While most celebrities have taken to social media recently to post pictures of themselves in the ten-year challenge, Richard E Grant used his Twitter account for a different kind of nostalgia.
The Oscar-nominated actor, now 61, tweeted out a note he wrote as a 14-year-old fan to the one and only Barbra Streisand.
“You don’t know me yet,” Grant wrote in 1972, “but I am writing to offer you an idea you might like to consider. My name is Richard and I live in a small African kingdom called Swaziland in south-east Africa.”
As a lifelong fan of someone you’ll understand what it meant for me to take this snap outside the home of @BarbraStreisand Asked Security for permission & he replied ‘It’s a public road, but thanks for asking’ Wrote her this letter when I was 14. My wife is very understanding! pic.twitter.com/3SohXKpgZT
— Richard E. Grant (@RichardEGrant) January 29, 2019
Concerned that the star might need a break from the public eye following her break up from Ryan O'Neal (with whom she starred in the 1972 film What's Up Doc?) he offered her "a two-week holiday, or longer, at our house, which is very beautiful with a pool and a magnificent view of the Ezulwini Valley.”
The Academy Award-winner shared this letter with his followers and with Barbra Streisand while taking a selfie outside the actress' home, tweeting: "As a lifelong fan of someone you’ll understand what it meant for me to take this snap outside the home of @BarbraStreisand....Wrote her this letter when I was 14. My wife is very understanding!"
And star that she is, Streisand replied, saying: "Dear Richard What a wonderful letter you wrote me when u were 14 ! and look at u now!" It wasn't quite the "hasty reply" the young Richard had hoped for but it was an emotional moment nonetheless.
My pal Nicole Wilcox took this photo as my daughter read me @BarbraStreisand ‘s tweet/response to a letter I sent her 47 yrs ago. Am completely crinkle faced & overcome with emotion. My ‘Message in a bottle’ miracle. 😭😍😇 pic.twitter.com/bJMko098we
— Richard E. Grant (@RichardEGrant) January 30, 2019