‘Heretic’ sequel plans revealed and how Hugh Grant came to play Evil

SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains mild spoilers for “Heretic,” in theaters now.

In their new film “Heretic”, now in cinemas via A24, writer-directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods tell the story of a mysterious man named Mr. Reed, who traps two Mormon missionaries in his house after they try to enlighten him about their faith.

Before they could begin filming, Beck and Woods had the unique challenge of casting the complicated character of Mr. Reed. They needed a lead actor who could switch between villainous and charming in an instant, who could also deliver plenty of deep dialogue about religious ideas.

It wasn’t a role for the faint of heart, but Beck and Woods thought of Hugh Grant after seeing one of his shape-shifting performances.

“We’ve been blown away by Hugh – of course we grew up with all his incredible romantic comedies,” says Woods. “But ten years ago, when we saw ‘Cloud Atlas,’ we saw him in the credits and realized he was playing all these different roles. It was so exciting to see an artist challenge himself. So he spent the next ten years , for our money, on becoming one of the greatest character actors in cinema.”

Woods says Grant’s dynamic performance is a result of his above-and-beyond work ethic.

“We got a window into his mind — he’s someone who loves to take risks,” says Woods. “He’s meticulous in his research. He combed every line of the script. If there was something he didn’t understand or didn’t know much about, we’d discuss it, we’d debate it, and we’d get on the same page. We sent at least 200 pages of emails back and forth to discuss the subjects of the film. He really wanted to understand where we were coming from, what our history was with religion and philosophy, and where Reed was coming from.”

The preparation allowed Grant to go deep enough to develop his character even more while performing opposite Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East, who play the missionaries.

“We built a narrative together about Reed’s backstory and eventually handed it over to Hugh,” says Woods. “He took ownership of the role and it really became his character. His process is extremely extensive and deep, and when he shows up on set, he just is is Mr. Reed. When he improvises or ad-libs, which was rare because he had a reverence for the material, but when he hits those moments, it’s in character. Sometimes when actors are improvising, you kind of think, ‘Where did that line come from? What does that have to do with anything? How does it tell the story?’ With Hugh, it’s always magical.”

The spirit Grant brought to set fueled the filmmakers on a project that was already close to their hearts. Although Beck and Woods became famous for writing large-scale action-fantasy scripts like 2018’s “A Quiet Place” and 2023’s “65,” they wanted to go in a diametrically different direction with “Heretic.”

“Superficially, there was an inspiration of trying to go somewhere different than we had been before,” says Beck. “The last few films have been free of dialogue, and this is the exact opposite of that. But I think the genesis of this traces back to the 30-year relationship that Bryan and I have had as filmmakers and as best friends—having conversations about existentialism and religion and the unknown that we find in life . How religion causes many people to try to find answers to the unknown and try to find comfort in what happens after you die. That’s the biggest fear we have and the biggest question we’re pursuing.”

Considering their search for answers, the duo would be interested in making more films in the spirit of “Heretic”.

“There are some things on deck that we’ve specifically talked about that feel like spiritual continuations,” says Beck. “They delve into religion, sects or other hot-button things that we want to see on screen and go to uncomfortable places. The exciting thing about ‘Heretic’ was that we’ve seen a lot of movies that can be religious , but doesn’t necessarily provide a basis for a conversation that you can walk away with.If you want to keep engaging with it by having conversations about the ideas with your friends, family, or loved ones, you can get it there. We sometimes find ourselves in a so divisive, polarizing world that there is so much discourse, we are still very fascinated by it. We would like to incorporate that into a few of the upcoming projects.”