Richard E. Grant

Richard Grant Esterhuysen (born 5 May 1957) is a Swazi-English actor. He made his film debut in 1987 in Withnail and I. He has had prominent roles in films such as How to Get Ahead in Advertising, Hudson Hawk, The Player and The Age of Innocence. In 2018, Grant received critical acclaim for his role as Jack Hock in Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) He won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male as well as receiving Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.

Grant's first film role was the perpetually inebriated title character in the cult classic Withnail and I (1987) He was a member of the Space Theatre Company in Cape Town before moving to London in 1982. He later stated, "I grew up in Swaziland when it was mired in a 1960s sensibility. When I came to England people said, 'how strange' Grant has had strong supporting roles in the films Henry & June, L.A. Story, The Player, The Age of Innocence, The Portrait of a Lady, Spice World, Gosford Park, Bright Young Things, and Penelope. He has also appeared in a number of small independent films. In 1995, Grant starred as the titular character in Peter Capaldi's short film Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life. The film won the 1995 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. In 1996, he portrayed a hilarious Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Trevor Nunn's film of Twelfth Night. He released a single and accompanying video "To Be Or Not To Be" with Orpheus in 1997. Grant has twice portrayed the Doctor from Doctor Who, both outside the main continuity. He also voiced a version of the Ninth Doctor for the BBC original animated webcast Scream of the Shalka. The latter had intended to be the official Ninth Doctor prior to the revival of the TV series. Grant appeared as "The Voice" in 2+2+2 at American Nights at The King's Head Theatre, from 3 to 29 July 2007. In 2008, he made his musical theatre debut with Opera Australia, playing the role of Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, at the Theatre Royal, Sydney. He reprised the role in 2017 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. In 2009, he played Alain Reille in Yasmina Reza's one-act play God of Carnage. In 2010 he made an appearance in a music video, when short lived Bristol band The Chemists hired him to appear in their video for "This City" In March 2013 Grant starred as intelligence analyst Brian Jones in David Morley's drama The Iraq Dossier. In 2014, Grant was cast on the HBO series Girls because Lena Dunham saw him in Spice World. In 2016 Grant joined the HBO Series Game of Thrones in Season 6. In 2017, he starred as Zander Rice, the main antagonist of Logan. In July 2018, Grant announced that he would appear in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Grant wrote and directed the 2005 film Wah-Wah, loosely based on his own childhood experiences. The film took him over seven years to complete, and starred Nicholas Hoult in the lead role. In March 2020, Grant joined the cast of Loki series on Disney+, though his role is yet to be revealed. Grant kept a diary of the experience, later published as a book (The Wah-Wah Diaries) The book received positive reviews from critics, many of whom were impressed by the honesty of the tale. Grant stated in subsequent interviews that she was a "control freak out of control", and that he would "never see her again as long as [he] live" Grant was eventually forced to meet with the King of Eswatini to seek clemency. During an interview with an Australian chat show, he mentioned that Wah-Wah was not released in France, and as a result, his producer did not make money out of it.

Grant married voice coach Joan Washington in 1986 and has one daughter with her, Olivia, and a stepson, Tom. His body has an intolerance of alcohol, having no enzymes in the blood to metabolise it. Grant is a teetotaller and has no plans to give up alcohol. Grant is a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Eswatini. He is a fan of Barbra Streisand and has done a tour of her New York. If he does drink alcohol, he can keep it down for 10 minutes and is then violently sick for 24 hours afterward. Grant used to wear a watch on each wrist, one given to him by his dying father, permanently set on Swaziland time. He is an avid supporter of Premier League football club West Ham United. In April 2014, Grant launched his new unisex perfume, JACK, exclusively at Liberty of Regent Street, London. Grant runs the perfume business in collaboration with his daughter. He has been married to his wife for more than 30 years. The couple have three children and have been married for over 20 years. They have a son and a daughter who live in the U.S. and Canada respectively.

Richard Grant Esterhuysen was born in Mbabane, Protectorate of Swaziland (now Eswatini) He is the son of Leonne and Henrik, who was head of education for the British government administration. He has English, Dutch/Afrikaner, and German ancestry. When Grant was 10, he witnessed his mother commit adultery in a car with his father's best friend, which led to his parents' divorce. This event inspired Grant to keep a daily diary, which he has continued to do ever since. He has a younger brother, Stuart, a tour guide in Johannesburg, from whom he is estranged. He adopted his stage name when he moved to Britain as an adult. He then studied English and drama at the University of Cape Town. He registered with Equity and is now a member of the Actors' Equity Association. He also has a successful acting career of his own in South Africa.