Richard E Grant - Blog Posts

Justice for "Poor Dear" Pamela

She had like 5 minutes of screentime and ate everybody up

“Paul and I in a cottage, up a hill, near Penrith 26 years ago in a Polaroid.”

babes <3

Withnail & I (1987)

Directed by Bruce Robinson

Cinematography by Peter Hannan

Withnail & I (1987)

Directed by Bruce Robinson

Cinematography by Peter Hannan

Withnail & I (1987)

Withnail: Why can't I have an audition? It's ridiculous. I've been to drama school. I'm good looking. I tell you, I've a fuck sight more talent that half the rubbish that gets on television. Why can't I get on television?

I/ Marwood : Well, I don't know. It'll happen.

Withnail: Will it? That's what you say. The only programme I'm likely to get on is the fucking news.

Withnail & I (1987)

'Grant in between takes. He can't drink - not in a reformed-drinker way; he's medically allergic. Bruce got him drunk once, for the film, so he'd know what it was like - but in all the scenes in the film where he's drunk, he's sober as a judge.'

Withnail & I (1987) | dir. Bruce Robinson

The film is a testament to the potency and sadness of friendship and the compromises required for the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

“To pronounce oneself immune to the charms of Withnail & I is to declare oneself a philistine, a Puritan and a snob.” - Kevin Jackson, 2004

At the end of Bruce Robinson’s much-loved journey through the dying months of the 1960s, Withnail (Richard E. Grant) walks Marwood ( Paul McGann ) through Regent’s Park on the way to the station. As his friend vanishes from his life, Withnail stands in the rain and quotes one of Hamlet’s soliloquies to the watching wolves.

Set at the fag-end of the 1960s, Robinson’s comedy of bad manners sees two struggling twentysomething actors – flamboyant, melancholic narcissist Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and his unnamed, unassuming friend (Paul McGann) – pursue booze, recreation, work and the meaning of life in Camden Town and the Lake District. Based on Robinson’s own experiences, this labour of love achieved cult status on the strength of its endlessly quotable dialogue and brilliantly eccentric performances (notably Richard Griffiths’ Uncle Monty and Ralph Brown’s Danny the dealer). The beautifully sodden photography and a cannily evocative pop soundtrack help fix the mood. The script references Bruce Robinson’s own acting work in Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet (1968).

Withnail & I (1987) 

"I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth. And indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory. This most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why, it appeareth nothing to me but a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculties! How like an angel in apprehension. How like a God! The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me, no, nor woman neither. Nor woman neither."

Withnail & I (1987)

ph. ©Murray Close

'Withnail was made by HandMade Films, George Harrison's company. Ringo Starr popped down one afternoon. It wasn't like this was a big film - everyone was saying, "Oh my God, Ringo's coming to see us..."'

Withnail & I (1987)

ph. ©Murray Close

Withnail & I (1987)

Paul McGann as "I" and Richard E Grant as Withnail on the steps of their Camden home