"The big question is whether the whole idea of a man and a woman who are totally inseparable -- something everyone is looking for -- is true, or if it's a good big lie," the 62-year-old Briton wondered during a meeting in Paris ahead of Wednesday's release of "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor of Thieves."

"I feel like maybe it's a good big lie, even though I've made my whole career and built my fortune on it!" joked the actor of "Love at first sight in Notting Hill" or "Four weddings and a funeral".

"I mean, how many really happy relationships do we know? There are not many," he continued. "All these romantic comedies I've done, it would be interesting to shoot the sequels now, which would probably start with divorce lawyers."

Leaving aside the irony, the actor then addressed, in an interview for AFP, the beginning of his career. "I would have liked to have been more ambitious, to have longer teeth," he regretted.

"Honestly, I think I was too nonchalant. I could have put in a lot more effort when I was very successful and people were betting on me in Hollywood," he added. "I could have made any film I wanted but, in fact, I just wanted to watch football."

"Too old and too ugly"

In recent times, Hugh Grant has still been able to play darker roles. In "Dungeons & Dragons," he's a power-hungry criminal: "The bad guys fit me pretty well," he says. "For the last six or seven years, I've finally had a little fun, because I'm too old and too ugly to be the hero."

"I actually started by making silly characters and voices. And all of a sudden, I was directed to leading roles. I never thought I was particularly made for this (...) It's really hard to be the hero. Well paid but difficult."

Anyway, "celebrity has changed so much since my time because of social media," he says.

"I've always dreamed of being in those mysterious movie stars of the 1930s or 1940s, when you didn't know who the real person behind it was, when you and your studio could lie as much as you wanted."

His advice? "Try to maintain a bit of mystery. Don't have an Instagram account!"

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