Hugh Grant Shares Sweet Reunion Photo with About a Boy Costar Nicholas Hoult, 22 Years Later

More than 22 years after starring together in About a Boy, Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult are still very chummy.

Both actors attended the 15th Governors Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Nov. 18, where Grant, 64, delivered a hilarious speech honoring screenwriter Richard Curtis. The two traded affectionate barbs as Curtis accepted his honorary Oscar for his work on films like Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’s Diary.

But that wasn’t the only notable reunion for Grant at the Sunday night event. On Monday, Nov. 18, the actor took to X to post a photo of himself and Hoult having a laugh outside the Dolby Theatre, alongside a throwback pic of the pair in About a Boy.

Hoult, now 34, was just 12 years old when the 2002 comedy based on author Nick Hornby’s 1998 novel was released. In it, he played Marcus, the awkward son of a single mother (Toni Collette) who blackmails Grant’s character, wealthy playboy Will, into taking him under his wing.

Grant posted the side-by-side pics without comment, but it was striking to see how much Hoult has grown in the past two decades. After About a Boy, he went on to star in the British high school dramedy series Skins, several entries in the X-Men franchise, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Menu and plenty of other films.

The actor replied to Grant’s photo with his own X message: “We’re cute.”

While the two actors haven’t appeared in a movie together since, Hoult recently reunited with another About a Boy costar. He stars alongside Collette, who played his mother in the 2002 film, in the director Clint Eastwood’s Juror No. 2. The new film finds Hoult playing the titular juror in a murder trial to which he has a mysterious connection, while Collette stars as the Assistant District Attorney prosecuting the case.

“To see you as this evolved human and being able to watch him going through [these scenes]. I could see everything in his mind. I could feel the energy of what his emotions were. I felt so proud of him,” Collette said of working with Hoult as an adult in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “I was like, ‘My God, look how talented he is.’ It really blew me away. And then we got to hang out. We got to become friends properly, and it’s been a total gift. It’s a treat to come back together again.” 

“I have such fond memories of About a Boy and how kind and caring Toni was for me then,” Hoult said in the same interview. “In the time in between, I’ve watched her in so many wonderful things, and she’s one of the most incredible actresses around. She brings joy, light, laughter and happiness wherever she goes. So, there’s this wonderful feeling of getting to be back in scenes with her and spend time with her.” 

Grant, meanwhile, is getting glowing reviews for his turn as the sinister Mr. Reed in his new film Heretic, and will reprise his role as toxic bachelor Daniel Cleaver in next year’s Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Grant revealed that he even “wrote some scenes” for his character in the upcoming sequel based on author Helen Fielding’s 2013 novel.

“I loved the script — it made me cry, and I wanted to help with this one,” he told the outlet. “It’s absolutely the best [Bridget Jones book], and I think it’s very funny and very, very moving. I’m not in a lot — I did a week’s work, that’s it. But when you see the film, you’ll be very moved.”