Meet The Filmmakers: SJP And Hugh Grant

Tuesday night, I headed down to the Apple Store in SoHo for an evening about "Did You Hear About The Morgans?" featuring co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant and director Marc Lawrence.

Rom Com Dream Team: Director Marc Lawrence, SJP and Hugh Grant

Part of the store's ongoing Meet The Filmmakers series, the Q&A session was moderated by USA Today entertainment reporter Donna Freydkin.

SJP said she’d longed to work with Grant on a romantic comedy after the two appeared together in "Extreme Measures," a little-seen thriller 13 years ago. She raved about his approach to acting.

“He’s incredibly conscientious,” she said. “He takes rehearsal more seriously than most actors I’ve worked with and was always good. Always completed invested [in each take].”

Hugh reciprocated the praise, and had both his co-star and the audience laughing with his razor-sharp observations.

“She’s tiny and yet she eats more than any woman I’ve ever met,” he said of SJP. “I think she’s half woman, half locust.”

SJP and Hugh Grant: the co-stars bantered playfully with each other

Grant, with his acerbic, self-deprecating wit and charm, was the evening’s true star. SJP seemed spent from her earlier appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” while director Lawrence didn’t have that much to say.

When asked about shooting romantic comedies, all three agreed that they’re the hardest kind of movies to make.

“There’s only a handful of truly great ones,” Lawrence said.

“Comedy is harder,” agreed Grant. “It should get the [award] prizes before the deep, dark serious stuff.”

Favorite rom coms? Sounding very much like Carrie Bradshaw, SJP said “The Way We Were” should be viewed at least 2-3 times a year. Grant is now hooked on “Sex And The City,” having watched late-night reruns while filming “Did You Hear..” in New Mexico.

“I would email [Sarah Jessica] and say ‘Like your heels tonight, worried about Big.’ But I don’t like when they talk about stuff boys should be talking about.”

Grant also joked about the movie’s on-set diva – Bart the bear.

“He was the biggest prima donna I’ve ever worked with,” he quipped.

"Did You Hear About The Morgans?" opens nationwide tomorrow. A free podcast of the entire Q&A is available on the iTunes store. For more info about Apple’s Meet The Filmmakers series, click here.