The New York Times’ final list of the 100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century is now complete.
What do you make of the final ranking? Which placements surprised you the most?
Hugh Grant says he fired his talent agent, created a fake one, and became his own middleman for 4 years.
Hugh Grant says he secretly became his own agent for four years and fooled Hollywood with a fake identity.
Hugh Grant: “I do have an agent again now, but for four years, I didn’t have one. I told everyone, ‘If you want me, go to James Howeily in London.’ And he didn’t exist. It was me on a different email account.”
Howard Stern: “Is that right? You made up a name? James Howeily.”
Hugh Grant: “I used to fancy a girl called Anne Howeily. She wore big earrings, and she was attractive, so James Howeily handled everything.”
“People would send emails saying, ‘Can you get this script to Hugh?’ And I’d write back, ‘Yeah, I’ll try and get him to read it this week.’”
“I saved myself an absolute fortune. But the problem was, these people sending stuff wanted a personal relationship with James. They’d say, ‘We’re coming to London next week. Let’s have lunch.’”
Howard Stern: “Did you ever call anyone as James Howeily?”
Hugh Grant: “Yeah. I got rumbled in the end. I can’t remember exactly what happened, but James had to get on the phone one time.”
Howard Stern: “What was James’s voice like?”
Hugh Grant: “Well, I was watching the golf, and there was a Scottish commentator, so I thought, ‘Right, he’s Scottish and I did a pretty bad Scottish accent”
Howard Stern: “Did you feel guilty doing that?”
Hugh Grant: “I did a bit, yeah. And then I started to slip up because if I had a drink or two, I’d write emails as James and sign off ‘Hugh’ by mistake.”