Grant, Richard E. 1957–

PERSONAL:

Born May 5, 1957, in Mbabane, Swaziland; immigrated to England, 1982; naturalized citizen; married Joan Washington (a dialect coach), November 1, 1986; children: Olivia. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: University of Cape Town, B.A., 1979. Politics: Liberal. Hobbies and other interests: Flute, piano, deep sea diving, marionettes.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—International Creative Management, Oxford House, 76 Oxford St., London W1N 0AX, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Actor, director, and writer. Troupe Theater Company of South Africa, cofounder, actor, and director. Appearances in films include Withnail and I, 1986, How to Get ahead in Advertising, 1988, Warlock, 1988, Killing Dad, 1989, Mountains of the Moon, 1989, Henry and June, 1990, Hudson Hawk, 1991, Bram Stoker's Dracula, 1992, The Player, 1993, Age of Innocence, 1993, Pret-à-Porter, 1995, Twelfth Night, 1995, Jack and Sarah, 1996, Spice World, 1998, and Gosford Park, 2001; appearances in television movies and miniseries include the title role in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Arts and Entertainment Network, 1998, Honest, Decent, Legal, and True, Hard Times, Suddenly Last Summer, and Here Is the News.

MEMBER:

British Actors' Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild, Amnesty International.

WRITINGS:

With Nails: The Film Diaries of Richard E. Grant, Picador (London, England), 1996, Overlook Press (Woodstock, NY), 1998.

By Design (novel), Picador (London, England), 1998.

(And director) Wah-Wah (screenplay), Scion Films, 2005.

The Wah-Wah Diaries: The Making of a Film, Picador (London, England), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Richard E. Grant's acting career began in earnest after he moved to England in 1982 at age twenty-five. After several years of struggling to find work, he finally met success in 1986 when writer-director Bruce Robinson cast him in the British cult hit Withnail and I. Grant since has had a rising career in theater, television, and the movies. Some of his most famous film work includes roles in Mick Jackson's L.A. Story, Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula, Robert Altman's The Player, Pret-à-Porter, and Gosford Park, Martin Scorsese's Age of Innocence, and Trevor Nunn's Twelfth Night.

Grant's experiences became the subject of his first book, With Nails: The Film Diaries of Richard E. Grant. The author looks personally at the bizarre world of filmmaking and its people. Grant's story begins with the start of his own career when a starring role as a starving, drunken actor in Withnail and I changed his life. The critical success of this film won him the attention of directors and casting agents in both England and America. Suddenly, he went from being a complete unknown to frequent work as a supporting actor in big-budget Hollywood movies.

Grant's frank commentary and biting wit illuminate his highlights and low points from 1985 to 1995. For example, he describes the experience of working on the industry flop Hudson Hawk, starring Bruce Willis and produced by Joel Silver. He tells of dealing with actors' egos, varying director methods, schedule delays, and inflating budgets. The book also contains personal anecdotes about celebrities, such as passing time between takes with the Spice Girls on the set of their film Spice World (in which he plays the pop group's road manager), shopping with Elizabeth Hurley and Hugh Grant, then a couple, in Paris sex shops, and an evening on the town with Sandra Bernhard and Madonna.

Grant's tales of Hollywood and its participants reveal certain truths about the unusual moviemaking business. A Kirkus Reviews critic observed, "As both a fan and a player, [Grant] is close enough to see all the boggling, sordid workings of the star machine, but not quite caught in its gears. Each director's style may vary … but certain things remain the same: the long delays, punctuated by intense moments of activity, the close camaraderie that dissipates once filming is over, the struggle to find the truth of a character."

Twenty years after his initial success as an actor, Grant moved to the other side of the camera as director and writer of the feature film Wah-Wah. The story emerges from Grant's own background as a British boy growing up in Swaziland in the 1960s, a time when the South African kingdom teetered on the verge of political independence from the British Empire. It is a coming-of-age story set in an exotic location, where colonial life allows substantial freedom from moral restrictions and a boy faces one domestic scandal after another. Grant's directorial debut earned positive critical attention. Kevin Lally wrote in Film Journal International: "Grant has crafted a handsome period piece that never betrays his first-timer status." Grant's script, other critics observed, clearly reveals his fondness for the home of his youth. Grant took notes during the filming of his screenplay, as he did during prior films. The Wah-Wah Diaries: The Making of a Film describes the travails and triumphs of filmmaking in a manner that Biography contributors found both modest and inspiring.

Grant lives in London. Other career highlights include a season playing in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Ernest on the London stage and television roles in Suddenly Last Summer, directed by Richard Eyre, Hard Times, directed by Peter Barnes, and Here Is the News, directed by Udayan Prasad.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Biography, spring, 2007, Sheridan Griswold and Olivia Laing, review of The Wah-Wah Diaries: The Making of a Film, p. 268.

Booklist, May 15, 1998, Mike Tribby, review of With Nails: The Film Diaries of Richard E. Grant, p. 1583.

Daily Variety, August 24, 2005, Derek Elley, review of Wah-Wah, p. 6.

Entertainment Weekly, July 17, 1998, Vanessa V. Friedman, review of With Nails, p. 78; May 19, 2006, Lisa Schwarzbaum, review of Wah-Wah, p. 57.

Film Journal International, June, 2006, Kevin Lally, review of Wah-Wah, p. 38.

Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 1998, review of With Nails, p. 632.

Newsweek, May 4, 1998, Ray Sawhill, review of With Nails, p. 82.

Publishers Weekly, May 11, 1998, review of With Nails, p. 60.

Variety, August 29, 2005, Derek Elley, review of Wah-Wah, p. 70.

W, June 16, 2008, Kevin West, review of Wah-Wah, p. 156.