Four weddings but only one leading man... ‘Rickman was my first pick’

THE dashing hero of Four Weddings And A Funeral was originally supposed to be Alan Rickman, the film’s director Richard Curtis has revealed. It was Hugh Grant, now 58, who played the role in the 1994 film opposite Andie MacDowell, both pictured in the film, launching his career as a romantic hero.

But speaking at Cheltenham Literature Festival, Curtis, who wrote the film, said he wanted Rickman, below, to play the romantic lead, Charles, but was outvoted.

‘We auditioned 70 people for Hugh’s part. Eventually it was down between Hugh and Alan Rickman and I went for Alan, but I was outvoted,’ he said. ‘I just thought Hugh was a bit annoying, too good-looking, a bit posh. I was right about all of those things but he is also very good.’

The writer also revealed that Hugh Grant’s character, as well as Colin Firth’s, in Love Actually were both supposed to have their own films.

The filmmaker said two of Love Actually’s plots had been intended to be a standalone film, but admitted he was pleased that did not happen.

‘Two were going to be films in their own right. The Hugh one I’d had an idea for a long time ago, and you would have seen him going into power and all sorts of issues around that,’ he explained. ‘And the Colin one as well. He was going to go on holiday with his girlfriend, then the character was going to be in the background, and then split up, and them go back to the same house and meet her.

‘Those two were originally intended to be very, very unsuccessful films so I am very glad I managed to squeeze all the good bits out of them into 12 minutes each.’

Curtis, 61, is behind box-office hits such as Bridget Jones’ Diary.

The co-founder of Comic Relief also admitted he plans to retire on his birthday in 2020.

He said that while he didn’t intend to write characters with one actor in mind, he did so for Emma Thompson and Grant. ‘I think on the whole I don’t write for people. I am not typing [and] thinking there are those people. There are exceptions. In Love Actually I wrote Emma’s part for her and Hugh’s for him’, he said.