Early on in the casting process, the pair landed on a surprising name \u2014 and they couldn\u2019t let it go. \u201cAs soon as we thought about him we were like: \u2018This has to be Hugh Grant,\u2019\u201d says Beck. \u201cThat\u2019s the only person we could see in this role, because he checked all of those boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The idea of putting you at ease is pivotal to the movie and character. Heretic <\/em>starts out with two young Mormon missionaries \u2014 Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East) \u2014 who approach the wrong house while proselytizing door-to-door. At first, Grant\u2019s Mr. Reed seems completely harmless. He wears a cozy cardigan, stumbles over his words, makes silly jokes, and offers his guests Cokes. His home is filled with the smell of a baking blueberry pie. But eventually, the cracks start to show, and Reed shifts to preaching his own beliefs before moving in a much more sinister direction.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
The character was inspired by a mix of real-world figures, including notable atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens as well as the cult leader Keith Raniere. The directors spent around four months emailing back and forth with Grant, as he picked apart the character, peppering them with questions about Reed\u2019s origins and beliefs. \u201cI think through those conversations the character started getting clearer and clearer to all of us,\u201d Woods explains.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Raniere, in particular, influenced Grant\u2019s take on Reed. Grant \u201cwas interested in the word salad that Raniere is capable of conjuring in a way that makes him almost feel smarter than he actually might be,\u201d says Woods. \u201cHe also responded to the way he creates the illusion of listening, which makes him seem less threatening.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The directors believe that Grant\u2019s past work, particularly his early career as a bumbling romantic comedy star, help set the expectation that this isn\u2019t a character to be feared. \u201cEarly in his career\u2026 he didn\u2019t feel threatening at all in any of those roles,\u201d Beck says. \u201cBut as soon as you\u2019re putting him into a movie that has the aspect of a suspense thriller, and he\u2019s starting to challenge in a way that you\u2019ve never quite seen, it weaponizes what we otherwise know of him.\u201d Woods adds, \u201cWe\u2019re leaning heavily on his charisma and charm and all the things we know and love him for.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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In a lot of horror movies, it\u2019s hard to believe characters will stick around in a dangerous situation. But in Heretic,<\/em> you can understand it; the warning signs are subtle at first, and once they become more overt, well, it\u2019s too late. And that\u2019s due to Grant\u2019s ability to showcase both sides of the character so convincingly, making his guests \u2014 and viewers \u2014 feel initially comfortable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re leaning heavily on his charisma and charm and all the things we know and love him for.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cHe\u2019s funny and open-minded, he wants to hear what they have to say,\u201d Woods says of the initial dynamic between Mr. Reed and the two missionaries. \u201cThere\u2019s this feeling of two young women that are talking to an older man who appears to be very knowledgeable about their religion and all religions. So we buy that they are sitting there and engaging in this topic. And their best play is to politely listen to him and then extricate themselves from the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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There\u2019s another aspect to Grant\u2019s character that makes him scary, something that will be familiar to anyone who spends much time on the internet: he\u2019s a debate bro. The film is about Reed convincing Barnes and Paxton of his own beliefs. Without spoiling the specifics, he holds a particular disdain for nearly all organized religion. The conversation with the missionaries is almost a game. He has studied for a lifetime so that he can anticipate their questions and defeat them with logic. Reed doesn\u2019t have much interest in hearing what the sisters really have to say \u2014 he just wants to prove himself right, using all of the characteristics that Grant embodies so well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cWhat scares us the most is somebody that approaches something with so much certainty that they\u2019re unwavering,\u201d says Beck. \u201cThe great thing about discourse and debates is that you\u2019re actively listening. Something about the movie that we\u2019re excited about is that we can throw in all of these questions and conversation pieces, and Reed can feel like that guy on Reddit.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Heretic is in theaters on November 8th.<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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