Colin & Hugh

So all is well, when he's not standing waist-deep in duckweed or getting his head kicked in by his bumbling co-star, who incidentally, Firth insists, would stand no chance in a real life rumble. "I'd kick his arse any day."

Some of that warmer feeling is being blamed on Rodrigo Santoro. And while Grant, the King of Romantic Comedy, enjoys the film's success, he gave "Extra" the inside story on his new "Bridget Jones" movie, "The Edge of Reason," now in the works with Colin Firth and Renee Zellweger.
Grant says, "The only problem is that Renee has not put on enough weight and Colin has put on too much."

H: No I think Colin looks great today. I think the rinse has really worked.

C: Everyone wants to be adored, you know, and I do love it in a way, but there's constantly the threat that you're going to fall over or ..

VL: Or the threat that they might scream louder for Hugh than for you?

C: Yes - no - I think that's very unlikely.

Q. So you hoped [co-star] Colin [Firth] would be bad?

A. I always hoped Colin would be bad -- and ugly. And, indeed, I think he is.

From the LOVE ACTUALLY companion book

Who would you have as your naked stand in?

Colin : Hugh Grant ten years ago.

Hugh: Colin Firth - but with a better body.

One picture that appeared in nearly every newspaper from the U.K. to Uzbekistan was of Firth and Hugh Grant engaged in yet another violent brawl over the British heroine. Interestingly, Firth doesn't mind violating the film's strict code of silence to tell us who won. "Hugh has always been a miserable fighter," he laughs. "I find that he's physically deteriorated in the last three years. I have to be very careful and gentle with him now. I keep finding myself saying, 'Sorry,' and calling him a nurse and giving him a pill and a blanket."

"It was easier for me this time because he was much fleshier, and the contours were much softer -- it was more like wrestling with my grandmother. Hugh complained all the time that I was hurting him and giving him bruises."

THEN

HERE COMES

THE SUN(ONLINE):

Hugh do you love, actually

A DEBATE is raging among women - who is top of the fops, Colin Firth or Hugh Grant?

Both sexy stars have found fame as bumbling Englishmen and the two feature in the hit movie Love Actually, which broke British box office records at the weekend. The pair, both 43 and born just a day apart, were also in Bridget Jones's Diary and are working on the sequel.

And both appeared in films adapted from books by Nick Hornby.

They have much in common - but who is your fave? MEL HUNTER compares them and gives a verdict.

CUTE COLIN

IN A NUTSHELL: Strong silent type - and all round good bloke.

SEXIEST MOMENT: The riding breeches and wet shirt moment in Pride And Prejudice, obviously.

BRAINS? Though his parents are both academics, he hated school. Went to Montgomery of Alamein School in Winchester and then the Drama Centre in London.

Firth Fever ... Colin in Hornby movie

FOUND FAME: As Fitzwilliam Darcy in BBC1's Pride And Prejudice. Later played Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones's Diary.

ON THE MARKET? Afraid not. Married Livia Giuggioli in June, 1997, and has two children by her. Also had one son, Will, 13, with his ex, actress Meg Tilly.

HORNBY CONNECTION: Starred in the film of Nick Hornby's novel Fever Pitch.

LIKES: Guitar and campaigning for African farmers.

PHWOAR FACTOR: Rugged, god-like looks which are coupled with real manly broodiness. 10/10

HUNKY HUGH

IN A NUTSHELL: Stuttering, muttering, plummy English buffoon.

SEXIEST MOMENT: As naughty cad Daniel Cleaver in Bridget Jones’s Diary.

BRAINS? Attended Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith, West London, on a scholarship and went on to graduate in English from New College, Oxford.

Baby blues ... Grant in About A Boy

FOUND FAME: In 1994 hit flick Four Weddings And A Funeral.

ON THE MARKET? After long relationship with Liz Hurley, Hugh has had his fair share of flings but has been buying meals for one for four years.

HORNBY CONNECTION: Starred as gloriously self-obsessed bachelor Will in the film adaptation of Hornby's book About A Boy.

LIKES: Football and singing, although he says he sings "like a hyena".

PHWOAR FACTOR: Dangerous combination of blue eyes and cool arrogance. 9/10