Famous movie prime minister Hugh Grant celebrated the pending resignation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday in his own special way.
Grant, who played a fictional prime minister of Britain in the classic rom-com “Love Actually,” asked an anti-Brexit activist to play Johnson out of office to the theme tune of “The Benny Hill Show.”
The activist, Steve Bray, has become somewhat of a local celebrity while blasting music from his boombox and protesting Britain’s departure from the European Union in his signature “Stop Brexit” top hat.
“Morning [Steve Bray],” Grant tweeted on Thursday. “Glad you have your speakers back. Do you by any chance have the Benny Hill music to hand?”
Within hours, Bray posted a video of the theme song playing at his latest demonstration in College Green, London, with the caption, “Just for [Hugh Grant] as requested here today at the media circus…”
The clownish track hails from the opening credits of “The Benny Hill Show,” a British sketch-comedy series starring the titular comedian that aired from the 1960s to the ‘80s.
In Bray’s footage, a couple of demonstrators can be seen bopping to the fast-paced beat on the College Green lawn. At one point in the video, Bray is approached by a member of the Brexit Party, Richard Tice, who fails to recognize the “Benny Hill” song.
Thanks to Grant’s request and Bray’s quick response, the “Benny Hill” theme even provided an amusing soundtrack to broadcast news coverage of Johnson’s resignation filmed live at College Green.
Bray and his fellow demonstrators took to the streets of London on Thursday after Johnson announced his resignation amid a mass revolt staged by leading members of his government.
In recent weeks, Grant has been especially vocal on social media about his disdain for Johnson and Brexit, a deal the prime minister pushed through.
“During this whole campaign, I got to see politics in Britain very close up, which made me angrier and angrier,” the “Undoing” actor told the Los Angeles Times in 2020.
“That’s what’s made me somewhat of a Militant Mary now and I’ve moved on to ranting about Brexit and [British Prime Minister] Boris [Johnson]. I have always thought that actors should shut the f— up because no one wants to hear it. … Nothing is more repulsive than being preached at by someone who’s got a very privileged and lucky position in life and I totally accept that. I just was, and remain, very angry.”