The 55-year-old was as charming as ever as he sat down with the American news outlet to discuss some of the biggest moments in his life.
And while he may be one of Hollywood’s most beloved leading actors, Hugh is under the impression that he is difficult to work with.
“I’ve driven people mad on films that I’ve made. I want more takes, I want to try new lines. Then I want to interfere in the editing process and I want to interfere in the advertising process, everything, everything,” he said.
“Pretty much Barbra Streisand in trousers, I am!”
But that doesn’t mean the entire world isn’t captivated by the star.
One of his most iconic film moments has to be the that dance in the Richard Curtis’ rom-com Love Actually.
Sadly, Hugh admits he felt very little love for his grooving.
“I dreaded the dance scene in Love Actually more than having my teeth extracted,” he revealed.
“And you know, the thing is, you gotta be in the mood for dancing. You know, it takes me quite a lot of vodka before I really want to, or if I’m alone at home with no one around, I like a bit of a dance sometimes in my pants.”
You know who else chooses vodka… If only Daniel Cleaver returned to Bridget Jones!
The British star swooned his way into hearts everywhere following his role in Four Weddings and a Funeral.
But according to Hugh the 1994 flick, which scored him a Golden Globe, was never meant to be a hit.
“When the film was rough cut together, the producers and everyone sat together and watched the film and agreed it was the worst thing ever perpetrated in the history of cinema. There was no laughs. It was just awful. And I felt the same. And we all wanted to emigrate before the film came out,” he mused.
We all know how that turned out!
Every gal wanted to be Andie MacDowell.
With great fame comes great drama, and boy, did the lad who graduated from Oxford, deliver.
In the height of his ’90s glory he was dating “it girl” Liz Hurley… until as Hugh described it, his “hiccup” of a summer.
The 1995 bump in the road was, of course, when he was arrested for lewd behaviour in a public place with prostitute Divine Brown.
Reflecting on his arrest, Hugh said: “I was very naughty. I was very drunk. And yeah, it was regrettable.”
“It was entirely to be expected, that there would be a huge hullabaloo about that, particularly given this rather absurd persona that I had been given about who I was on the back of Four Weddings.“
“People thought I was this nice character I played in that film. And so I suppose the contrast between that person and this seedy behavior was juicy stuff. And I quite understand why it was a big story.”
He was dating Liz Hurley…
But then Divine happened…
While the actor generally plays the perfect man, Hugh is the first to admit that off-screen, things are a little different.
In fact, the 55-year-old, who is now a dad-to-four-kids, confesses that commitment stresses him out.
“It’s not just commitment. ‘Permanence’ scares me. I don’t know why.I have known a few good marriages, but very few.”
Taking a moment, he added, “And others look to me like they’re pretty miserable. I don’t really think that’s a recipe for happiness.”
Watch Hugh joke about in the player below. Post continues after the video!
Clearly in the mood to share, Hugh, who is on the promo circuit for his new film with Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins, chatted to James Corden… but things soon took a very cheeky turn!
Joking about his many kids, he quipped, “Well, four at the last count, but I can’t stop. If you feel anything coming off me, let me know!”
The actor has two children with Anna Eberstein, including three-year-old son John Mungo. He is also dad to daughter four-year-old Tabitha and three-year-old son Felix with ex Tinglan Hong.
Hugh chats to Ellen about being a dad! Article continues…
He also decided to share a story about feeling a little too much after a few massages.
“I went mad in 2007,” he said, rather seriously to the laughing host.
“I got massaged into madness.”
Explaining, he said, “I went on a holiday in the Maldives and I was extremely bored, so I thought, ‘I’ll have another massage.’ I was having about 30 massages a day.”
“At the end of the holiday, I felt a little strange. I got on the plane to go home, opened the newspaper, reading the football results, and I burst into tears. And I couldn’t stop crying for three weeks. It was completely absurd. So I went to see shrinks then.”
Watch Hugh’s very funny interview in the player below!
Check out Hugh’s full chat with CBS here
