Hugh Grant almost died during a dangerous stunt for the 1994 film (Picture: Working Title)
Hugh Grant was nearly killed while on set of Four Weddings and a Funeral during the iconic high-speed race to a church.
Four Weddings and a Funeral is a much-loved 1994 film from a screenplay by Richard Curtis that celebrated its 30th anniversary this week.
Several of the cast members reflected on their memories of the shoot, with the director revealing a scary stunt that nearly killed Hugh, 63.
The director of the film, Mike Newell, revealed that for some bizarre reason, the Unfrosted star was in charge of driving a car during a dangerous stunt.
‘That scene on the motorway, for some reason, Hugh was actually driving. He shouldn’t have been but he was.
‘They were within inches of backing at full speed into a truck that was coming at them.
‘I suddenly saw the whole film collapsing in front of me, and what I had done was engineer the death of the leading man on the motorway,’ the director told The Guardian.
The film was a huge hit when it was released in 1994 (Picture: Polygram/Working Title/Kobal/Shutterstock)
Newell was of course referencing the first scene of the movie when only the F-word is uttered by the housemates Scarlett (Charlotte Coleman) and Charles (Hugh) as they wake up late and stumble around their London flat racing to get ready and high-speed it to a wedding they are running late for.
When Charles’ car fails to start, the pair jump into a red mini that ‘only goes 40 miles and hour’ and hit the gas as they drive along the motorway at a breakneck speed.
The pair then nearly miss a turning, causing Charles to reverse back up the motorway – narrowly avoiding a collision with an oncoming truck – and making the turning.
Typically, this stunt would have been performed by a professional driver rather than the lead actor who wouldn’t be trained for this kind of performance.
Hugh became a Hollywood star after the film’s release (Picture: Stephen Morley/Polygram/Working Title/Kobal/Shutterstock)
The Notting Hill actor has performed his own stunts before, but ones that are less dangerous.
In Bridget Jones’ Diary, Hugh did not perform the stunt that saw him fall through a glass window while fighting with Colin Firth – but he did choreograph the weak hilarious fight leading to the window scene.
A stuntman revealed: ‘It was choreographed by the stunt department but [Colin and Hugh] put it together and it was their slant on it – their acting ability made it look as funny and not stunty as it should have been.
Hugh appeared in the 2001 and 2004 Bridget Jones films (Picture: Jason Bell/Universal/Studio Canal/Miramax/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
He might just be one of the hardest working actors in Hollywood (Picture: Rex Features)
‘The stunt coordinator could have put together a fight that was high-octane, big throws, big punches, them being aggressive, but it wouldn’t have worked for the film. It would have looked wrong, it would have been wrong.
‘They’re white collar workers, they don’t throw punches, they slap each other and go, “Ow, ow, that hurts!” And charging somebody through a window is probably what they would have done.’
It was recently announced that Hugh would be returning for Bridget Jones 4, as the actor set expectations high telling Entertainment Tonight: ‘This script for the fourth Bridget is the best one of the four. And, in fact, one of the best scripts I have read in a long time.’
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