Richard E. Grant talks 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?' and 'Star Wars'
The actor is in disbelief about his career successes.
Richard E. Grant could be poised for his first-ever Oscar nod after receiving critical acclaim for his newest film, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” He’s already taken home the New York Film Critics Circle Award for his role, and the Oscar buzz is swirling.
“I’m not somebody that has a career that’s been littered with nominations and awards. Now that I hear this stuff, it genuinely feels like it’s about somebody else,” Grant told ABC News. “The fact that this is happening now at my advanced age is a complete surprise to me.”
Grant stars alongside Melissa McCarthy in the biographical dark comedy based on Lee Israel’s 2008 memoir of the same name about a writer turned literary forger. He plays Jack Hock, sidekick and partner-in-crime to McCarthy’s Lee Israel character.
Grant said he first thought the movie would be presented as a comedy because of the casting, but McCarthy's role surprised him.
“I was very curious to see one when I accepted to do the part at what level she was going to do this. And she left any vestige of vanity or that comic persona that we know and love so much at the door,” Grant, 61, told Peter Travers. “She completely invested herself in Lee Israel to a remarkable extent. I think it’s transformative what she’s done.”
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Later this year, Grant will make his debut in the highly anticipated "Star Wars" franchise finale. He told Travers he still can’t believe he landed the role.
“What is extraordinary is that I saw the first one when I was a drama student in 1977 when I was 20 years old. So if you had told me that four decades and a year later I would be in one of them in the ninth and final Skywalker saga, I would have said you need mental health help because it would seem so beyond the realm of any possibility at all,” Grant said.
"Can You Ever Forgive Me" is in theaters everywhere.
Watch the full interview with Peter Travers and Richard E. Grant in the video above.
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