Film fans alert to the immense charm of the under-known British film Withnail & I will certainly enjoy the droll autobiography of the actor who played Withnail. The film--" bittersweet, sweet and sour, like King Curtis' definitive sax version of `A Whiter Shade of Pale,'" says its writer-director--tells the story of poverty-stricken drama school refugees in mid-1960s England. Of the film's script, Grant says "never before or since have I read something that conveys what goes on in my head so accurately." The image of the brusque, hilariously overbearing Withnail fits Grant, who has also appeared in Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Age of Innocence, and the Robert Altman films The Player and Pret-a-Porter. He writes of his passage through the world of the aspiring film stardom wonderfully well, producing a book far superior to the usual movie life story. "Oh up and down and forklifts, this is a dull madness," he says of the process of landing a role, but his book wittily presenting the madness is never dull. Mike Tribby
From Kirkus Reviews
With just the right smattering of poison in his pen, this Swazi/British actor recounts the daily trials and tribulations of making movies. Grants moderately successful acting career is largely the result of one film, Withnail and I, a 1986 British cult film that garnered him substantial critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. Until this role came along, Grant was wracked upon the wheel of increasingly despairing auditions; six months later, he was jetting off to Hollywood and taking meetings. His pleasant but slightly off-kilter looks brought few offers to play the leading man, but lots of juicy ``character'' roles as directors from Coppola to Altman to Scorsese cast him in small but telling parts. Grants recounting of making the egregiously bad Hudson Hawk, the madness of endless delays, rudderless direction, and cost overruns, are some of the most entertaining and appalling parts of this book. Grant is secure enough to reveal at length the insecurities and ego drubbings and monomania of the actors life. As both a fan and a player, he is close enough to see all the boggling, sordid workings of the star machine, but not quite caught in its gears. Each directors style may vary (and Grant is particularly insightful on directing actors), but certain things remain the same: the long delays, punctuated by intense moments of activity, the close camaraderie that dissipates once filming is over, the struggle to find the truth of a character. In the service of their egos, actors often try to increase their lines, expand their roles, and if this book has a fault, it is along these linesit is just a little too long. But youd be hard pressed to find an American actor who could deliver such a refreshing combination of comedy, confession, and coruscation. (14 b&w photos) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
...a witty, winning writer of real observational powers and great enthusiasm who takes neither himself nor his business too seriously. -- Entertainment Weekly, Vanessa V. Friedman
About the Author
Richard E. Grant was born and brought up in Mbabane, Swaziland. He went to London in 1982, waitered, repped, toured, and fringed until getting a role in a television satire about advertising, Honest, Decent and True. This led to being cast in Bruce Robinson's Withnail and I in 1986. His films include Hidden City, Warlock, How to Get Ahead in Advertising, Mountains of the Moon, Killing Dad, L.A. Story, Hudson Hawk, The Player, Dracula, The Age of Innocence, Pret a Porter, Jack and Sarah, The Portrait of a Lady, Twelfth Night, The Serpent's Kiss, Spice World, The Corpse Bride, and Penelope. He has written articles for Vanity Fair and Premiere. Richard E. Grant lives in London with his family.
