'Heretic' Stars Discuss How Their Mormon Upbringing Played Into Their Roles

Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher are reflecting on how being raised Mormon inspired their performances in the religious horror-thriller, Heretic.

In the movie, East, 23, and Thatcher, 24, play missionaries Sister Paxton and Sister Barnes, respectively. The pair are sent to a mysterious compound run by Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant) in an attempt to convert him to Mormonism, and all hell breaks loose as Grant’s character is much more dangerous than he seems, causing the duo to question everything.

“It was everything to my performance. A lot of the choices I made and little idiosyncrasies were all things that I’ve pulled from going to church,” East told Entertainment Weekly in a new interview published on Friday, November 8. “I just felt like I knew this character in my bones. I wish I didn’t know it so well, and I had to research stuff, but I was like, ‘I got it.’ I, unfortunately, was this person or have this person inside of me that I can use in this movie. But it is very nice to have a role that does come somewhat naturally.”

Thatcher, for her part, told the outlet that she had a “similar experience” to her costar, noting that it felt “much more personal than other projects.”

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She continued, “It felt like I was tapping into something I knew a while ago, but it was easier to tap into because I just thought of myself when I was younger: how I held myself, how I presented myself, and just thinking about my family and specific ways and how they talk, how they just present themselves. I just had my mom’s side of the family very much in mind. It felt very innate.”

Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East in ‘Heretic’

Scott Beck, who wrote and produced the film with Bryan Woods, told EW that they had no idea East and Thatcher grew up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when they auditioned for their respective roles.

“We weren’t like, ‘We have to find two actresses that were raised Mormon,'” he told the outlet, adding that the reason they won the roles is “because they were so true when they performed it.”

Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East in ‘Heretic’

He explained, “We kept going back to our casting director, asking, ‘Are there more people like these two? Because there’s a truth there.’ We didn’t know that they were raised Mormon. We could just feel it; we could sense it. We heard it in their voices and the approach. And I think that the way they played the characters, they brought the utmost respect because they have Mormon families. And so they share the empathy and love that we also share for those characters.”

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Along with Grant, 64, Thatcher and East, Topher Grace and Elle Young appear in Heretic, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Heretic is now in theaters nationwide.