English actor Richard E. Grant didn’t mince words when he talked about big-name stars who treated his daughter poorly while on set. During a sit-down interview with Sky News, the 67-year-old actor was asked what the most underappreciated job on a film set is. Grant didn’t have to think twice about his answer and said, “the runners.”
Production runners, also called production assistants, are multitaskers who have countless tasks including filing paperwork, handling phone calls, copying scripts, picking up food orders, arranging schedules, handling logistics, and a variety of other jobs that need to be done for the production. As Grant said, they are “paid the least amount of money, they’re the youngest.”
“They get there at 5 in the morning, they’re the last to leave, and if anything goes wrong, they get s*** on from a dizzy height.”
Having worked in the entertainment industry for decades, Grant knows what he’s talking about. He’s been on both film and movie sets, and has portrayed a variety of characters including Allegiant General Enric Pryde in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Classic Loki in Loki, Izembaro in Game of Thrones, and The Doctor in an episode of Doctor Who just to name a few. Apart from that, he’s heard stories from her daughter, who worked as a production runner for a few years.
Richard E. Grant confronted a star over his actions
Grant’s daughter Olivia now works as a casting director in London and is credited as such in movies including Masters of the Air, What’s Love Got to Do with It?, and as a casting associate in Barbie. Before that, however, she worked as a runner on sets from 2013 to 2016 and was treated “appallingly,” as revealed by her father. Grant didn’t name names but said that they were big names in the industry. Per Olivia’s IMDb page, she was a runner in The Invisible Woman, Philomena, The Riot Club, The Theory of Everything, and Florence Foster Jenkins.
“My daughter was a runner for two years and was appallingly treated by some very well-known household names in England who changed their tune when they found out who her father was.”
The fact that they treated Olivia better when they found out who her father was didn’t sit well with Grant. In fact, it made him even more furious to know that Olivia was only respected because of her association with him. When asked whether he’d met with any of those people, he said he had a confrontation with one person. “I’ve met one person, yeah, and I’ll never speak to him again,” he stated.
Olivia is Grant’s only daughter with his wife Joan Washington, who died in 2021. He is also a stepfather to Washington’s son, Tom, from a previous relationship. The actor has a close relationship with her daughter and even said they have “twin-brain syndrome,” often saying the same things at the same time and being in sync with each other’s emotions. Olivia often makes an appearance on her father’s Instagram posts. In one, the actor described his daughter as his “longed for a miracle gift of a child who never stops giving!” With such a tight bond, it’s easy to see why Grant is so protective of Olivia.
Published: Oct 22, 2024 08:45 am