You excel at playing a**holes. Where does that come from? Are you ready to give up playing them?
Ummm — it's sweet of you to say that. Now, I quite like it. For years I sat in these interviews and everyone said, “You're always Mister Nice Guy. Why don't you ever play someone nasty?” So in fact it's been a relief to be…for the real me to come out more on camera. I don't have any particular burning desire to go back to being cuddly. Not really.
How was reuniting with Renee Zellweger?
Renee is always… What's the big thing about Renee? She's just very redoubtable. I think film acting's just a miserable experience. It's so long and so boring and so difficult to get right, so that what you need above all is incredible willpower and strength of mind. And she has that. I don't know where it comes from. She's definitely got that. And . . . big pants . . . they're back. You're always slightly nervous when jokes are revisited. It's one thing to revisit a film but entire jokes? But I think we've moved forward a bit.
We’ve heard Renee had a bad reaction to the sun in Thailand.
Oh Christ! She's got this thing that she believes the sun will make her skin come up in boils and peel off her bones. So she's dressed up like Julie Andrews at the beginning of “The Sound Of Music,” like a nun [with the] umbrellas and gloves and everything. And it's a nightmare.
Did you give her a hard time?
No, because oddly enough, she was really [sensitive] on the subject. I think she almost felt she was being assaulted just being in Thailand, being so close to the sun. (Laughing) But it does make one slightly want to ask her why [she] lives in Los Angeles.
In “Bridget” and in “Love Actually,” your onscreen love interest haven’t been twigs.
I remember saying to my agent that the next job I want to do, the next three jobs I do, I want them to be about slightly overweight women. And they did a wonderful [job]. I agree that it's nice that these stories feature that. Because you've heard this before — any man will tell you that we don't necessarily want what we see in Vogue or whatever.
The British tabloids seem to be bent on having you end your bachelorhood. Is it because you're past 40 and they think you should be married? Do you feel the pressure from it?
Ah, I don't feel that pressure. I mean, I feel other pressure from the British tabloids, but I don't feel that particular pressure.
Is it true you’re giving up on acting?
Well, I haven't done very much for about three years. I think I've just done that smallish part in “Love Actually” and the smallish part in this film. So I'm sort of semi-retired.
How are you filling your time?
I'm sure I've said to you a billion times that I keep thinking I'm about to write a brilliant script.
Have you written one?
No, I've done bugger-all all year. I feel ashamed of myself.
So basically, when Richard Curtis calls, you seem to be ready to go to work.
Yeah, old friends and things, and this one — that seems fine. But I'm not in a hurry to go and sit in big development meetings and make great, big commercial films. I do have a touch of apathy about that.
How about a role onstage?
Well, it's true that the stage is fun. But I can never justify it completely in my head because although I think it's really fun for the performers, my experience as an audience member is 19 times out of 20 it's purgatory to sit watching a play, I think. I don't know. People keep going more, I think, out of a sense of duty, sort of churchgoing, than out of clever [plays].
