Hugh Grant: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

1. Will Freeman - About A Boy

Hugh Grant's best ever performance comes courtesy of the adaptation of Nick Hornby's About A Boy, whereupon he subverts type to play something of a bastard, really. One can imagine that - given his highly-publicised personal life and associated conflicts with the media - that Will Freeman most resembles the man that Hugh Grant actually is. But that's not to discredit the wonderful work he does here as a man-child who does... well, nothing. Will's life is turned upside when he strikes up a "friendship" with one Marcus Brewer, an awkward, bullied child whose mother has no idea on how to be a good parent. At first, Will resists, but soon enough he finds a purpose in life taking Marcus under his wing. Grant manages to be both effortlessly cool and brilliantly apathetic in the role. At the time, it was surely his most mature role to date: "More than a star," said Roger Ebert. "He is a resource."