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Hugh Grant shares reunion photo with About a Boy co-star Nicholas Hoult

‘This warms my heart,’ one fan replied 

Lydia Spencer-Elliott
Monday 18 November 2024 06:27 EST
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Hugh Grant has excited fans by sharing a heartwarming reunion photo with his About a Boy co-star Nicholas Hoult on social media.

The Heretic star, 64, starred in Chris and Paul Weitz’s 2002 adaptation of Nick Horny’s novel as Will, a rich, child-free thirty-something who starts attending single parent meetings to meet women, which leads to him striking up a friendship with Marcus (Hoult), a lonely schoolboy.

Hoult, who has gone on to star in Hollywood hits including Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men: Days of Future Past and forthcoming horror Nosferatu, was only 11 at the time of filming and looked ecstatic to see Grant again.

Grant’s X/Twitter followers quickly praised the reunion photo, which the actor shared alongside a still from About a Boy, calling the post “adorable” and “wholesome”.

“He’s SO handsome now,” one fan wrote on X/Twitter of Hoult, now 34.

Meanwhile, another person told Grant: “If it wasn’t for your excellent coaching skills in that movie Nicholas wouldn’t have become the great adult he is today. Well done dad.”

Another person added: “You’ve both got even better with age. That guitar scene at the school talent show was absolute genius.”

Elsewhere, fans called for a second About a Boy instalment in response to the social media post. “Legacy sequel time...?” one user asked.

Reflecting on his time working with Grant, Hoult previously told The Guardian: “I was only a kid when I worked with him, but he was so hard-working and diligent – neurotic, almost. 

“I can remember him being very specific about beats on the set, and trying things and getting it right. I think you have to be.”

Nicholas Hoult and Hugh Grant as Will and Marcus in ‘About a Boy’
Nicholas Hoult and Hugh Grant as Will and Marcus in ‘About a Boy’ (Universal)

Hoult said in 2021 that he and Grant hadn’t stayed in touch much after the movie, making their reunion all the more endearing as the Skins actor admitted he had watched Grant’s success from afar.

“In my head, I’m thinking it’s a kind of Hughnaissance, or something,” he said.

“He had so much pressure on him [back then], and to see him free of that and just doing these wonderful dramas.”

Grant and Hoult at the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix in 2013
Grant and Hoult at the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix in 2013 (Getty Images)

“I had so much fun watching him in Paddington 2, he was wonderful, and then in A Very English Scandal, and I’m about to start watching The Undoing. I’m enjoying what he’s doing at the moment, a lot.”

Previously, Hoult has even been accused of copying Grant’s mannerisms when taking on the role of Emperor Peter II in Channel 4’s  raucous period drama The Great.

“I don’t purposefully do that,” he responded. “But I take it as a compliment when people do say that.”

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