by Bill Hersey
When Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock came to Tokyo to promote “Two Weeks Notice,” Bill Hersey caught up with them at the Grand Hyatt
It was great seeing Sandra Bullock again. I first met her at a dinner when she was here to promote “Demolition Man” for Warner Bros. Another time I was able to set up a birthday party for her at Kingyo.
Frankly, I had forgotten how beautiful she is. Sandra was back in Japan with her co-star Hugh Grant to promote their box office hit “Two Weeks Notice” for Warner Bros. This was my first time to meet Hugh and he’s the laid-back kinda guy I thought he would be.
Both of the mega-stars are busy with new projects, but thought this was an important film to come to Japan for.
When I asked Hugh how he decided to do the film, he said, “I met Sandra, we rapped for an hour, and I knew the chemistry was there.”
On working with Grant for the first time, Sandra said, “He’s a talented worker, stimulating, a perfectionist and thoughtful. I also feel he made me open up and be a better person.”
Hugh had a lot of good things to say about Sandra. “She’s extremely talented, and a hard worker with lots of energy and enthusiasm,” he said.
For both of them, they never felt as though they were competing in comedy, but complemented each other in the movie.
As James Bailey said in his movie review in the last Tokyo Weekender, Hugh and Sandra really are the romantic-comedy dream team. In “About A Boy,” “Bridget Jones’ Diary,” “Small Time Crooks” and now “Two Weeks Notice,” Oxford-educated Hugh has moved away from his role of playing bumbling, upper class twits, and is now a shoo-in for the English lothario/aristocratic crook role.
Not many people know this, but Hugh started a comedy group after graduating from university and he hasn’t looked back since his breakthrough in “Sirens,” when he appeared alongside supermodel Elle Macpherson.
Sandra hit the Hollywood A-list when she got behind the wheel of a bus with Keanu Reeves in the 1994 box-office smash “Speed.” Since then, she’s been in great demand.
The highlight for Sandra in “Two Weeks Notice” was when she had to act drunk. “I’m a big girl and not easy to hold up,” she said. “It wasn’t that bad,” Hugh said, jokingly adding, “In reality we both had to go to the toilet.”
On the more serious side, Sandra feels historical landmarks should be preserved. “The U.S. is too quick to tear down architectural history—New York’s architecture should be more looked at as art.”
Both expressed a wish that they had more time and could get out and see Japan. Sandra also wants to visit Australia — “I’ve never been there,” she said.
Both, I might add, were highly impressed with the service and food at a special dinner hosted by Warner Bros. they had in the Grand Hyatt Tokyo’s French Kitchen restaurant. Dinner was served at the private chef’s table.
The French Kitchen is one of seven restaurants located in the new hotel. Grand Hyatt General Manager Xavier Destribats told me the restaurant kitchen is run by a fantastic chef from the Burgundy region of France.
Two Weeks Notice
