Hugh Grant has told how he had his face pinned back to try and make him look 20 years younger for a scene in his new film The Rewrite.

The 52-year-old actor plays Keith Michaels in the comedy, a once successful Hollywood scriptwriter forced to take a job lecturing at a university to make ends meet.

In one scene Keith watches an old video clip of himself making an acceptance speech at an awards ceremony. The footage is doctored from a real speech given by a fresh-faced Hugh at the Golden Globes at the beginning of his career.

The Four Weddings And A Funeral star revealed: "That was slightly annoying that scene because they always wanted to use that old footage of me at the Golden Globes and I didn't want to do that.

"For a start I convinced myself that I was playing a part in this film and therefore if you see ME with a completely different voice, 20 years ago it would bring you out of the film.

"And so we did shoot me with long hair and a pulled back face with clips but it looked dreadful. And so in the end I had to relent and let them use that footage."

The Notting Hill star also insisted that unlike his character he hasn't 'become' jaded by Hollywood - he claims he always was.

"I've always played that... affected that pose anyway. Maybe it's not a pose," he revealed.

"There are people who really love showbiz. They get up every morning and they just want to make a film, read a script. I have never been that person, I confess."

:: The Rewrite is in cinemas now.