My Saturday with Richard E. Grant: Finding a pocketful of happiness every day

Sat, 11 May, 2024 - 18:05

Ruth O'Connor

From Saltburn to Star Wars, Richard E Grant is one of TV and film’s most well-loved and well-respected actors.

Moving from Swaziland to London in 1982, he waited tables, toured and fringed before getting his big break in the cult classic Withnail And I.

He was nominated for an Academy Award in 2018 for Best Supporting Actor in Can You Ever Forgive Me? and is a regular contributor to media.

Married to renowned dialect coach Joan Washington for almost 40 years before her death in 2021, his hilarious and poignant memoir A Pocketful of Happiness looks back on his marriage, parenthood, and Hollywood career and reminds the reader to find a “pocketful of happiness in every day”.

This is a typical Saturday in his life.

7.00

I get up and boil a handful of oats in water, add cranberry juice and some chopped fruit to alleviate the awfulness of the porridge, then slug it down.

Then it’s on with the running shoes with the wireless headphones banging out techno and a two-mile run in Richmond Park across the road from my house. No matter the weather.

Get back and shower, answer emails, then iPad my way through various online papers to confirm that the world has indeed turned upside down overnight.

10.00

I mow the lawn, headphones back on and a daily dose of Barbra Streisand singing to keep my spirits buoyant.

I’ve been a lifelong fan of hers and finally met her at the Oscars in 2019, followed by a two-hour one-to-one conversation at Donna Karan’s house in the Hamptons at the end of which I said that I’d commissioned a two foot tall sculpture of her head.

She looked at me quizzically, then quipped: ‘You’re crazy!’, ‘I know’, ‘No you are crazy!’,’Happily so!’

At the end of filming Saltburn, the production crew were discarding a life-size proscenium arch they’d created for the birthday party scene of Barry Keoghan’s character.

I asked if I could have it, and they generously installed it in my garden, and it’s the perfect frame for the Streisand sculpture — so I get to see her every day!

Richard E Grant and daughter Olivia arriving at The EE British Academy Film Awards 2014, at the Royal Opera House, Bow Street, London.

11.00

I always have four books on the go and will read whatever grabs my fancy, especially history and autobiographies. I’ve almost completed the 1,000-page Streisand epic.

13.00

I drive to Notting Hill Gate to an Italian restaurant parallel to Portobello Road that I’ve been going to for a quarter of a century.

I emigrated from Swaziland to London in 1982 and rented a bedsit on the same road — for £30 per week. The food is delicious and unpretentious and we always arrange to meet friends for lunch.

Since my wife Joan died, my daughter and son-in-law usually join me for lunch, followed by a mooch down Portobello afterwards.

Joan is always in our hearts and I know exactly what she would have chosen to eat and which objects would have caught her eye in the antique market stalls.

If we ever got separated by the crowds, we’d make bird-like cooing sounds —‘to toot, toot, tooooo’ — until we found one another again.

16.00

I sit in the garden with a book and pretend I’m going to read, or as my wife used to say, ‘I’m not snoozing, Swaz, just shutting my eyes to give them a little rest’.

It always feels like a stolen pleasure, an afternoon nap.

19.00

I never go out on a Saturday evening, and love nothing more than to cook giant prawns with garlic butter, homemade lemony mayonnaise, sourdough bread and a rocket salad with vinaigrette.

The log fire will be lit and I’ll catch up on the latest episode of the second series of The Jinx about serial killer Robert Durst.

Then episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm with the brilliant Tracey Ullman playing Larry’s wife, and finally Gogglebox which is one of the simplest and most hilarious TV formats yet invented!

Richard E. Grant (L) and late wife Joan Washington attend the Orange British Academy Film Awards 2012 after party at Grosvenor House on February 12, 2012 in London, England.

00.00

Bath then bed. My wife said I was the cleanest human being she’d ever met and concluded that because I grew up in Africa, that must be the reason I top and tail my day getting in and out of hot water.

I write a letter to Joan every night before going to sleep — telling her all the things I’ve done or encountered or plan on doing.

I have kept a diary ever since I was 10 years old, and writing to her is a way of keeping her alive in my heart and mind.

I feel immeasurably fortunate to have shared 38 years together. To be wholly loved and truly seen by another person.

Her photo is on my bedside table and is the last face I see before putting on an eye mask, and instantly falling asleep, like an old parrot when the blanket covers its cage.