Mia Vicino chats with Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves star Hugh Grant about parallels between his latest character Forge Fitzwilliam and Paddington 2’s Phoenix Buchanan.
After years of playing devilishly charming love interests in romantic comedies, Hugh Grant has naturally pivoted to playing charming devils. In his most recent film, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Grant steals the show as Forge Fitzwilliam, an egotistical swindler who abandons the rogue lifestyle in favor of the riches that come with his new title of Lord of Neverwinter. In his quest for public affection and power, Forge readily betrays his former accomplice, our bard “hero” Edgin (Chris Pine, armed with a lute). “Never put your trust in a con man,” Forge advises with feigned pity in one of the film’s promos.
For the 359,000 Letterboxd members who have seen Paddington 2 (and rated the acclaimed sequel highly enough to push it into the Official Top 250), Forge’s patronizing warning comes as old news. We’ve witnessed the glory of Grant’s BAFTA-nominated turn as a different—but just as flamboyant—con man: Phoenix Buchanan, a washed up thespian bent on framing the titular little bear for the theft of a rare pop-up book.
Mia Vicino caught up with Grant on the Dungeons & Dragons red carpet and asked him about comparisons between the two dastardly devils. Read what he had to say on Journal, or watch the clip on our Instagram.