Today we savor the lengthy list of period films featuring Richard E. Grant. Known for his versatility, playing everything from comedic roles to snarling villains to tragic heroes, there’s pretty much something for everyone in his repertoire!
Mountains of the Moon (1990)
Henry & June (1990)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
The Age of Innocence (1993)
Hard Times (1994)
The Portrait of a Lady (1996)
Twelfth Night or What You Will (1996)
Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1997)
The Serpent’s Kiss (1997)
A Royal Scandal (1997)
St. Ives (1998)
A Christmas Carol (1999)
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999-2000)
Gosford Park (2001)
Sherlock (2002)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (2002)
Monsieur N. (2003)
Bright Young Things (2003)
The Crimson Petal and the White (2011)
Queen & Country (2014)
Downton Abbey (2014)
Jekyll & Hyde (2015)
Their Finest (2016)
Got a favorite Richard E. Grant film? Share it with us in the comments!
Love him to bits, another velvet-voiced blue eyed charmer. [And of course, not in your remit here, but WARLOCK! Eeek! Such a fun film] Doesn’t Withnail and I squeak in under the post? Not that it’s very costume worthy, but still hilarious.
I SO wanted a Withnail coat after seeing that film when I was 16! I think it does technically squeak in as it’s set in 1969, but I’m OK with it being absent – even if it is pretty hilarious. (And Paul McGann as Marwood/I made me realise I had a yen for men….)
He was exquisite in that wasn’t he, all eyes and lips, gorgeous. And dumb lol. Everyone wanted a Withnail coat, even the girls. I have always seen the sweariness as a Platonic ideal, and anyone who knows me would agree …
I had to add to the Withnail and I love. I always tell people my favorite Hamlet on film is actually Richard E. Grant at the end of Withnail and I. Just heartbreaking.
I love the sweary tea shop scene lol
Pretty sure Withnail and I takes place right about at our cut-off, 1969-1970 give or take. I did debate adding it because it’s one of his most iconic roles, but the costumes just aren’t “costume-y” enough to warrant it for this website.
I know but it had o be said lol fab film
I actually saw him a couple times when I was living in London, when we were commuting in on the same Underground trains. Both times he was giving up his seat for old ladies. Kinda d’awwwww….
My favourite hero role is Sir Percy Blakeney in the Scarlet Pimpernel. My favourite heel is his Simon Bricker in Downton Abbey. My favourite villain of ambiguous sexual orientation is his role of Larry Oliphant in Mountains of the Moon.
Much as I loathed that Hound of the Baskervilles adaptation all around for making Holmes a druggie, it was also one of the worst instances of mistyping that I have ever seen. Grant should have played Holmes and not Stapleton for obvious reasons (appearance, gravity, height, and general skill).
Hmm–not my type, but very skilled and sometimes very funny, too. Does anyone else enjoy his sadly short-lived comedy series, “Posh Nosh”?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posh_Nosh
Oh I do!! I reckon we may be the only two humans ever to watch it, but it was madly fun!
THREE humans! And I tell everyone I can about it, so possibly more!!
It’s a tragedy that the BBC hasn’t ever released Posh Nosh in DVD or downloadable digital format. All we’ll ever have are these slightly fuzzy YouTube episodes. Which are still so much better than not having them at all!
My favorite technically isn’t a frock flick, but a movie called First Night, where he plays a businessman who decides he wants to put together a production of Cosi Fan Tutte at his country estate mostly so he can flirt with the conductor.
But there are some very pretty 18th century costumes in it for the opera sections (though I cringe at the girl not wearing a chemise beneath her stays).
He is perfection as Sir Andrew in Twelfth Night; check him as Kafka in the short film, Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life; and he totally kills as Sir Percy. “Just a cravat?!? Sir, the cravat is the apotheosis of neckwear!” He adds a luster to everything he’s in.
You missed the funnest!! Let Them Eat Cake was a TV series starring French and Saunders set in Versailles and it is so funny. REG did a star turn as Marquis de Sade who kept escaping from captivity and making nocturnal visits to ladies of the court. Nonsense but fun.
I would have added it, but I couldn’t find any screen shots online! I love that series.
His charm, for me, always lied in his ability to make me feel like he, the performer and myself, the audience, were both involved in something elicit- a lot. If you have a chance to track down “Frank Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life”, I highly recommend it. I saw it as a wee lass at an Academy Nominee screening at our local library and loved it!
I’ll watch him in anything! He’s also a very funny writer… check out his novel “By Design” and the one he wrote about making the film based on his childhood in southern Africa.
A great actor, even in poor films. Nice to learn which movies I missed.
Thank you!
Oh, boy! In the last two weeks I have really found my niche of the Internet in finding this site… you love the expected loves of James Purefoy (MY boyfriend), Daniel Day Lewis, and Rufus Sewell… but to have the unexpected pleasure of an obscure (to many) and wonderful actor–Richard E. Grant…well, I’ve found my home.
I’ve been a fan since his Warlock days! And like many others, I wish Whithnail and I could’ve been included in this post. I cannot even begin to articulate my feelings for Bram Stoker’s Dracula…. (sighs!)
Also, First Night is a pleasing little jewel of a film!
I loved to hate him in LA Story.