After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant ultimately opts to only cellphone as an alternative.
“Sorry about that,” he apologizes. “Tech hell.”
Grant isn’t any lover of expertise. Smart telephones, for instance, he calls the “devil’s tinderbox.”
“I think they’re killing us. I hate them,” he says. “I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous.”
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated matter to Grant’s new movie, “Heretic.” In it, two younger Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they’ll quickly remorse visiting. They’re welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who checks their religion in theological debate, after which, in a lot worse issues.
After many years in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the previous few years enjoying narcissists, weirdos and murders, typically to the best acclaim of his profession. But in “Heretic,” a horror thriller from A24, Grant’s flip to the darkish aspect reaches a brand new excessive. The actor who as soon as charmingly stammered in “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in “Love Actually” is now doing heinous issues to younger individuals in a basement.
“It was a challenge,” Grant says. “I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you’ve climbed a mountain.”
“Heretic,” which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of “A Quiet Place.” In Grant’s fingers, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a variety of references, together with, fittingly, Radiohead’s “Creep.”
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and different aspects of his character, and his journey from rom-com idol to horror-film villain.
AP: Do you’ve got any theories on why horror has been so common lately?
Grant: It’s fascinating, isn’t it? I don’t know. Maybe these are the tip of occasions, the tip days, the apocalypse. We realize it deep down however for some cause we gained’t confront it. I don’t know, nevertheless it’s fantastic that it sends individuals into the cinemas.
AP: Have you seen many horror movies?
Grant: I can’t. They’re too scary for me. I watched “The Exorcist” after I was too younger and I’ve been in counseling ever since. I watched one by mistake just lately, which was “Midsommar.” I assumed it seemed like a jolly, Swedish comedy. I put it on one night for my Swedish spouse who wanted cheering up and she or he’s nonetheless very, very traumatized
AP: You’ve spoken earlier than about your affinity for the massive display screen. Is the seeming decline of theatrical moviegoing a priority for you?
Grant: It is. Talk in regards to the finish of days. To me, one of many gloomiest indicators or omens is the gradual closing of cinemas — and never simply that, the place I stay in London, however the closing of bars. The bar the place I met my spouse, which was occasion evening each evening of the week, is now largely closed. I believe the truth that we’re all staying in, looking at our satan’s tinderboxes is deeply tragic, or watching issues on streaming by ourselves with possibly one or two different relations. These issues needs to be collective experiences.
AP: One component that you just’ve stated elements into your alternative of roles is whether or not you imagine the movie can be entertaining. Do you discover your gauge for that’s nonetheless correct?
Grant: My capacity to gauge what’s entertaining, I was very happy with it. In the previous days, my previous profession, I used to say, “I’m not so proud of my acting but I’m proud of the fact that the films I’ve done, on the whole, have been entertaining and I’ve been good at choosing them.” And then, all of a sudden in a single day, I turned very unhealthy at selecting them. I don’t know, I misplaced the zeitgeist, I suppose. That can occur. Now, I really feel like I’ve discovered one thing once more.
If the character amuses me and I believe I’m going to get pleasure from being that individual, then I are likely to do the job. Sometimes, when actors are having fun with it, it really works.
AP: When would you mark this shift for you?
Grant: The massive shift was after “Did You Hear About the Morgans?” That was type of formally the tip of romantic comedy for me. Nothing a lot occurred after that in showbiz phrases. I went off and did political campaigning and I used to be fairly blissful, in truth. But in drips and drabs, unusual little tasks, just like the Wachowski’s “Cloud Atlas,” then Stephen Fears got here together with “Florence Foster Jenkins” and “A Very English Scandal.” “Paddington 2.” These fascinating, complicated, typically not very good, narcissistic weirdos began to emerge from the woods.
AP: After this position, it may be laborious so that you can discover one thing darker…
Grant: I agree.
AP: Does that make you need to push darker nonetheless or rebound again within the different path?
Grant: It’s an excellent query that I don’t have the reply to. As a matter of truth, there may be one factor sitting on my desk within the different room right here which is fairly bizarre and comparatively contemporary. I agree, I’m not fairly certain the place to go from right here. Maybe it’s tune and dance.
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