Rom-com actor Hugh Grant is to step away from his usual portrayal of the British heartthrob and take on a very different role – or rather, six very different roles.
The Brit recently wrapped on Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) and The Wachowski’s (The Matrix) adaptation of David Mitchell’s 2004 novel Cloud Atlas. Grant has six cameo roles in the sci-fi movie, each one according to the actor, is “incredibly evil”.
Discussing his roles with Empire magazine, the Notting Hill star said: “I do a lot of killing and raping. I wear an awful lot of prosthetic make up, too. You probably won’t know that I am in the film!”
The actor also acknowledged the difficult transition from comedy to sci-fi, saying: “I slightly called my own bluff. In one of the parts I am a cannibal, about 2000 years in the future, and I thought, ‘I can do that. It’s easy.’
“And then I am suddenly standing in a cannibal skirt on a mountaintop in Germany and they are saying, ‘you know, Hungry! We must have that flesh eating, like a leopard who is so hungry…’ and I am thinking, ‘I can’t do that! Just give me a witty line!”
Grant is set to appear alongside Jim Broadbent, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon and Tom Hanks. Cloud Atlas is expected to hit screens in Autumn 2012.
