Hugh Grant struggled with Cloud Atlas because he had 'no witty lines'

Hugh Grant has joked that he struggled with Cloud Atlas because his character had "no witty lines."

The British actor starred in the 2012 epic sci-fi film, which also featured an ensemble cast including of Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, and Hugo Weaving.

Directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski and Tom Tykwer, it was adapted from the 2004 novel by David Mitchell, and followed complex plots set over six different time periods.

Grant played multiple characters in the drama, including the chief of a futuristic cannibal tribe, and he revealed that it was playing that particular role which prompted him to realise he was out of his depth in the movie.

"One of the Wachowskis came up and said, 'Come on, man, it’s like you’re just so hungry for the flesh.' I was like, 'I can’t do that. Give me a witty line.' The cannibal had no witty lines," he told Collider.

Grant confessed that even after he had his hair and make-up done on set, he still couldn't imagine himself as a flesh-eating cannibal.

"It was harder than I thought, particularly being the cannibal. I assumed I could do that, and they were so clever with the hair and make-up that I thought, 'I look amazing. That’s the character'," he recalled.

"And then, I was put on this rock in Germany and told to watch Tom Hanks eating someone and to look really hungry and jealous of the human being he was eating. And I suddenly realised that I have absolutely no idea how to play that.”