Hugh Grant Says Cell Phones Ruined Socializing on Movie Sets: ‘Everyone Goes Home and Looks at Twitter’
Christian Zilko
Hugh Grant wants actors to start getting drunk and falling in love on movie sets again.
Appearing on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” to promote his role in “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” Grant admitted that the cast didn’t spend much time playing the tabletop roleplaying game that inspired the film. In his view, it had less to do with disinterest in the game than a climate that discourages off-duty socializing on movie sets.
“I think Chris Pine occasionally tried. There was talk of it, but I don’t know,” Grant said. “Films are so weird now. They are weird because, in the old days, by the end of the second week, you were all getting drunk in the evening and having dinner and falling in love with each other and all of that… All of that stopped because of telephones. Everyone goes home and looks at Twitter. It’s so sad.”
When asked if what he sees as a “sad” social climate could be reversed by banning phones on sets, Grant was optimistic. He claims that Quentin Tarantino has employed such a practice on his recent films, which has allegedly resulted in a more promiscuous social environment.
“Yeah, I think so,” he said. “You know, Tarantino banned telephones from his set, and quite right, too. And the people there, they do all shag each other, so I’m told.”
The process of filming “Dungeons & Dragons” might have been less fun for Grant than some of his older movies, but it seems that the process nevertheless resulted in a hit. Early reviews for the film have been strong, and it appears to be well-positioned to capitalize on weak competition at the box office.
“’Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ conjures its own type of movie magic that proudly stands apart from other fantasy films,” Marisa Maribal wrote in her IndieWire review of the film. “The heartfelt story, enchanting characters, dazzling visual effects, and fun-filled nature will allow the film to be a treasured classic. An adaptation of this caliber could be considered a roll of the dice to some, but ;Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ has already proved itself to be an ironclad winner.”
