Hugh Grant absolutely despises being an Oompa Loompa in 'Wonka'

• Hugh Grant stars as an Oompa Loompa in Paul King's latest film "Wonka."
• The actor's disinterest in the role has made for some viral moments on the "Wonka" press tour.

Hugh Grant, blink twice if you're being held hostage on the "Wonka" press tour.

Five words — in French! — have now immortalized Grant's dedicated disinterest in his latest movie.

"Je joue le Ooompa Loompa," the 63-year-old star says (translation: "I play the Oompa Loompa") to the camera in a junket clip that recently went viral. His blue eyes are bloodshot and his facial expression betrays a mix of humiliation, exhaustion, and deep pain.

"Has any actor ever regretted their decisions more visibly than Hugh Grant in this moment?" writer Isaac Feldberg wrote on X, posting a clip to the interview.

The answer, perhaps, is no. Despite being an actor (and a pretty good one!), Hugh Grant simply hasn't been able to hide when he hates doing something lately.

Case in point: that time on the 2023 Oscars red carpet when his curt responses to interviewer Ashley Graham were so excruciating (asked what he was wearing, he replied, "Just my suit") they could double as performance art.

Apparently, being a curmudgeon is Grant's way of "showing love" — at least that's what Drew Barrymore said after the Oscars kerfuffle.

Paul King, who directs the film about a young Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) hoping to change the world with his confections, seemingly agrees. He previously Grant was the ideal character to play the green-haired, orange-skinned character because of his ability to embody the Oompa Loompa's haughty, judgmental demeanor while still being funny.

Grant himself echoed the sentiment in the film's production notes, saying he "thought the key was to keep the sort of negativity and anger, the curmudgeonly old bastard element of the Oompa Loompa."

"This is my specialty," he said.

The movie's international press tour has been littered with now-classic Hugh Grant moments, ones that are either brutally honest public admissions, Method acting, or both.

"I've got a lot of mouths to feed," the actor, who has five kids, told when asked why he signed on for the role.

In an interview with Metro.co.uk, Grant didn't hold back about how much he disliked doing motion-capture work for "Wonka."

"It was like a crown of thorns, very uncomfortable," he said. "I made a big fuss about it."

"I couldn't have hated the whole thing more," Grant said, jokingly adding, "I slightly hate making films but I have lots of children and need money."

After years of playing heartthrobs in rom-coms, the last decade of Grant's career has seen him appearing to have a blast by leaning into absurdity, stealing scenes in films like "Paddington" and popping up with a memorable cameo in "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery."

Speaking to Access Hollywood, though, he was in full curmudgeon mode.

"This is what I get offered these days," he said. "I'm in the freak show phase of my career. I do baddies, psychopaths, weirdos, perverts, and now Oompa Loompas."