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Hugh Grant talks about the return of the new film Heretic and the return of Bridget Jones.

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Hugh Grant talks about the return of the new film Heretic and the return of Bridget Jones.

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Hugh Grant may be in his villain era, but if you listen to him, the British actor has always had an evil streak.

The 1994 romantic comedy “Four Weddings and a Funeral” made him known as a leading man, a far cry from the creepy, sophisticated guy who terrorizes two Mormon teenagers in the new horror film “Heretic” (in theaters Friday). Before Weddings hit theaters, Grant took on a role in Mike Newell's next Film, the contemporary coming-of-age drama “An Awfully Big Adventure,” as a predatory director in a shabby English provincial theater.

“Have you ever seen this movie?” Nobody has, so I don't blame you,” quips Grant, 64. “I'm terrible, I have yellow fingernails from chain smoking, I'm a stalking, cruel monster.” And I remember thinking at the time, 'Me “I'm much better at it than I was in that 'Four Weddings' movie.”

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His sinister, cardigan-clad Mr. Reed in “Heretic” follows in the footsteps of his other recent antagonists, including the narcissistic actor Phoenix Buchanan in “Paddington 2” and even the troubled Oompa-Loompa in “Wonka.” Reed invites sisters Paxton (Chloe East) and Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) to his home with the promise of blueberry pie and religious discussions, but ends up subjecting them to a philosophical and physical test.

“We included pictures of me as a young man with a dog and 'Bless This Mess' (hung) to reassure the girls. I played it as often as I could, really quite nicely,” says Grant. Then things get a lot “stranger.”

But that's what you get with Grant: “Hugh's superpower is that he's such a detail-oriented person,” says Scott Beck, who co-directed “Heretic” with Bryan Woods. He “constantly challenges himself to evolve, especially in the last 12 years of being on screen and playing more character actor roles.”

Grant talks about his “Heretic” inspiration, his foray into horror and a return to romantic comedy with “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy” (streaming on Peacock February 14).

Question: What was special about Mr. Reed that made you think you could run?

A: What I smelled was a chance to make him the groovy professor who is somehow different and a little crazy and iconoclastic and daring. I saw him, with his English accent, his glasses, and his double denim, teaching at some not-so-great university somewhere in the United States and gaining a sort of following among particularly young women. I saw him maybe holding some seminars in his own rooms, and some of the girls came to those and really thought he was some kind of messiah. And then I always thought one of them had died and it was unclear what exactly had happened. University authorities were concerned. You didn't fire Mr. Reed. They simply asked him to move on. I knew teachers like that.

Would the lead actor Hugh from years ago be happy with your current time as a character actor?

I think he would. Four Weddings was a huge success (and) although I'm very glad I did all those romantic comedies after that – well, not all of them, but most of them, they're good films and people like them – I wish I would have kept the other line running too. For this strand, I had a brief appearance in Restoration, a movie that not enough people have seen, starring Robert Downey Jr. I played this horrible, vain, foppish character with huge beauty marks on his face. And that was actually Monster Hugh's last appearance until six years ago.

What has changed at this point?

Well, it slowly built up. My entire romantic comedy career collapsed spectacularly in 2010, and then there was really nothing. Then in little trickles people started saying, “Oh, come and do a little bit here and a little bit there.” Very often those were the places where I exposed my enthusiasm for freaks, weirdos (and) damaged, evil people canvas could bring. “Cloud Atlas” was a bit of that. And definitely in A Very English Scandal, the TV show where I play the politician Jeremy Thorpe. And even in Paddington 2, although comedic, he's a monster.

Speaking of films that people should see, what do you remember about your first horror film, 1988's The Lair of the White Worm?

The cast really didn't know what to make of it. One or two evenings before filming began, I'm sorry to say that we found it so funny while reading it that we couldn't stop laughing. Then we noticed (director Ken Russell) was laughing too. So I think he made this movie and wasn't quite sure whether his tongue was in his cheek or not. But still, the result is wonderfully strange. It's crazy when (Amanda Donohoe) spits poison on the crucifix. Wonderful.

Was Daniel Cleaver's renewed role in a new “Bridget Jones” based on Mr. Reed a nice treat?

I accept that. I'm also starting to think, “Wait a minute, Hugh, you've spent too many years making romantic comedies after romantic comedies.” Don’t start making evil freaks one after the other.” (Laughs) So you’re right, at least it’s a change. The challenge of bringing Daniel back… well, first of all, he's dead, so that's always a challenge.

There is.

And the other was the nature of Daniel Cleaver from the first two films, this tabloid womanizer. I was really worried that in his 60s we wouldn't think it was funny. We might just think this is sick. Pooh. So I spent a lot of time working with various people, including Bridget Jones novelist Helen Fielding, on a new backstory for him and what happened in the intervening years to give him additional dimensions .

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