-coms when Hugh Grant played everything from a lovable Prime Minister in Love Actually to a shallow, immature man-child in About A Boy? Well, we might not get similarly exceptional movies any more, but we are slowly watching art become life in the form of pissed-off Hugh Grant.
Last night, Grant aired his latest grievance online – and this time, it wasn’t towards a politician. Apparently now, he has a problem with Pret a Manger. Not because they got rid of fan-favourite sandwich Jambon-Beurre or because their avocado toast is costing some people their rent – but because they’ve started playing Christmas music already.
‘Christmas hats and music off please @Pret,’ Grant tweeted. ‘Try again in four weeks. It doesn’t make us merry or spend more. It makes us GNASH.’
Remind you of anything? Of one particular character that Grant played back in 2002, opposite a very young Nicholas Hoult? Let me refresh your memory:
‘Will hated Christmas, for the obvious reason: people knocked on his door, singing the song he hated more than any song in the world and expected him to give them money.’
Yes, that is a line from Nick Hornby's novel About A Boy - later made into the 2002 movie hit - referencing Freeman's hatred of the Christmas song his father wrote that afforded him a lavish lifestyle. And judging from the replies to Grant’s tweet, we weren’t the only ones feeling the Will Freeman energy.
‘Just because your dad wrote that one song’, one user replied. Pret, on the other hand, referenced another noughties classic by replying with a scene from his role in Love Actually with the caption ‘we were hoping to see your famous dance moves, Hugh…’
It is quite hilarious that a man who appears on our screens more over Christmas than any other time of year would be so unhappy to see the season start. Perhaps he should take a leaf out of Mariah Carey’s book and start celebrating their money-making season on November 1st?
Ironically enough, Grant has spoken in the past about how Freeman’s character couldn’t be farther from his own personality. ‘Because I’m doing a performance that’s much farther away from me it was very releasing and I’m much better when I’m doing that,’ he told GQ. ‘That’s what come home to me in the last five years, get away from yourself and you're actually better.’
Well then, perhaps this reluctance to celebrate Christmas is the only trait he shares with Freeman. That, and his stellar sense of style.
Read More: The best Hugh Grant rom-coms of all time...
Grazia Hugh Grant RomComs
1 of 8Notting Hill, 1999
Notting Hill was without a doubt peak-Hugh in all of the glory that we remember him by. Awkward, unassuming and charming. Not to mention lives in a beautiful flat in Notting Hill and spends his days in one of those old dreamily idyllic book stores.
2 of 8Four Weddings And A Funeral, 1994
Ah, Charles. Don't lie, you fell for him too. The floppy hair prevails, as does our unrealistic desire for the star-crossed lover fantasy.
3 of 8Love Actually, 2003
It is here, we believe, that Hugh really shone and yes, that impromptu dance around No 10 Downing Street to Girls Aloud scored him all the points.
4 of 8About A Boy, 2002
Nicholas Hoult had very humble beginnings in the film world. Before X-Men and even Skins, we firsts saw his little face alongside Hugh Grant in About A Boy. No, Hugh doesn't play the nicest of humans in the beginning but it's his redeeming 'I can do better if you'll only teach me how' quality that makes him such a strong rom-com favourite.
5 of 8Bridget Jones' Diary, 2001
Whether you were team Daniel Cleaver or Mark Darcy, you can't deny that there was something pretty special about watching Hugh Grant and Colin Firth play fight in the street/through the window of an Italian restaurant. Yes, Hugh played the least likable of the two men, but that 'big knickers' line will forever be ingrained in our memories.
6 of 8Two Weeks Notice, 2002
A personal unsung favourite is Two Weeks Notice. It's the sort of film that was played on TV quite a bit and you probably have fleeting memories of something to do with Sandra Bullock trying to stop a building from being knocked down and Hugh Grant getting in the way. Another win for Hugh's cinematic bad guy to good guy transformation.
7 of 8Did You Hear About The Morgans, 2009
This one probably didn't need to happen did it, Hugh? Sarah Jessica Parker was trying to ride the tail-end of the Sex And The City wave and Hugh, well this wasn't the grown up romantic come back you planned, was it?
8 of 8Music & Lyrics
Music & Lyrics deeply saddens many people. We had two solid actors and an awful, awful film. Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant) is a washed up singer who hits it off with lyricist Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore) and beyond that, there's not much more you need to know about the film.