Hugh Grant is known for inventing extensive backstories for the characters he plays. However, his vivid imagination doesn’t end there, and it’s made him a lot of money.
The actor — whose new film “Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy” — has just been released, revealed on the Howard Stern show several years back that he never had an agent for an extended period of his career. Instead, he invented one — James Howe Ealy — taking the surname from an old crush and creating a separate e-mail for him, which Grant administered.
“I saved a fortune,” the actor quipped.
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It’s not the only savvy financial move Grant, who now has a real agent, has made. He made $25.5 million from selling an Andy Warhol painting of Elizabeth Taylor after buying it for $2.5 million. Some shrewd real estate investments and his prodigious acting career have helped the him amass a net worth of around $150 million.
Box Office Highs And Lows
His involvement in multiple hit films made him box office gold early in his career. His breakthrough “Four Weddings And A Funeral” (1994), followed by “Notting Hill,” (1997) “Bridget Jones Diary,” (2001), and "Love Actually” (2003), collectively grossed $3 billion worldwide. At the peak of his leading man rom-com fame, Grant earned between $10 million and $15 million per film.
The impressive strike rate didn’t last as rom-coms; his calling card became less popular. During a few years of being out of the spotlight, Grant turned his attention to activism in the UK. He recently took an "enormous sum" to settle a lawsuit with Rupert Murdoch's The Sun newspaper.
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Recently, he has enjoyed a career resurgence, beginning with “Florence Foster Jenkins” playing opposite Meryl Streep in 2016. Diverse and successful films and mini-series followed: HBO‘s “The Undoing,” Netflix's NFLX "A Very British Scandal," “Paddington 2,” “Wonka,” and most recently “Heretic.”
“I feel like I’ve found something again,” Grant said recently of his career turnaround. “If the character amuses me and I think I’m going to enjoy being that person, then I tend to do the job. Sometimes, when actors are enjoying it, it works.”
Real Estate
Grant hasn’t relied entirely on the vagaries of an acting career to safeguard an income. He’s been consistently active in London’s luxury real estate market. He and his family live in a six-bedroom townhouse in upscale Chelsea, which was reportedly bought for £17.5million in 2019. He also rents out another luxury home in Notting Hill for $7000 per week, which he purchased in 2016 for $10 million. Grant’s wife, Anna Eberstein, is a Swedish film producer, and the couple owns a Swedish villa, purchased for $500,000 in 2015.
Grant previously owned a lavish townhouse in South Kensington in London around the time of filming “Love Actually,” which he sold for $3.5 million. It was listed again in 2024 for $7.25 million.
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Prolific Work Rate
Unlike most celebrities, Hugh Grant doesn’t often endorse products. However, the actor was heavily involved in Hacked Off, which promotes ethical journalism, endorsed The Guardian newspaper, and by default, Old Navy, which licensed an excerpt from the movie “Love Actually.”
His lack of endorsements could account for his prolific work rate in recent years. In the last few months alone, he has starred in “Unfrosted,” “Heretic,” and now “Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy.”
He joked recently, of his output:
“I slightly hate [making films], but I have lots of children and need money.”.
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