Immortalised for playing caustic, self-absorbed actor Vivian Withnail in his 1987 debut, Withnail and I, eking out a squalid, proto-Fat White Family art squat existence in the dregs of late-60s London, it’s hard to think of anyone so well loved for portraying such unpleasant characters as Richard E Grant. But judging by his brief answers to Withnail questions in our following interview, maybe it’s time we all moved on to other stellar performances, Grant’s increasingly unhinged exec in How to Get Ahead in Advertising or the Oscar-nominated barfly in Can You Ever Forgive Me? for example. Spice World: The Movie not so much, though as we discover later, he did get to keep the suits he wore in it.
Almost 40 years on from Withnail, cue Grant in another pop-culture moment, playing the role of eccentric English aristocrat like it was written for him in last year’s Emerald Fennell shock-fest, Saltburn. And now, as if the stage wasn’t already set for a renaissance, here he is in Burberry’s new London-inspired campaign, a trench-coated dog walker shrugging off some typically inclement British weather with all the infectious optimism and sadness-tinged romance that has his ever-expanding Instagram audience hooked. It’s like Grant refuses to let life dampen his spirits, even at his lowest and most introspective, so who better to feature in an ad about finding love in the rain?
Below, he talks about living among an eclectic collection of art and film props that has spilled over into his garden, why he loves Waterloo Bridge at night, and his experiences as a young actor trying to make ends meet in 80s London.
1. Hi Richard! How are you today? I’m on tip-top form.
2. What’s the weather like where you are? Grey and cold outside and toasty indoors.
3. It’s bucketing down in your new Burberry campaign. Do you have a favourite kind of rain? Monsoon deluge.
4. And is that your dog you’re walking in the ad? Film dog rental, sadly.
5. Do you belong to the “no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing” school? Absolutely!
6. Why do you think the British are so obsessed with talking about the weather? Because we usually experience four seasons in a day and if people are stumped about how to start or end a conversation, the weather is always a foolproof topic.
7. What are your top three London haunts? Walking across Waterloo Bridge at any time of the day or night, the Royal Opera House and Heathrow airport – the excitement of flying somewhere extraordinary and the relief of landing home again!
8. Do you ever miss the grittier, unpredictable, electric London that you first moved to in the 80s? I was an out of work actor, waitering to earn my rent in 1982, and gave myself five years to try and make it. I’m just relieved that it worked out. So zero nostalgia for the struggling years.
9. What is the most romantic thing you’ve ever done in the city? In January 1986, I got down on a bent knee at Heathrow airport at six in the morning and asked my wife to marry me, having just landed back from Swaziland, where I grew up.
10. What do you love doing best in the outdoors? I live in Richmond and I love walking along the towpath along the Thames from Teddington to Chiswick Bridge.
What are you a collector of? ”Puppets, paintings, books, antiques, textiles, and people” – Richard E Grant
11. What is the most bizarre thing in your garden? I was given the proscenium arch used in a party scene in Saltburn which frames the two-foot-tall sculpture I commissioned of Barbra Streisand’s head.
12. What are you a collector of? Puppets, paintings, books, antiques, textiles, and people.
13. Do you prefer maximal or minimal design, and why? Maximalism – it gives everything texture, visual interest and the stamp of individuality.
14. Which room do you love most in your house? My study. It has floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, all of the Pelham puppets from my childhood, family photos, a fireplace, and props collected from all of the films I’ve worked on.
15. What was the last piece of art you bought? A 19th-century portrait of a young woman from a junk shop.
16. What was the last thing someone bought for you? A pile of hardcover books. I’m a voracious reader.
17. What do you spend more money on than you really ought to? Who’s judging? Not me. But I have a horror of being in debt, so I always spend within my means.
18. Do you have a favourite place to go hunting for things to decorate your home? Kempton market, L’isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Béziers, Lillie Road, Ardingly antiques fair and Tetbury.
19. How would you describe your relationship with social media? Addictive.
20. What do you find most rewarding about your presence on platforms like Instagram? The positive interactions with people who follow my Instagram account.
21. Do your family and friends consider you an ‘influencer’ now? I have no idea what that even means!
22. When was the last time you cried with happiness? When the sun came out yesterday.
23. When was the last time you cried out of sadness? When my late wife wasn’t present for our daughter’s wedding.
24. What has the power to instantly lift your mood? Music.
25. Being allergic to alcohol, do you find it ironic that some of your best-loved roles have been big boozers? My father was an alcoholic, so I had a role model to study.
26. Who did you base your brilliantly appalling barfly, Jack, in Can You Ever Forgive Me? on? My mother.
27. Is it true that Withnail and I director Bruce Robinson made you down vodka, so you knew what being pissed felt like? That would be true.
28. What nourishes your soul? More music.
29. Do you have any rituals? Shower in the morning and bath before bed.
30. Do you have a mantra? Find a pocketful of happiness in each day.
31. Do you watch your own films? Not if I can help it.
32. How often do you go to the theatre? Twice a week.
33. Do you make a habit of keeping mementoes from the projects you work on? Yes, I have a study full of props and memorabilia.
34. Have you ever held on to a piece of wardrobe? Well, I was gifted the five suits I wore in Spiceworld: The Movie.
35. Do you like working closely with costume designers on how your characters look? I’m always hugely dependent on and indebted to their incredible talents.
36. Would you describe your personal style as more Withnail, or Saltburn? Saltburn.
37. You’ve said your wardrobe in Can You Ever Forgive Me? was very New Romantic. Were you ever one yourself? No, I wasn’t.
38. What music scenes were you into? Disco and techno.
39. Were your experiences as a young actor at all like Withnail’s? Put it this way, nine months of unemployment in 1985 were frustrating and despair-inducing.
40. How did you make ends meet? By painting and decorating houses.
41. Who has been the most terrifying person you’ve ever worked with? I’m still too frightened to say!
42. Who have you worked with that left the biggest impression on you? Meryl Streep – she’s the best of the very best.
43. Who would you love to work with but never had the chance? Quentin Tarantino.
44. What did you enjoy most about working with director Emerald Fennel? Her pitch-black sense of humour.
45. Do you have any advice for young actors looking to follow in your footsteps? Never give up – I am living proof of that.
46. Which character you’ve played gets quoted back to you most often in the street? Withnail.
47. What is the greatest love story you’ve ever read? Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez.
48. What is the greatest love story you’ve ever watched? Out of Africa.
49. Are you the kind of person who always loses their umbrella? No.
50. Thanks so much for answering our questions today, Richard. How would you rate this interview? Snappy!
