Richard E. Grant has said that becoming a widower has made him “acutely aware of loss and survival”. The actor’s wife, Joan Washington, died in September 2021 after being diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.
New Channel 4 series
Grant’s latest project is Richard E. Grant’s Very Modern Odyssey, a four-part documentary series for Channel 4 in which he retraces the legendary journey across the Mediterranean described in Homer’s The Odyssey. The series starts on Sunday August 2.
Speaking about the show’s themes of endurance and loss, Grant, 69, said: “I’m a widower, so am acutely aware of loss and survival.”
Travel challenges and Mediterranean myths
Grant described the difficulties of filming: “The behind-the-scenes travel challenges of delayed and cancelled flights, camera equipment going Awol for five days, taking planes, ferries and a minibus for 29 hours within a three-day period, was exhausting. As was interviewing many contributors who spoke no English, a real endurance test, like trying to navigate past six-headed Scylla.”
Grant and Washington married in 1986 and had a daughter Olivia, 37, and a stepson, Tom, from Washington’s previous relationship. Asked if the Mediterranean myth lived up to reality, he said: “Post-Brexit and the introduction of photo and finger-printing ID in airports, has made travel around Europe a nightmare of queueing, endless delays and frustration, until they get all the new technology to work properly. In our social media-saturated age, any site immortalised in literature or on film is a selfie magnet, so visiting at unsociable hours is the best chance of not being outnumbered.”
