Hugh Grant wanted to ditch gentleman image

London: Hugh Grant wanted to ditch his onscreen image of a typical English gentleman to play a notorious Welsh drugs baron, Howard Marks.

Grant is well known for his posh accent and bumbling demeanour in movies such as "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill" but he had ambitions for a much grittier role as the famed marijuana smuggler in new biopic "Mr. Nice", contactmusic.com reported. The part eventually went to Welshman Rhys Ifans. Marks later told Scotland`s Daily Record: "I met Daniel Day-Lewis through Bob Geldof. He was very interested and I think he would have been really good. Hugh Grant also wanted to play me for a while. I wasn`t so sure about that." "But Rhys was always my first choice. We had known each other for so long that he didn`t need to study or research me. He knew everything already," he added. IANS