He may be one of the stars of a new pirate movie but Hugh Grant has admitted life on the ocean would not suit him in real life - because he gets seasick.
The 51-year-old actor, best known for starring in romantic comedies such as Bridget Jones's Diary, About A Boy and Notting Hill, makes his animated debut as the Pirate Captain in The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists alongside David Tennant, Martin Freeman, Russell Tovey and Brendan Gleeson.
"I've always dreaded the sea - in fact I get terribly seasick. I would hate to do it in real life," he said at the film's UK premiere at the May Fair hotel, in central London, last night.
Grant, who lends his voice to the part, relished the challenge of his first animated role.
"I quite enjoyed it. It was a challenge. I'm not very well suited to the puppet but once I mastered it, I loved it," he added.
Tennant - who voices the young Charles Darwin - agreed to the film immediately.
"I got a phone call and they said Aardman Animations are making a film. By the time that sentence had finished I think I'd signed the contract," he said.
"If you get a call from Aardman Studios I think you know you're going to be in something quite classy and quite exciting, so of course you're going to say yes.
"They're an international treasure. And everything that they do is brilliant."
He added: "It's not something I ever imagined would come my way, but I was very happy that it did."
The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists, directed by Peter Lord, opens in 3D on Wednesday March 28.
