Richard E. Grant has revealed the “amazing mantra” he’s been living by since the death of his late wife, Joan Washington.
Joan, a renowned dialect coach, died in September 2021 at the age of 74 after a battle with cancer.
The 65-year-old actor opened up about how, in the days leading up to her death, his wife gave him words of life that have since helped him navigate the “chasm of grief”.
Speaking on The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show with Helena Bonham Carter, he said: “Four days before her death she said to me, she said to my daughter and I, ‘I know you’re going to be sad, but try to be sad find a bag of happiness every day”.
“Navigating the abyss of grief over the past 15 months has been an amazing mantra and I am grateful for that.”
Interview: Richard E. Grant has revealed the ‘amazing mantra’ he has been living by since the death of his late wife, Joan Washington
Helena, who previously starred with Richard in the 1997 film Keep the Aspidistra Flying, praised her boyfriend for the way he handled his wife’s death.
She said: “I just have to say I’m impressed with how Rich has been handling the last 18 months. Most people would be floored, shocked and unable to function.
“And yet you’re kind of… I don’t know. There’s something slightly abnormal about Rich.
“I think if we took him apart, we would find there an extra part or something he has extra. And Joan herself said he wasn’t normal.”
She added: “No, but you are just extraordinary and a phenomenon. What you’ve done since – most people wouldn’t be able to function. But you took each day and tried to live it and thank God for your message.’
It comes after Richard paid an emotional tribute to Joan in a candid video message in December.
In the video, he almost spoke to himself as he gazed into the distance with tears in his eyes.
He said: “Today is my late wife’s posthumous birthday and I’ve been scrolling through all our photos of our 38 years together.”
Heartbreaking: Joan, a renowned dialect coach, died in September 2021 at the age of 74 after a battle with cancer (pictured together in 2019)
Richard said: “Four days before her death she said to me, she said to my daughter and I, ‘I know you’re going to be sad, but try to find a bag of happiness every day.’
Candid: Helena Bonham Carter, who previously starred with Richard in the 1997 film Keep the Aspidistra Flying, praised her boyfriend for the way he handled his wife’s death
‘You look and look and look and still try and look and the time is set and you read into things’.
He continued, “The last eight months of her life as she put on that brave face so determined is just so heartbreaking.”
“The wonderful trick of memory is that I now remember her in the prime of her life and still deny that she is not here.
He captioned the candid video: “In denial although I know what I know”.
Emotional: It comes after Richard paid tribute to Joan in a candid video message in December
He also shared a snap of his beloved partner taken on her recent birthday, December 21, 2020.
Joan looked dapper in a dark coat and smiled for the camera in a large room for the festive season.
Richard wrote: “Taken on her very last birthday, December 21st, my dear late wife Joan”.
Speaking to Radio Times about her death, he said: “The hardest thing is in the evenings when I can’t FaceTime Joan and tell her about the little things of my day.
Candid: In the video, he was almost talking to himself as he gazed into the distance with tears in his eyes
Reminder: He captioned the candid video: ‘In denial although I know what I know’
“I have a constant conversation with her in my head because I know there will be no reciprocity.”
Richard shared how he misses Joan more around the winter time around Christmas and their wedding anniversary in November.
He said: “Our wedding anniversary is November 1st; Joan’s birthday is December 21; there’s Christmas and then Oillys [his nickname for his daughter Olivia] Birthday is January 4th.
“Last year Oilly and her partner Florian very generously invited me to Venice and then to visit his family in the south of Austria, which was absolutely magical.
“This year I’m going to the Caribbean with the two of them so I’m not in London for Christmas.”
Grief: It comes after the Withnail and Me star said he still has an “ongoing conversation” with his late wife on his mind