Editing Four Weddings and a Funeral (section)

===Casting===
Curtis, Newell and the producers began the casting process for ''Four Weddings'' in early 1992. [[Alex Jennings]] was cast as Charles, but funding for the production fell through in mid-1992.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fitzherbert |first=Henry |date=15 November 2015 |title=Alex Jennings: I'm Dame Maggie's straight man...I love it |url=https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/619406/alex-jennings-the-lady-in-the-van-dame-maggie |website=[[Daily Express]]}}</ref> Jennings would eventually go on to play a supporting role in Mindy Kaling's [[Four Weddings and a Funeral (miniseries)|2019 television miniseries adaptation of the film]]. The team continued holding auditions for over a year, seeing roughly 70 actors for the role of Charles before Hugh Grant.<ref name="20 Years On">{{cite news |author=Lamont |first=Tom |date=26 April 2014 |title=Four Weddings and a Funeral 20 Years On: Richard Curtis Remembers |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/apr/27/four-weddings-and-a-funeral-20-years-richard-curtis-remembers |access-date=30 June 2018}}</ref>

Grant was ready to give up acting as a career when he received the script for ''Four Weddings and a Funeral''; he stated in 2016 that: "I wasn't really getting any work at all, and then to my great surprise this script came through the letterbox from my agent, and it was really good. And I rang on and said there must be a mistake, you've sent me a good script."<ref name="SAG-AFTRA Foundation">{{cite video| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3lUJt4KmJw&t=959s| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/y3lUJt4KmJw| archive-date=7 November 2021 | url-status=live| title=Conversations with Hugh Grant| author=SAG-AFTRA Foundation| publisher=[[YouTube]]| date=19 August 2016| access-date=27 June 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Initially, writer Richard Curtis, who had modelled the character of Charles after himself, was opposed to casting Grant in the role, because he thought Grant was too handsome. Curtis favoured casting [[Alan Rickman]], but Rickman refused to audition. Curtis was eventually persuaded by Newell and the producers to approve Grant's casting.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Wiseman |first=Andreas |date=14 March 2019 |title='Four Weddings and a Funeral' at 25: Richard Curtis, Working Title et al Recall a Film That Transformed the UK Biz |url=https://deadline.com/2019/03/four-weddings-funeral-richard-curtis-working-title-mike-newell-british-industry-1202575370/ |website=[[Deadline (website)|Deadline]]}}</ref>

[[Jeanne Tripplehorn]] was originally cast as Carrie, but she had to drop out before filming when her mother died.<ref>{{cite news |author=Whitworth |first=Melissa |date=7 June 2006 |title=How Jeanne Tripplehorn learnt to stop worrying and love polygamy |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3652960/How-Jeanne-learnt-to-stop-worrying-and-love-polygamy.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=30 June 2018 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3652960/How-Jeanne-learnt-to-stop-worrying-and-love-polygamy.html |archive-date=11 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The role was offered to [[Marisa Tomei]], but she turned it down, because her grandfather was sick at the time.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 November 2013 |title=Tomei regrets not doing 'Four Weddings...' |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-tomei-regrets-not-doing-four-weddings-1131439 |website=[[DNA India]]}}</ref> [[Sarah Jessica Parker]] was also reportedly considered. Andie MacDowell was in London doing publicity for ''[[Groundhog Day (film)|Groundhog Day]]'' when she read the script<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bland |first=Simon |date=19 November 2019 |title=How we made Four Weddings and a Funeral, with Andie MacDowell and Mike Newell |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/nov/19/how-we-made-four-weddings-and-a-funeral-andie-macdowell-mike-newell |website=[[TheGuardian.com]]}}</ref> and was subsequently cast.<ref name="15 Facts"/> MacDowell took a 75% cut in her fee to appear, receiving $250,000 upfront, but due to the success of the film, she earned around $3 million.<ref name=bells>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=24 October 1994|page=6|title=Bells still chiming for the 'Four Weddings' crew|last=Dawtrey|first=Adam}}</ref>

Grant's participation hit another stumbling block when his agent requested a £5,000 rise over the £35,000 salary Grant was offered. The producers initially refused because of the extremely tight budget, but eventually agreed. The supporting cast members were paid £17,500 apiece.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Reunion |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b040h53l |website=BBC Radio 4 The Reunion |publisher=BBC |access-date=10 July 2023}}</ref>