In the 1990s, Hugh Grant became known as the king of rom-coms, appearing in hit movies like Four Weddings And A Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Notting Hill, all of which are still beloved today.

But while romantic comedies may have been the British star’s bread and butter for many years, it turns out making them wasn’t always quite as fun as the finished product made out.

Reflecting on his time spent appearing in rom-coms, Hugh told Variety: “They’re hard. And with the benefit of time, I really appreciate the good ones I did.

“The Richard Curtis ones are really about pain. It’s something my wife spotted. She’s Swedish; they’re good on pain. She was watching Love Actually, and she said, ‘Everyone’s in pain, and the humour is all a means for dealing with pain’. That’s what makes them sustain and not float away like a piece of fluff.

“The Marc Lawrence ones I did are also great because he genuinely loves people and there’s a warmth that I find enchanting. Because I’ve seen the romantic comedies that are slightly put together by committee, and they don’t work as well.”

Hugh continued: “I just think ‘com’ is difficult. I don’t know about ‘rom.’ Rom is not easy — and you need to mean it — but com is certainly very difficult.”

The Bafta winner went on to say that shooting comedies is often a more “miserable process” than many of us realise.

“You’ve probably been on comedy film sets and there’s no laughter,” he said. “You’re doing it in a vacuum and if you’re very lucky, you might hear a stifled snort from someone sitting near the monitor. That’s gold to you.”

Back in 2023, Hugh lifted the lid on the downside of making romantic comedies during an interview with Drew Barrymore, who also knows a thing or two about the tricky genre (in fact, they even starred in one – 2007′s Music And Lyrics – together).

“I love those films. I love the fact that people still like them, but I never felt comfortable really doing them,” Hugh told his former co-star. “I don’t know about you, but I prefer more of a mask. I want to be someone else. Then it frees me up and then I quite like acting.”

Meanwhile, elsewhere in his conversation with Variety, Hugh shared that there’s one romantic comedy from his back catalogue that he thinks was unfairly maligned – and another he’s had to ban his wife from ever watching.