Hugh Grant has played the caddish romantic leading man in seemingly dozens of British comedies from Four Weddings and a Funeral to Bridget Jones's Diary. Now, in a rather welcome change of pace, he's slipping on his pirate hat and cutlass to set out for the high seas of adventure in The Pirates! Band of Misfits.

In the latest delightful romp from the stop-motion geniuses at Aardman Animations and director Peter Lord (Chicken Run), Grant voices the Pirate Captain, an incompetent but good-natured treasure seeker out to win the coveted "Pirate of the Year" award. With the help of his faithful crew of oddballs and Charles Darwin (David Tennant) he just might be able to avoid Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton) cutting off his head in the process.

We sat down with Grant in New York to discuss this raucus animated outing, as well as the next potential "Bridget Jones" installment and his work on Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis' hugely ambitious Cloud Atlas.