Richard E. Grant on Ugly Feet, Withnail and I, and Barbra Streisand | Fashion Neurosis

About this video

Richard E. Grant is an actor, director, writer and presenter. Born in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), his father worked for the British government and Grant grew up as part of an ex-pat community in the country. He made his film debut in 1987 as the titular character in Withnail & I, about an alcoholic out-of-work actor. Grant played a series of eccentric characters in the 1990s, from a fashion designer in Robert Altman’s Pret-A-Porter, to a villain terrorising Bruce Willis in Hudson Hawk, and the manager of the Spice Girls in Spice World. More recently, Grant has starred in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Emerald Fennel’s Saltburn, and Can You Ever Forgive Me? for which he received Golden Globe, BAFTA and Oscar nominations as Best Supporting Actor. In 2005, Grant made his directorial debut with Wah Wah, a fascinating account of his childhood in former Swaziland. He has written several books, his most recent A Pocketful of Happiness in 2023, about his grief following the death of his wife Joan Washington from cancer after 38 years of marriage. Richard E. Grant has become a muse to fashion designers on the catwalk, walking for Burberry AW25 and Miu Miu SS26. In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Richard E. Grant discuss his narrowly avoiding being shot by his father, his life long crush on Barbra Streisand, and how to play comedy straight. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Chapters: 00:00:00 Advertisement for Claude 00:00:45 Intro 00:01:00 What are you wearing today? 00:02:40 Compliments 00:06:20 Richard’s childhood 00:08:45 Talking behind people’s backs 00:15:29 Importance of language 00:18:08 Attraction to addicts 00:21:29 Eroticism 00:23:00 Advertisement for Claude 00:24:37 Withnail’s clothing 00:26:27 Handling extreme feelings 00:30:00 Richard’s marriage 00:33:44 Changing weight for roles 00:36:00 Acting comedy 00:40:00 Honesty 00:44:00 Richard and his mother 00:46:37 Advertisement for Claude 00:47:42 Barbara Streisand 00:52:22 Quentin Tarantino 00:54:24 Fashion 00:58:06 If you fancy someone… 01:03:00 Nudity 01:05:10 Outro 01:05:32 Advertisement for Claude