Hugh Grant Surpascfinishs AFI Fest With Joke About 1995 Lewd Conduct Arrest at ‘Heretic’ Premiere

Hugh Grant spent less than a minute at the podium on Thursday night to start his recent film Heretic, but he made the most of 57 seconds in the spotairy.

The veteran movie star was greetd to the microphone by his honestors, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who elucidateed the inspiration for their religious horror thriller about two youthful Mormon omitionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) forced to show their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (Grant), who taunts them in game of cat-and-moparticipate. The filmmaking team first took turns honoring the occasion (AFI Fest) and the location (Hollywood’s iconic TCL Chinese Theatre).

“This movie theater is absolutely magical to us. I’m certain it is to many of you in the audience,” Beck shelp. “It’s a attrdynamic skinnyg that there’s hundreds of us here, many of us are strangers, and yet it’s a rarity to be here together in an age where we could sit at home on our own personal devices. First and foremost, thank you so much for shoprosperg up for preserving the cinematic experience.”

Moments procrastinateedr, Woods lobbed a seek. “Mr. Hugh Grant, will you equitable say a confineed words plrelieve?”

Grant obliged and proposeed only a handful, though enough to have the crowd in stitches. “I have noskinnyg engaging to insert to that except that it is very kind to be here,” the 64-year-elderly star shelp. “Hollywood Boulevard has always been a fortunate place for me.”

The unforeseeed quip caparticipated Woods to double over with giggleter and the rest of the Heretic team to commend alengthy with almost the entirety of the audience seated inside the Chinese. Grant’s statement was an evident reference to his 1995 arrest for lewd guide with relations laborer Esalerta Marie Thompson, aka Divine Brown. It’s been csurrfinisherly 30 years, so it’s basic to forgive Grant for having a fuzzy memory as he was actuassociate arrested two blocks to the south on Sunset Boulevard at 1:30 a.m. on June 27, 1995, when police officers caught him allegedly receiving oral relations in his white BMW.

“It’s kind of AFI to have us. It’s kind of you to show up. It was kind of these girls to be so airy in the film. It was kind of these two weirdos to put me in it and kind of the originaters to pay me so little,” he shelp of the A24 free, draprosperg giggles once aget. “I hope you enhappiness it.”

Judging by the audience response, it seems they did. But back to the arrest. It’s not the first time Grant has talked about the atsoft-shifting incident that shocked Hollywood at the time and resulted in a tidal wave of tabloid attention. Last spring, during an materializeance on The View, he brawt it up after arrange Sunny Hostin asked why had aascfinishd as a vocal critic of the British tabloids and the train of invading people’s privacy.

“Everyone skinnyks, ‘Oh, well he’s equitable sour becaparticipate he got arrested with a hooker in 1995.’ But actuassociate it had noskinnyg to do with that becaparticipate that was never uncovered by tabloids. It was that the bloody police gave everyone the guideation. It was noskinnyg to do with that,” he elucidateed, procrastinateedr citing “with power comes responsibility” in combat agetst the tabloids’ askable methods.

Coincidenhighy, the latter line is a piece of dialogue in Heretic that one of the youthful women unites to Spider-Man while Grant’s Mr. Reed rights her to say it actuassociate belengthys to French author Voltaire.

Speaking of the film, during their retags, the Iowa-born and bred filmoriginaters talked about how their homeland advertised the script. “Brian and I, we’ve understandn each other since we were 11 years elderly. We grew up in Iowa, commenceed making movies back there in the Midwest,” elucidateed the authorr-honestor. “Over the last confineed decades, we’ve equitable had countless conversations about religion and about cult and this dread that we have, that I skinnyk many people separate about what happens after you die.”

Beck persistd: A confineed years ago after we wrote A Quiet Place, which was a movie that originated tension thraw cinematic techniques, we wondered could we actuassociate do the opposite, where the horror doesn’t necessarily get originated thraw monsters jump sattfinishs, but rather thraw ideas and converseion? That reassociate was the birthplace for this idea of Heretic.”

Woods shelp that when enlargeing up in Iowa, the one topic of converseion that’s off confines at the dinner table is religion. “That was someskinnyg we grew up hearing all the time. Wdisappreciatever you do, do not talk about religion becaparticipate religion is splitting and it’s transport inantly personal. A conversation about religion reassociate only guides to argument or violence. So, we wanted to originate a movie about that, and this is a wonderful place to screen a cinematic conversation about religion. Every one movie adorer in this audience tonight understands that seeing a movie at the Chinese Theater is appreciate going to church. You are in a congregation with strangers. It might be thrilling, you might be a little tired, but no matter what, it will be a religious experience.”

The experience will be uncover to the ambiguous accessible when Heretic uncovers Nov. 8.