Hugh Grant on his new horror film: NPR

In the new horror film Heretictwo young Mormon missionaries knock on the door of someone we only know as Mr. Reed (played by Hugh Grant). At first he seems harmless and curious about their religion.

“It's so important to find your faith in a doctrine that you actually believe in,” Mr. Reed tells the missionaries, played by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East. “And that is a very, very personal challenge that I have struggled with for a very, very long time. What is the only true religion?”

But a conversation about faith soon reveals a slow-burning threat that turns to terror when his guests are held captive and attempt to escape.

Now you might think, “Grant, a villain?” Doesn't he usually play the confused romantic lead? Actually love, Notting HillAnd Four weddings and a funeral?

Grant spoke along Morning edition's A Martinez about Mr. Reed and building what he calls his resume of “crazies.”

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Sophie Thatcher (left) and Chloe East (right) portray Mormon missionaries in the new film “Heretic.”

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A Martinez: Who is Mr Reed?

Hugh Grant: At the beginning of this film he appears to be a perfectly nice, decent, fairly intelligent man who lives with his wife in a middle-class house somewhere in the middle of America. And these two lovely Mormon missionaries heard that he expressed interest in learning a little more about Mormonism. He stands very charmingly at the door and invites her in. They say, “We can only come in if a woman is present.” He says, “My wife is here. She is cooking a cake. Come in.” And they go in. They look forward to speaking with Mr. Reed. They look forward to the cake. And then things start to go a little strange.

Martínez: The interaction between you and the two missionaries… As someone who is in her mid-50s, I always think that when I'm in a cafe or in a store and have to interact with someone 30 years younger than me, it looks like this from a distance or even up close.. . cumbersome. I'm not saying sexual or anything like that. It's just that I don't speak the language anymore. I felt that as I watched Mr. Reed talk to the two girls.

Grant: Well, you might be right that some of the weirdness is simply due to the age difference. But I think Mr. Reed thinks he has a very bad attitude towards the children. I think he worked as a teacher at the university and thought he was a hip guy who the kids became friends with more than the other professors.

A crucial moment in figuring out who he was: I came to the conclusion that he was the kind of teacher who wore double denim. Double denim was incredibly important to my vision for this character.

Martínez: Did you create a character that we don't see in the film? A biography, so to speak.

Grant: Yes.

The older I get – the more I act – it's almost obsessive. So, yes, there are hundreds of pages of biography on this guy.

Martínez: Wait, wait. Hundreds of pages you've written?

Grant: Yes. Yes. But while I'm writing it, I'm also in touch with the director and the writers and I'm like, 'What do you think of this?' What do you think of this?' But a lot of it is just me. And I prefer to keep it secret.

Martínez: Why are you doing this?

Grant: There are two reasons. Firstly, I am convinced that this intense marinade in the character and in the background somehow makes the character richer in front of the camera. And the other thing is that I'm so nervous about acting, especially when there's a new film on the calendar, that just acting four or five hours a day, every day, for weeks and months, calms me down.

Martínez: So Mr. Reed is adorably creepy.

Grant: Yes.

Martínez: You seem to slip into it quite seamlessly.

Grant: Thank you very much. That's sweet of you.

Martínez: How did you get there? Considering what we'll see in the film and how it begins, it's quite a transition.

Grant: There was a limited series that I did called The Undoing with Nicole Kidman and it was the same thing where there's an external character and an internal character. I had extensive side notes in my script for each scenario, because what the outside character in the scene does or appears to do doesn't match at all with what the inside, damaged beast is actually thinking and planning.

“I came to the conclusion that he was one of those teachers who wore double denim,” says Hugh Grant. “Double denim was incredibly important to my vision for this character.”

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Martínez: Do you like having that darker side?

Grant: I'm fascinated by it. And the actors enjoy it. And it is always interesting and attractive for the audience. They are always drawn to the villain rather than the bleak good guy.

Martínez: I love gangster films. I love movies about gang members and mafia members. What is this attraction – like a moth to a flame – to the criminal element, to the evil side? I mean, that's the part that everyone has, whether they want to admit it or not.

Grant: Well, my personal theory is that we are pretty unpleasant and that some people suppress it better than others.

Martínez: Some people suppress it better than others. (Laughs)

Grant: Yes. You're not feeling so well. But the older I get, the more I think that the façade of civilization is just a very thin façade. And I can actually see it crashing everywhere at the moment.

Martínez: I mean, it's hard. I think it's getting harder and harder for people to hide this side.

Grant: I'm interested in what social media has done, because before social media and the ability for people to troll each other anonymously, this was all hidden. You almost never knew. That these people hated you or your wife or hated black people or Jews or whatever vile thing they say online. And now everything is there. And I think that's deeply depressing for humanity to learn. Oh my god, we're terrible.

The audio version of this interview was edited by Phil Harrell, with digital adaptation by Majd Al-Waheidi.