Hugh Grant and Sanaa Lathan chosen as the best romcom actors
Before superhero blockbuster films, there was the romcom. During the 90’s and 00’s studios in Hollywood were obsessed with releasing formulaic romantic comedies and they’re still going strong in 2022, where rumours of the “death of the romcom” have been greatly exaggerated. The much-loved genre is currently experiencing a revival with Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Lopez all geared up to release new romcoms this year.
A new study, Hollywood Heart-throbs, from Heart Bingo has analysed 20 actors known for playing roles in iconic romcoms and crunched the numbers to conclude who is the best romcom actor. The algorithm ranked Sanaa Lathan as the number one female casting choice and unsurprisingly Hugh Grant as the love interest.
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Top Five Romcom Actresses
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Top Five Romcom Actors
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While Sanaa Lathan had the lowest box office returns in the study, her romantic films often received higher scores on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and audiences alike. Lathan also had more on-screen kisses than any other actress featured in the study with a total of 36 kisses across her films.
Surprisingly, romcom legend Julia Roberts only came in at number five on the top actresses list. Roberts was the most bankable romcom actress, with the highest box office returns from her iconic roles in Pretty Woman, Notting Hill, and My Best Friend’s Wedding.
Unfortunately for Roberts, her love interests simply did not love her as much. The famous line “I’m just a girl standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her” delivered by Roberts, saw Hugh Grant respond by simply doing nothing and letting her walk away.
Would you rather kiss Jason Segel or Hugh Grant?
Hugh Grant was selected as the best casting choice for a romcom according to the data. Grant’s romcom filmography includes notable romcoms such as Notting Hill and Four Weddings and Funeral, which were not only box office smashes but were received well from critics and audiences. Hugh Grant was also found to be the second most kissed actor in the study.
The most kissed actor in romcoms was Jason Segel, who had a total of 49 on screen kisses across his films featured in the study. More than half of Segel’s kisses came from The Five-Year Engagement, in which Segel shared 25 kisses between Emily Blunt and Dakota Johnson.
In addition to being the most kissed romcom actor, Jason Segel was also the unluckiest in love. Segel’s characters were more likely to get dumped and cheated on, compared to other leading men. Meanwhile, Kate Hudson was found the most cheated on actresses in 00’s romcoms. This was largely in part to her role in an Irish romcom, About Adam, in which her fiancé cheats on Hudson with several of her siblings and her sister-in-law.
Sandra Bullock enjoyed much better luck during her stint in romantic comedies where instead of being cheated on, men were more likely to marry her. Across Bullock’s romcoms featured in the study, her characters had five wedding proposals. In While you were Sleeping (1995) Bullock un-intentionally proposed to a sleeping man, only to be asked to marry the man’s brother later in the film. There were also multiple proposals in The Proposal (2009) with Ryan Reynolds.
The least romantic bachelor on the list was Colin Firth, Firth’s character’s in romcoms rarely take you out on a date let alone kiss you. Jennifer Aniston was found be the least kissed actress.