Hugh Grant has always charmed audiences with his wit, both on and off the screen, and his reflections on fatherhood are no exception. The Notting Hill star, now 64, recently shared the joys and challenges of parenting five young children—a journey he started in his early 50s. While the actor admits that becoming a father has transformed his life in profound ways, he also cheekily confessed that raising little ones at his age can be a test of stamina.
“Well, we think it’s five,” Hugh joked during a candid interview with The Telegraph when asked about the number of children he has. “But I had them much too old in life. You know, I started when I was 52.” Hugh shares daughters Blue, six, and Lulu, eight, along with son John Mungo, 12, with his wife, Anna Eberstein, 41. He also has two older children, Tabitha, 13, and Felix, 11, with his ex-partner Tinglan Hong.
The Four Weddings and a Funeral actor first became a father in 2011, and while he credits his children with bringing more heart and depth to his life, he doesn’t shy away from poking fun at the realities of late-in-life parenting. Reflecting on the noise and chaos that comes with raising a young family, Hugh shared, “I often look at the abbey that Maria lives in The Sound of Music and wish I lived there. I need a long stint in a sanatorium or an abbey.”
© John PhillipsDespite the humorous quips, Hugh credits fatherhood for making him a better actor. “I think I was a dried-up, middle-aged, golf-addicted Englishman,” he told the SmartLess podcast. “Then I had children, and suddenly I had heart, and I had more layers, or something.” It’s a poignant sentiment from an actor whose career has transitioned from leading romantic comedies to more complex and eccentric roles.
For decades, Hugh was synonymous with the charming yet slightly awkward romantic leads in films like Love Actually and Bridget Jones’s Diary. Reflecting on his rom-com heyday, Hugh says he is proud to have made movies that brought joy to audiences, but admits he’s found his stride in more recent roles.
© Getty“When I got too old and ugly to do romantic comedies and started being offered these weirdo parts, it suited me better,” he quipped.
Though Hugh has typically kept his family life out of the public eye, he has recently opened up more about the realities of parenting—and the lengths he’ll go to find moments of peace. “I love the fun of it, but there’s a lot to dread,” he confessed on The Kelly Clarkson Show.
“I’m old, it’s noisy, and it’s unbearable. I do a lot of hiding in the loo. I do a lot of sleeping in there now. There’s a lock, but they’ve pretty much broken it now.”
© Gareth CattermoleDespite his jokes about fatherhood being "unbearable", it's clear that Hugh loves his family; he shared in an interview with Marie Claire in 2020 that he misses them while away filming.
"You had your family with you, which was, I think, very sensible," Hugh said to his The Undoing co-star Nicole Kidman in the interview.
"I thought, 'Oh, fantastic opportunity to get away from my screaming children.' I left everyone in London. And then, as soon as I got to New York, each time I came out to film, I missed so much. It was, it was awful."
