Hugh Grant is dead. Or at least, his persona is missing from the rom-com landscape.
Grant stood for something at the height of his career. He wasn’t just an actor filling a role, he played himself in his movies. The timeless actor was the charming, charismatic male lead who sold out theaters and put movies like “Notting Hill” and “Two Weeks Notice” on our eternal rewatch lists.
Now, in 2023, Hugh Grant is getting older while younger actors are taking the screen — but can any of them carry the mantle of classic stars like Grant?
To answer this question I scoured the internet, searching for possible young actors to shoulder the weight of the “charming actor who carries a whole movie by himself” role. So here is a list of actors who could play opposite Andie MacDowell and tell Jeanne Tripplehorn that he has, “waited all my life to find someone I love as much as I love you. And I’m just not going to let this or anyone come between us.”
The first of these contagiously confident actors is Miles Teller, who played Rooster in the 2022 film “Top Gun: Maverick.” In Teller’s scenes, he draws viewers in and has the audience rooting for him as he quips with his co-stars and talks about his connections to his father. Teller might not have the British accent, but he has the commanding presence that is needed to walk in the shoes of true movie stars that have come before him.
Speaking of actors who command the screen, the leading actor from the rom-com “Crazy Rich Asians” also deserves a spot on this list. Henry Golding has the strength to control the camera and also the reserved spirit that made Grant appear charming but also approachable. Another actor who also meets these criteria is Henry Cavill. Cavill is not known for the rom-com trope-filled films that Grant and Golding frequent, but he does have the potential to dive into other genres since his days as Superman are over.
Now, these next few might surprise you, but stay with me. Recently, I watched “Baby Driver” for the first time. In it, Ansel Elgort plays the likable yet soft-spoken lead in the action-packed crime-drama. Somehow, despite only speaking a few lines, Elgort manages to keep audiences rooting for him. The second actor I would argue for is Will Poulter. Poulter is best known for his roles in “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “The Maze Runner,” both book-to-screen adaptations. In these movies, he is more of a secondary lead character, but I would like to see him try a Hugh Grant-like role and I think that his on-screen charisma could carry him through it.
To wrap things up, I present to you one final option: Richard Madden. The Scottish actor has been in his fair share of period dramas and action movies, but he has yet to star in a rom-com. Despite not having had the chance to prove himself, Madden does have the confidence and the quick-wittedness to pull off a Grant-sized rom-com.
Sometimes, the future of classic movies, specifically rom-coms, seems bleak. However, thanks to these few actors, I believe we have a shot at reclaiming the Grant era, and that maybe, just maybe, the Hugh Grant persona is not dead after all.
