Hugh Grant's Wildest Roles: Oompa Loompa in a Glass Jar and More

Hugh Grant is one of the greatest rom-com heroes of our time, having starred in Bridget Jones's Diary, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and more. He's also a king of the period drama, making his big-screen debut in the 1987 Merchant Ivory classic Maurice before charming Emma Thompson in 1995's Sense and Sensibility. In recent years, however, Grant has turned his eye toward slightly more unique roles. Gone are the days of him charming a love interest with a crooked grin and mussed hair — now he's more likely to be wearing prosthetics or playing the villain. [sendtonews type="float" key="PmDuAZ8G4T-2828600-14453"] Grant's chaotic era reached its pinnacle in July 2023 when the first trailer for Wonka appeared online, introducing viewers to the Hugh Grant Oompa Loompa. It had previously been announced that Grant would play one of Willy Wonka's singing factory workers, but nothing could prepare the world for the sight of Grant playing the flute inside a glass jar and sassing Timothée Chalamet. “I was really just thinking about that character; somebody who could be a real s–t, and then — ah, Hugh!” director Paul King quipped to reporters at the trailer premiere when discussing why he chose Grant for the role. “Because he’s the funniest, most sarcastic s–t I’ve ever met.” (Wonka hit theaters in December 2023.) Keep scrolling for a look back at some of Grant's most unusual performances:

Grant’s portrayal of Mr. Reed in Heretic certainly had Us scared s***less. At first, the character seemed rather inviting when Mormon missionaries Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East) knocked on his door to spread their gospel. Unfortunately for Us all, things quickly took a turn as they realized Mr. Reed was quite eccentric — to say the least. 

Mr. Reed lied about his wife baking a blueberry pie in the kitchen, with the girls later catching on and realizing they were trapped in his house with no wife and no pie to be had. After a bloody cat-and-mouse game as the girls looked to escape the house of horrors, Grant put on one of his most terrifying performances yet, revealing Mr. Reed’s true intention — to get others to believe religion is all about control by, well, controlling people himself. 

Grant admitted the role was unlike any he had done before. 

“I would normally shy away from doing what you call these locked-door films because I never felt adaptations from plays to films work particularly well,” he told Vogue in November 2024. “I’ve always believed that films should keep their talking to a minimum, be pithy, and open themselves up as much as possible. Let’s get outdoors, mix it up, and have big scenes with parties, followed by intimate gatherings. All the usual tropes of cinema. So, something like this, set in one house with a lot of talking, is extremely dangerous and brave.”

The internet does not agree on whether a Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory reboot starring Chalamet needs to exist, but one thing is undeniable: Grant as an Oompa Loompa cannot be unseen. Why is he in a glass jar? Why is he playing the flute? What did it mean when King described the Hugh Grant Oompa Loompa as "gleefully naughty," and why does that sound kind of menacing? These questions may never be answered, but blessings upon Grant for this enthusiastic embrace of chaos.

Shortly before the Oompa Loompa in a glass jar broke brains all over the world, Grant starred in the film adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons, playing a rogue named Forge. In some ways, Forge — a charming ne'er-do-well — is a classic Grant character, but because he appears in a movie based on a tabletop role-playing game that involves druids and half-elves, it's still a pretty wild choice for Grant.

Grant only had a small cameo in Glass Onion as Phillip, the partner of private investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), but this role landed here because of what happened after the movie debuted. At the 2023 Oscars, Ashley Graham asked Grant about his appearance in the film, but Grant wasn't interested in discussing it. “I’m in it for about three seconds,” he said, shortly after telling Graham he didn't know who made his outfit. Graham, meanwhile, later said she was always taught to "kill them with kindness."

In this 2017 children's movie — directed by Wonka auteur King — Grant plays an antique thief named Phoenix. That would be interesting enough on its own, but then, over the end credits, Grant lip-synchs to Stephen Sondheim's "Rain on the Roof" while wearing a pink-striped prison jumpsuit. Where was this man's Oscar?

There's no fantasy element involved in HBO's thriller series The Undoing, but Grant — as a successful Manhattan oncologist married to Grace (Nicole Kidman) — played extremely against type. Spoiler alert: Jonathan was the murderer all along, and in order to protect himself, he tried to frame his 12-year-old son for the crime. Daniel Cleaver could never.

In this 2012 box-office bomb, Grant got the chance to play not one but six different characters in six distinct time periods, ranging from 1849 to 2321. Come for Grant in old-age makeup, stay for him as the cannibalistic chief of a post-apocalyptic Hawaiian tribe.

Love Actually is technically a rom-com and technically Grant's bread and butter, but David is no charming bookstore owner — he's the prime minister of the United Kingdom. An unexpected houseguest is inconvenient under most circumstances, but it's downright terrifying when the houseguest is one of the most powerful politicians on the planet. Furthermore, his little fight with the U.S. president (Billy Bob Thornton) over Natalie (Martine McCutcheon) is territorial and weird. Neither one of them should have a nuclear football!