Elizabeth Hurley

You probably know Elizabeth Hurley as Hugh Grant’s girlfriend even though the couple split up at the turn of the century. In the late 90’s, Grant and Hurley were one of the most celebrated couples in show business. Their personal lives made headlines. For a time, Hurley had a pretty successful acting career of her own. But when the 90’s ended, Hurley’s acting career fizzled out as quickly as her high profile relationship. Good thing she had super-model good looks to fall back on!

What the hell happened?

Elizabeth Hurley – 1980s punk look

Hurley briefly studied ballet while at boarding school. But she soon returned home. She won a scholarship to the London Studio Centre where she studied theater. In the 80s, Hurley adopted a punk rock style with pink hair and a nose ring.

Elizabeth Hurley – Aria – 1987

After college, Hurley made her movie debut in the opera anthology, Aria.

Aria asked the question, “What can we do to sex up opera?” The answer turned out to be to “add some sex scenes”. Viewers were treated to opera, pretension and nudity. I believe I saw it twice. I was really into pretentious opera movies at the time.

Hurley appeared in the segment directed by Bruce Beresford with music from Die tote Stadt. Hurley and Peter Birch played lovers who serenade one another in the seemingly-dead city of Bruges, Belgium.

The cast included Theresa Russell, Beverly D’Angelo, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt and Bridget Fonda. Other segments were directed by Robert Altman, Jean-Luc Godard, Nicolas Roeg, Ken Russell and Julien Temple.

Aria‘s sexed up take on opera won the Golden Palm award at the Cannes Film Festival that year.

Elizabeth Hurley – Rowing With the Wind – 1988

In 1988, Hurley appeared in the Spanish drama, Remando al viento also known as Rowing With the Wind.

The movie told the story of how Mary Shelley came to write her classic novel Frankenstein. Lizzy McInnerny played Shelley, Valentine Pelka played her fiance, famed poet Percy Shelley, Hurley played Shelley’s step-sister and Hugh Grant played Lord Byron who challenged them all to write a horror story.

The movie won seven Goya awards which are the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars. None of the English actors were nominated. But this is where Hurley met Grant.

Elizabeth Hurley – Inspector Morse – 1988

Meanwhile, Hurley was appearing on several British TV shows. In 1988, she appeared in a second-season episode of the long-running crime drama, Inspector Morse. Hurley played a student at a private school where a teenager may have been murdered.

Elizabeth Hurley – Rumpole of the Bailey – 1988

That same year, Hurley appeared on an episode of the English legal drama, Rumpole of the Bailey.

Nigel Timson played a young rich boy who is arrested on his birthday and accused of insider trading. Hurley played his boss’ daughter who he is living with. Series lead, Leo McKern, played Rumpole, the eccentric barrister who defends him.

Elizabeth Hurley – Christabel – 1988

Hurley also starred in the English mini-series Christabel. The series was based on the memoirs of Christabel Bielenberg, an English woman who married a German lawyer during World War II. When her husband is arrested for conspiring to kill Hitler, Christabel has to decide how best to help him.

Elizabeth Hurley – Act of Will – 1989

In 1989. Hurley appeared in the British mini-series, Act of Will. Act of Will was the third mini-series based on a novel by Barbara Taylor Bradford. Victoria Tennet starred as an orphan who is forced to work for a greedy aunt. Hurley played her grown daughter whom she raised to be an artist.

Elizabeth Hurley – Kill Cruise – 1990

In 1990, Hurley starred in the German thriller, Der Skipper also known as Kill Cruise. Whoever decided the English title should be Kill Cruise and not The Skipper deserves a raise.

Hurley and Patsy Kensit played a couple of English singers who talk a German sailor played by Jürgen Prochnow into sailing them to Barbados. Along the way, Kensit begins flirting with the Skipper who ignores her advances. She becomes angered and steals his insulin! In order to get her to reveal the location of the drug, he throws her overboard!

I don’t usually get into a lot of spoilers. But the end of Kill Cruise is just so mystifying, I have to share it. So if you don’t want to be spoiled, skip ahead. Hurley’s character eventually finds the missing insulin and saves the skipper’s life. He professes his love for her and they become intimate. Kensit walks in and sees them having sex. Hurley’s character tries to comfort her friend who is heartbroken that the man she almost killed by depriving him of insulin prefers brunettes to blondes.

Later, every one seems to have gotten over the incident. Hurley and Kensit are singing for the skipper when all of the sudden and with no warning, Hurley kills him with a spear gun! Kensit understandably runs in terror. Hurley takes the time to draw a heart in the skipper’s blood before she makes herself a cup of tea. She tries to calm down Kensit, but ends up smothering her with a pillow.

Elizabeth Hurley – Death Has a Bad Reputation – 1990

Hurley also starred in the TV movie, Frederick Forsyth Presents: Death Has a Bad Reputation.

Hurley played a journalist who spots a terrorist who has resurfaced in Europe. Alan Howard played a British intelligence agent who tries to capture the terrorist before he can disappear again.

If you’re wondering when Hurley will move on from British TV, the answer is “not yet”. In 1991, she appeared in the “four-part television serial” (or mini-series as we call them here) The Orchid House.

Elizabeth Hurley – The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – 1992

The Brit TV continued in 1992 with Hurley appearing in The Good Guys and The Long Winter. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to come up with any usable pictures or clips from these shows. Perhaps a reader will send something my way. Truthfully, images can be difficult to come by when you’re dealing with someone who has done as much modeling as Hurley. Image searches with her name include a lot of fabulous pictures of her in swimsuits – not that I mind all that much. But it can make finding pictures from old English mini-series a bit of a challenge.

Elizabeth Hurley – The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – 1992

Hurley moved into American TV in 1992 with an episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. To make up for the lack of pictures from The Good Guys and The Long Winter I am doubling down on the Young Indy pics. Hurley played a bus conductor who falls for the young Dr. Jones. Vanessa Redgrave played her mom.

Elizabeth Hurley – Passenger 57 – 1992

In 1992, Hurley returned to the big screen after a five-year absence in the action movie, Passenger 57.

Wesley Snipes starred as a security expert whose plane gets hijacked by some very unlucky terrorists. Hurley played the lead terrorist’s henchwoman who disguises herself as a flight attendant. Before you can say “Die Hard on a Plane”, Snipes jumps into action.

Despite negative reviews, Passenger 57 was a hit at the box office.

Co-star Tom Sizemore, claims to have had an affair with Hurley after meeting her on the set. According to Sizemore, Snipes was interested in Hurley and told him to back off. But Sizemore approached Hurley and she basically seduced him. Sizemore wrote about the relationship in his tell-all, By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There: A Memoir.

Elizabeth Hurley and Tom Sizemore

He claims that he fell in love with Hurley and was hurt when she made him clear out his stuff whenever Grant was in town. Eventually, Sizemore broke things off because it was too painful for him.

Elizabeth Hurley and Bill Clinton

According to Sizemore, they carried on a four-year relationship behind Grant’s back. He also claimed that he eventually set up Hurley with President Bill Clinton during a screening of Saving Private Ryan. Hurley immediately denied the allegations of having an affair with the former Commander-in-Chief. Sizemore admitted to making up the story. He attributed it to drug use. So you should probably take anything Sizemore ever says with a pretty large chunk of salt.

Elizabeth Hurley – Beyond Bedlam – 1994

In 1994, Hurley starred in the English horror movie, Beyond Bedlam.

Craig Fairbrass played a detective who is haunted by a serial killer he has apprehended. Hurley played a neurologist who is treating the killer with an experimental drug. When people in the lab start killing themselves, the detective figures out that the drug allows the killer to bring his dreams to life… or something. The movie was universally panned as a Nightmare on Elm Street rip-off.

Elizabeth Hurley – Sharpe’s Enemy – 1994

Later that year, Hurley appeared opposite Sean Bean in the English TV movie, Sharpe’s Enemy. The movie was part of a series adapted from the Sharpe novels by Bernard Cornwell. Bean played a British soldier during the Napoleonic Wars. Pete Postlethwaite played Bean’s arch-enemy who takes over a Portuguese village and takes Hurley captive.

Bean starred in 14 of these Sharpe movies between 1993 and 1997. He returned to the character in 2006 and 2008.

Elizabeth Hurley and Hugh Grant – Four Weddings and a Funeral premiere – 1994

By far, the thing Hurley was best known for in 1994 was the dress she wore to the premiere of Hugh Grant’s movie, Four Weddings and a Funeral. The black Versace dress created a sensation when Hurley wore it to the premiere. According to Hurley:

That dress was a favor from Versace because I couldn’t afford to buy one. His [Grant’s] people told me they didn’t have any evening wear, but there was one item left in their press office. So I tried it on and that was it.

Now, I’m not a fashion guy. But according to the Internet, this dress was a really big deal. It is sometimes known as “that dress” or “the safety-pin dress” and is considered by some to be the most memorable red carpet dress of all times. The dress was eventually sold at an auction at Harrods, as part of an exhibition dedicated to “the little black dress.”

Bottom line, no one knew who Hurley was prior to the premiere. After the premiere, people were buzzing about her.

Following the success of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Grant formed his own production company, Simian Films. He appointed Hurley as the head of development to look for prospective projects.

Elizaebth Hurley – The Shamrock Conspiracy – 1995

In 1995, Hurley appeared in the US TV movie, The Shamrock Conspiracy.

Edward Woodward, best known to American audiences from The Equalizer, played a just-retired Scotland Yard chief inspector visiting his daughter in New York. Hurley played his daughter who is dating a New York cop. The cop is investigating the case of a serial killer who seems to be killing again after a few years of inactivity.

Elizabeth Hurley – Shameless – 1995

Later that year, Hurley starred in the British thriller, Mad Dogs and Englishmen or Shameless as it was released in the US. Hurley played a high-society heroin addict who meets an American motorcycle courier played by C. Thomas Howell. Hurley uses Howell to score her drugs, but eventually the two become romantically involved. Howell’s character does what he can to save Hurley from her drug addiction.

Hugh Grant mug shot – 1995

In 1995, Hurley was indirectly caught up in a scandal when her boyfriend, Hugh Grant, was arrested for picking up prostitute Divine Brown. The arrest happened just two weeks before the release of Grant’s high-profile summer comedy, Nine Months. At the time, everyone assumed this would be a death sentence for Grant’s career as a leading man. But Grant went on a charm offensive. He made a very public apology tour starting with an interview on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Hugh Grant – The Tonight Show – 1995

For all intents and purposes, Grant rewrote the text-book on how to handle a scandal in Hollywood. He got out in front of it and very publicly fell on his sword. It helps that the guy oozes charisma. Audiences were won over. They couldn’t resist Grant’s charms.

The interview was a major coup. Not just for Grant but also for Leno. Leno had been struggling in a late night TV war against his rival, David Letterman. But with the Grant interview, Leno overtook Letterman in the ratings for the first time. From that point on, Leno consistently beat Letterman in the ratings. As for Grant, his sins were largely forgotten. He pleaded no contest to the charges and was fined $1,180 with two years’ summary probation.

Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley – 1995

But this isn’t “What the Hell Happened to Hugh Grant?” At the time, Hurley was known primarily as Grant’s girlfriend. The scandal put their relationship very much in the public eye. People speculated openly about why a guy like Grant would cheat on his gorgeous, sophisticated girlfriend with a common prostitute. Many expected Hurley to leave Grant. She was seen as a victim and viewed sympathetically. Of course at the time we didn’t yet know that she had been cheating on Grant with Tom Sizemore.

Elizabeth Hurley – Estee Lauder

Later that year, cosmetics company Estee Lauder selected Hurley as their spokes-model despite the fact that the 29-year-old actress had no modeling experience whatsoever. Since she was still largely unknown as an actress, you have to figure she landed this job based on the Divine Brown scandal and her infamous black dress.

Elizabeth Hurley – Samson and Delilah – 1996

In 1996, Hurley continued appearing in TV movies. First she appeared in the crime drama, Harrison: Cry of the City. Then she played Delilah in the Biblical movie, Samson and Delilah (pictured).

Elizabeth Hurley and Hugh Grant on the set of Extreme Measures – 1996

Although Hurley’s acting career had yet to take off, Hugh Grant was an A-list movie star. Hurley served as a producer on Simian Film’s first movie, Extreme Measures. Grant co-starred in the medical drama opposite Gene Hackman.

Reviews were mixed and the movie disappointed at the box office. It opened in second place behind The First Wives Club which was in its second week of release. It went on to gross less than $18 million dollars.

Elizabeth Hurley – Dangerous Ground – 1997

In 1997, Hurley returned to American movies for the first time since Passenger 57 five years earlier. First, she starred opposite rapper Ice Cube in the thriller, Dangerous Ground.

Cube played an African who left for America after fighting against apartheid. He returns 14 years later for his father’s funeral. When his youngest brother does not attend the funeral, Cube goes looking for him. Instead, he finds a stripper played by Hurley. They discover that Cube’s brother has been kidnapped by a gangster played by Ving Rhames.

Dangerous Ground received terrible reviews and flopped at the box office. It opened in 12th place behind The Beautician and the Beast which had already been in theaters for a week. In fact, it barely out-grossed Evita which had been playing for 8 weeks!

Mike Myers and Elizabeth Hurley – Austin Powers – 1997

Later that year, Hurley starred opposite Mike Myers in the 60’s satire, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

Myers played Austin Powers, a swinging English super spy in the 1960’s. Myers also played his arch nemesis, Dr. Evil. When Dr. Evil escapes, Austin is cryogenically frozen so that he can capture Dr. Evil whenever he reappears. When Dr. Evil resurfaces 30 years later in the PC 90’s, Austin is thawed out. Hurley played a British agent tasked with helping Austin adapt to the changing times. She also happens to be the daughter of Austin’s 60’s love interest played by Mimi Rogers.

When most people think of Austin Powers, they think of the catch phrases that dominated pop culture in the late 90’s. They assume that the first Austin Powers movie was a smash hit. But in reality, it opened at #2 at the box office and only grossed about 50 million dollars in the US.

That was enough to make International Man of Mystery a hit. But in spite of mostly positive reviews, it wasn’t the box office smash most people remember. Audiences didn’t really find the first Austin Powers until it was released on video.

Elizabeth Hurley – Permanent Midnight – 1998

In 1998, Hurley appeared in the drama, Permanent Midnight.

The movie is based on the autobiography of comedy writer, Jerry Stahl. Stahl developed a crippling drug habit while writing 1980’s TV shows like thirtysomething, Moonlighting, Twin Peaks and ALF. In the movie, Stahl is portrayed by Ben Stiller. Hurley played his wife. Owen Wilson played his best friend and Maria Bello played a fellow recovering addict.

While critics praised Stiller’s dramatic turn, reviews for the movie were mixed. It never received a wide release in the US.

Elizabeth Hurley – My Favorite Martian – 1999

1999 was a big year for Hurley. First, she appeared in the big screen adaptation of the TV show, My Favorite Martian.

Christopher Lloyd starred as a goofy martian who crash-lands on Earth. Jeff Daniels played a reporter who finds Lloyd’s miniaturized space ship. Darryl Hannah played Daniels’ shy assistant who secretly has a crush on him. And Hurley played Daniels’ boss’ daughter who will do anything to get ahead.

My Favorite Martian was panned by critics. It opened in third place at the box office behind Payback which was in the second week of its release. It ended up grossing roughly half of its $65 million dollar production budget.

Elizabeth Hurley – EdTV – 1999

Next, Hurley appeared in Ron Howard’s media satire, EdTV.

Matthew McConaughey starred as a simple guy who is chosen by a TV producer (played by Ellen DeGeneres) to be the subject of a 24-hour TV program. The premise was similar to The Truman Show which came out in 1998. But both movies came out prior to the proliferation of reality TV that was kick-started by Survivor in 2000.

Woody Harrelson played McConaughey’s brother who is jealous of all the attention he receives. Jenna Elfman played Harrelson’s girlfriend on whom he is cheating. Dennis Hopper played the brothers’ long-lost father and Hurley played a model/actress who is brought on the show to seduce McConaughey and drive up ratings.

EdTV received mixed reviews and flopped at the box office. It opened in third place and ended up grossing about a quarter of its $80 million dollar production budget. But over time and with the spread of reality television, EdTV has developed a cult following.

Elizabeth Hurley and Mike Myers – Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me – 1999

Hurley returned for a cameo in the Austin Powers sequel, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. At the end of the first movie, Hurley’s character, Vanessa Kensington, married Austin Powers. The sequel opens with the couple on their honeymoon where it is revealed that Hurley is actually a femmebot sent by Dr. Evil to kill Austin Powers.

No, it doesn’t make any sense. But it clears the way for new love interest Heather Graham. Despite mixed reviews, the sequel was a box office smash that flooded pop culture with quotable catch phrases.

Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley – Mickey Blue Eyes premiere – 1999

Finally, Hurley served as a producer on the second movie from Simian Films, Mickey Blue Eyes. Mickey Blue Eyes was a mob-themed romantic comedy which starred Hugh Grant, James Caan and Jeanne Tripplehorn.

The movie received mixed reviews and flopped at the box office. It opened in third place and grossed less than half of its $75 million dollar production budget. The failure of Mickey Blue Eyes essentially killed Grant’s production company. Simian Films closed its US offices in 2002. Grant resigned as director in 2005. Hurley continued using the UK offices for her fashion business, but Simian Films never released another movie.

Elizabeth Hurley and Hugh Grant – 2000

In 2000, after thirteen years as a couple, Grant and Hurley split up. It was described as an amicable split and the two remained friends afterwards. Hurley even chose Grant to be her son;s godfather in 2002.

So bye, bye, Hugh! You’ll get your own article before you know it.

Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley – Bedazzled – 2000

At the movies, Hurley co-starred opposite Brendan Fraser in Harold Ramis’ wish-fulfillment comedy, Bedazzled.

Bedazzled was a remake of a cult British comedy from 1967 starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. In the original, Cook played the devil who offers Moore seven wishes. But each time he grants a wish, he twists it so that the outcome isn’t what Moore intended. Raquel Welch had a memorable cameo as the embodiment of Lust.

In Harold Ramis’ remake, the Devil and Lust are combined into one character played by Hurley. She plays Satan by way of a Victoria’s Secret model.

Bedazzled opened to mixed reviews and disappointing box office. Even Hurley slinking around in form-fitting red outfits and Fraser in a series of goofy costumes couldn’t make Bedazzled a hit. Bedazzled was supposed to prove that Fraser and Hurley could open a movie. Instead, it proved the opposite.

Protesters at Bedazzled Premiere – 2000

Hurley made headlines in October of 2000 for crossing a picket line to film an Estee Lauder commercial. Hurley claimed she was unaware the strike was going on and would not have agreed to appear in the commercial if she had known. The Screen Actors Guild was not swayed. Outspoken actor, Tim Robbins, blasted Hurley:

“We’re bringing her to trial after this is over. She won’t get away with it. This is a strike about working-class actors; this is not a strike about celebrity actors”

Hurley issued an immediate statement apologizing for the misstep. She blamed the issue on Estee Lauder and their representatives who did not inform her that the commercial was crossing picket lines. Estee Lauder claimed that since the commercial would not air in the US, the SAG strike never came up. Hurley attempted to make amends by donating $25,000 to the SAG.

In the end, Hurley was fined $100,000 by the SAG for crossing the picket line. Since the commercial was part of her “all-in” contract with Estee Lauder, she wasn’t paid for her appearance. Hurley claimed she was disappointed by the decision but paid the fine anyway:

“Although I have a right of appeal, my legal challenges would not serve to benefit those who truly suffered most through the strike. I hope that by paying the fine imposed by the trial board, rather than appealing the decision, I will be helping the families of guild members who were harmed by the strike and are in need of assistance.”

Elizabeth Hurley – The Weight of Water – 2000

Later that year, Hurley appeared in Kathryn Bigelow’s adaptation of Anita Shreve’s 1997 novel, The Weight of Water.

Catherine McCormack played a newspaper photographer researching the murder of two immigrant women in 1873. She and her husband, played by Sean Penn, travel to the Isles of Shoals along with his brother and his brother’s girlfriend played by Hurley. As McCormack uncovers clues to the past, she begins to suspect that her husband is having an affair.

The Weight of Water premiered at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival where it received mixed to negative reviews. It wasn’t released theatrically until 2002. Even then it was given a limited release and grossed just over $100,000.00 – roughly the same amount as Hurley’s fine from the SAG.

Elizabeth Hurley – Double Whammy – 2001

In 2001, Hurley starred opposite Dennis Leary in the cop comedy, Double Whammy.

Leary played a New York City police officer whose back went out while he was trying to apprehend a murderer. Hurley played his chiropractor and love interest. Steve Buscemi co-starred as Leary’s partner on the force.

The movie was panned by critics and released direct to video.

Elizabeth Hurley – Dawg – 2002

In 2002, Hurley reunited with Leary to star in the comedy Dawg also known as Bad Boy.

Leary played an unrepentant womanizer who is late for his grandmother’s funeral. He later finds out that she left him one million dollars. But as eccentric deceased people often do in movies like Dawg, she made the inheritance conditional. In order to get the money, Leary must apologize to twelve women he has wronged and get them to forgive him. Hurley played the executor of the estate who must witness the apologies.

When I go, I’m going to require my beneficiaries to write 50 more What the Hell Happened articles if they want a dime – which may be all that’s left by then…

Like Double Whammy, reviews were negative and the movie went direct to video.

Elizabeth Hurley – Serving Sara – 2002

Hurley capped off 2002 by starring opposite Matthew Perry in Reginald Hudlin’s romantic comedy, Serving Sara.

Perry played a process server tasked with serving divorce papers to Hurley. When he completes his assignment, she proposes a counter-offer. She offers him a million dollars to rip up the papers and help her serve her husband (played by Bruce Campbell) with divorce papers instead.

Perry was in rehab for much of the film’s shooting schedule so the production had to shoot around his availability.

I often say that a movie “got bad reviews” or even that it was “panned by critics”. In fact, I have used those two phrases a lot in this very article. (For the record, the highest rated movie in Hurley’s filmography according to Rotten Tomatoes is the first Austin Powers and even that movie holds only a 70% approval rating.) But critics really hated Serving Sara. It currently holds a 4% approval rating because the critic from Moviehole gave it the following faint praise:

There’s still something vaguely enjoyable about the film, as there has been with most of Matthew Perry’s movies.

Thank you Clint Morris for jacking up a well-deserved 0%!

Serving Sara opened in sixth place at the box office. It ended up grossing just over half of it’s production budget. If it wasn’t the last nail in the coffin of Hurley’s movie career, it was the second to last nail.

Elizabeth Hurley – Bazaar cover – 2002

On 4 April 2002, Hurley gave birth to a son. The baby’s father, film producer Steve Bing, denied paternity. He claimed that his relationship with Hurley was brief and non-exclusive. Apparently Bing missed the health class where they explained that it only takes one time to make a baby. Ultimately DNA tests confirmed that Steve Bing, you ARE the father! As mentioned previously, Hugh Grant was named as the baby’s godfather.

Elizabeth Hurley – Method – 2004

In 2004, Hurley starred in and executive produced the thriller, Method.

Hurley played an actress who is making her first movie after a three-year hiatus. Jeremy Sisto played her ex who is also her co-star in the new movie. Hurley’s character is a method actor and she plays a murderer in the movie. So when people around her start dying, she begins to question whether or not she has gotten too into character.

Hurley clashed with director Duncan Roy on the set in Romania. Afterwards, Roy went to the press with a list of complaints about Hurley. Among other things, the director complained about her on-set sexcapades with her boyfriend of the time, Indian textile heir Arun Nayar. Roy’s comments were brutal:

“We made a good film because Elizabeth did act well in it but I want everyone to know what I think she’s like as a person. She is horrible. Liz wanted to control every aspect of the film. She seems to have the impression that she is a great actress. She totally believes that she’s someone special. She’s not. She also think she’s really beautiful. Well, I have seen her without make-up and it’s not a pretty sight.”

He complained that she threw a temper tantrum after receiving feedback that her acting was “stiff”, that she insisted on being called Elizabeth rather than Liz and then insisted on calling Roy ‘Dunc’, complained about her trailer and a house she was being put up in, and messed up her hair and make-up while spending time with Nayar.

Hurley responded that she liked Roy and was surprised by his accusations. She claimed that she actually campaigned to get him hired as director in the first place. The movie’s producer, producer Brad Wyman, backed Hurley. As he put it:

“This was my 30th movie, it was Liz’s 20th and Duncan had done one; it takes time to turn those things around.”

According to Wyman, there was friction between Hurley and Duncan. But he called his criticisms “unfair”. He did admit that Hurley and her boyfriend were fooling around on the set. “They were really smitten with each other.”

Duncan has not stopped trashing Hurley since the movie’s release over a decade ago. He ended up selling his story to the British tabloid News of the World which Hurley saw as a betrayal. Duncan claims it was revenge. Duncan continues to write about his experiences working with Hurley on his blog. He has only directed one other movie since Method. In 2009, he appeared on VH1’s reality show VH1’s reality show Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew. So he seems like a classy, credible guy.

In 2006, Hurley returned to British TV for the Project Runway clone, Project Catwalk. Hurley was host and judge of the show’s first season. She was replaced for seasons 2 and 3 by Kelly Osborne.

Elizabeth Hurley – Wedding Picture – 2007

In 2007, Hurley married Nayar married at Sudeley Castle and then had a second traditional Hindu wedding at Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur. Photos of the wedding which were sold to Hello magazine for a reported £2 million or some large amount of American dollars. Sorry, I’m not up on conversion rates. Hurley was given away by Sir Elton John because why the hell not?

Elizabeth Hurley and Shane Warne

The marriage lasted four years. After reports surfaced that linked Hurley romantically with Australian cricketer Shane Warne, Hurley filed for divorce in 2011. Three months after the divorce, Hurley and Warne announced their engagement. In 2013, the couple split up.

Elizabeth Hurley – Made in Romania – 2010

In 2010, Hurley resurfaced after a six year absence from acting. She appeared opposite Jennifer Tilly and Danny Huston in the faux documentary, Made in Romania. Thankfully, it was not about the making of Method.

Elizabeth Hurley – Gossip Girl – 2011-2012

From 2011-2012, Hurley appeared on 14 episodes of the CW nighttime soap, Gossip Girl. During the show’s fifth season, Hurley played a wealthy business woman who poses as another character’s mother. Drama and tight red dresses ensue.

Elizabeth Hurley – Wonder Woman pilot – 2011

Hurley also appeared in the ill-fated David E Kelley-produced pilot for a Wonder Woman TV show. The pilot was not picked up to series. If it had been, Hurley would have played evil business woman Veronica Cale to Adrianne Palicki’s Wonder Woman.

In 2015, Hurley began appearing in the first-ever scripted series on E! The show is called The Royals and Hurley plays a modern monarch of a fictional royal family. The show was promised a second season before the first episode even aired. Ratings have been relatively strong by the network’s standards, though not as high as Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

So, what the hell happened?

Arguably Hurley was Hugh Grants “+1” to the Hollywood party. She rose to prominence based on his success and scandal. For a time, it seemed like she might have a substantial acting career on her own. But she wasn’t able to capitalize on the success of movies like Austin Powers. When Bedazzled flopped, it revealed that even Hurley’s sex appeal wouldn’t sell tickets.

Eventually, Hurley returned to her day job. Today, she splits duty between acting and modeling. At the moment, she’s on a TV show so one could argue that she is in actress mode. But for the last several years, her primary focus seems to have been fashion and modeling. For the time being, Hurley has the luxury of living in both worlds.

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