‘She’s a genius’: Hugh Grant gushes over former co-star Renée Zellweger

Although admitting to having rocky relationships with a number of his female co-stars in the past, Hugh Grant has revealed that Renée Zellweger is “one of the few actresses” he hasn’t fallen out with. The actor, 60, spoke about their unique friendship during a recent interview on United States radio show SiriusXM, where he said the pair still exchange long emails.

“I love Renée. She’s one of the few actresses I haven’t fallen out with,” he said. “We got on very well together and we still exchange long emails. Hers in particular – at least 70 pages each – interesting stuff but quite hard to decipher.”

The British icon famously starred alongside Renée, 51, in the Bridget Jones’ film franchise as the leading lady’s dreamy bad-boy boyfriend Daniel Cleaver, who appeared in both the original and the sequel.

In the sweet interview, the Love Actually star went on to compliment Renée’s acting chops, most notably for her role as Judy Garland in the 2019 film Judy. “She’s a properly good egg and a genius. Did you see her Judy Garland? About as good as acting gets.”

The American actress was praised by critics for her captivating performance as Hollywood’s golden girl in the biopic and took out a plethora of awards for Best Actress, including an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

The film followed the latter part of Judy’s life and centred on her breathtaking performances, with Renée singing her heart out to classics such as ‘The Trolley Song’, ‘Come Rain Or Come Shine’ and, of course, ‘Over The Rainbow’.

Hugh has previously been open about his tumultuous onscreen partnerships with actresses, most famously in a 2009 interview with fashion magazine Elle, where he described how each had their own personal issues with him.

Of his Nine Months co-star Julianne Moore he said, “Brilliant actress. Loathes me”; about Rachel Weisz in the 2002 film About a Boy he said she was “clever and beautiful” but that she “despises” him, and of Drew Barrymore from Music and Lyrics he said she had a “stunning face” but admitted to making the actress cry, adding that she “hates” him.

Elsewhere in the article he said Renée was “delightful and a very good kisser [but] far from sane”; called Emma Thompson “clever, funny and mad as a chair”, and said Sandra Bullock was a “genius with too many dogs”.