'Love Actually' star Hugh Grant hates his iconic Downing Street dance scene, describing it as "excruciating".
Hugh Grant hates his iconic 'Love Actually' dance scene.
The 62-year-old actor - who played David the Prime Minister - is still haunted by his routine in Richard Curtis' 2003 Christmas classic, as his character dances down the halls of 10 Downing Street to the Pointer Sisters' hit 'Jump'.
Speaking as part of ABC's special 'The Laughter and Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later', he called: "I saw it in the script and I thought, ‘Well, I’ll hate doing that’.
"I didn’t fancy doing the dance at all, let alone rehearsing it.
"To this day, there’s many people, and I agree with them, who think it’s the most excruciating scene ever committed to celluloid. Then some people like it."
While Grant may not be a fan of the dance, he does take some credit for a key part of it, jokingly hailing himself as a "genius".
He added: "But I will give myself this credit… it was my idea to have that secretary lady catch me. Genius.”
The film's writer and director Curtis admitted the actor "kept saying no" when it came to shooting the routine two decades ago.
He said: "I think he was hoping I’d get ill or something and we’d say, ‘Oh, well, what a shame, we’ll have to lose that dancing sequence.' "
Curtis still remembers Grant being "grumpy" when the day came to actually film the scene, but a "contractual obligation" stopped him from pulling out.
He admitted it was "agonisingly embarrassing" to see him perform the dance on set, but he said: "He's just perfect."
Grant doesn't think it was quite on point, insisting he was out of time.
He added: "I’m out of rhythm, by the way. Especially at the beginning when I’m wiggling my a**.”
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