Hugh: About a barnet

Maybe it's a mid-life crisis. Maybe it's a sign of a chasm in his life now Liz Hurley is no longer around. Or maybe, mundanely, it's only a new film part. But whatever the reason, Hugh Grant appears to have a new haircut.

Not just any haircut, either. Judging by our picture of Hugh at the premiere of Two Weeks Notice, he appears to have had a perm. Not a big perm, perhaps, certainly not the full Kevin Keegan. But a poodle job all the same.

For most men the decision to have a new haircut is not exactly front-page news. But for years Hugh Grant WAS his haircut. Just as Liz Hurley was defined by That Dress, everything about Grant could be summed up in the foppish hair. Short at the back, floppy fringe at the front, the style went perfectly with his stumbling, self deprecating charm.

Indeed, for years Hugh and his hair acted their way through a succession of movies in which his performance - and hairstyle - were so similar that you couldn't see the join. More recently, however, he seems to have been trying a variety of styles.

Here is a guide... 1. The Eton Flop, circa Four Weddings And A Funeral. Grant did not go to Eton, but as shorthand for "charming public schoolboy" it is second to none. "Gosh, er, do you really think so? What I mean to say is, well, oh this is all frightfully embarrassing..."

2. The French Footballer. Two years ago Grant appeared to want to look like David Ginola. This look didn't last long - perhaps he was miffed he didn't get the L'Oreal contract.

3. Grant's most shocking makeover was for About A Boy: shorter, spikier and sharper. Gel was involved. Or as he put it at the time: "I look like a lesbian on the female tennis circuit." (It should also be noted that his new Barnet coincided with the best reviews he had had for a while).

4. Now this. Is it a perm? Or just a couple of hours spent in front of the mirror perfecting the just-got-outofbed look? The reason seems equally mystifying. Perhaps Sandra Bullock, his romantic interest in Two Weeks Notice, is behind the new image.