“Cloud Atlas” saved my career

Hugh Grant credits Cloud Atlas with getting his world back on track. The actor told Vanity Fair that before starring in the Wachowski brothers’ 2012 film, his career had hit a wall.

“I was completely lost,” Grant said of his career after the box-office failure of “Have You Heard About the Morgans?” in 2009. “The Wachowskis only offered me a couple of small parts in ‘Cloud Atlas,’ and to be honest, I probably only got offered that because some of their international distributors said, ‘We need bigger names. Put someone recognizable in here.'”

Grant added: “They would have thought, ‘Oh, we don’t really want Hugh Grant, but we’ll give him a few small parts.’ They’ll deny it, but I think that’s partly what happened.”

Small parts, yes, but not a small workload: Grant played six different roles in this adaptation of the novel, including one he personally added to the script: that of Ben Whishaw’s on-screen husband. The duo then reunited for “A Very English Scandal.”

Grant explained how “Cloud Atlas” reinvigorated his love of acting, especially considering the number of characters he was able to transform into for the film.

“I thought, ‘Oh yeah, I really liked playing characters – actually, I almost liked acting,’” Grant said. “I started doing silly voices, weird people, making people laugh at university, and then doing this comedy show in London. characters. Then, by pure chance, maybe because of my physical appearance, I was drawn to the main romantic hero. It went well, but it’s not what I think I do best, partly because it’s less fun.

After “Cloud Atlas,” Grant said his acting opportunities “completely changed.” His work on “Cloud Atlas” inspired directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods to cast Grant in “Heretic” more than 10 years later.

Grant previously told Yahoo! UK that “Cloud Atlas” was an underrated epic film.

“I thought Cloud Atlas was incredible,” he said in 2014. “(The Wachowskis) are the bravest filmmakers in the world, and I think it’s an incredible film… It’s frustrating to me. Every time I’ve done something outside of the light comedy genre, it’s failed to find an audience at the box office. And, unfortunately, Cloud Atlas never really found the audience it deserved.”