‘Heretic’ Directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods on Hugh Grant Going Full Psycho, Mormons in Peril, and Blueberry Smell-o-Vision

It also comes from a personal connection. Twelve years ago, we made one of our first feature films in Salt Lake City, the hotspot of Mormonism. Through that experience, we ended up making lifelong friendships with so many people from the Mormon faith, and that became our induction into the religion, the lifestyle, the culture.

Bryan Woods: One of the things we found is that whenever Mormons are depicted in the media, it’s always with this kind of naiveté; a condescending, like, “Maybe they’re not as smart as everyone,” this attitude that comes with it. And so one of the things we’re trying to do with the film is subvert that expectation, and maybe touch on the hint of naiveté on the surface…but we also wanted to represent the depth of the people we know, [who] are smart, and cool, and unique.

How did those conversations go with Sophie and Chloe? I know they both grew up in the church.

Woods: They wanted to keep everything grounded, and wanted to find that authenticity that they know. Chloe has friends to this day that are missionaries on missions right now, so she was texting them while we were filming.

And I think Sophie, who had left the church earlier in her life, and who has family members that are in and out, it definitely helped layer her performance as Sister Barnes—somebody who grew up in the church, but has this lingering question of, “Is it real?” or “do I fit in here?” and “what do I believe?”

Everybody talks about how Hugh Grant is enjoying something of a career renaissance, picking up kooky roles in things like The Gentlemen and Paddington 2. What was the performance you saw that convinced you he was right for this?

Beck: The role for us was Cloud Atlas. Because up to that point, we were primarily familiar with what the world was familiar with, his romantic comedy roles. But when we started thinking about Hugh for the role, it was in retrospect [that] we started thinking that he’s always had an edge.

You think about his situation coming to America with Four Weddings and a Funeral, and the quote-unquote scandal that happened at that time, that he’s not shy about at all; in fact, he talked about it at the Heretic premiere at AFI. But like, [there’s this] contradiction—America’s sweetheart [who] came from overseas, and yet there’s this other side to him. You see this side also reflected in his intellect, and his ability to challenge large organizations. I mean, look no further than him railing against the phone hacking scandals.