Hugh Grant’s run through the world of 2024 movies has people talking about his performance in the film Heretic. The horror film has been showered with praise by fans and critics alike, and even landed Grant among the 2025 Golden Globe nominees for excellence in this past year of film. But as we all know, when actors go on the campaign trail, some stories from the past get a bit more clarification that we didn’t have to start with.
In Mr. Grant’s case, that story about how much he “hated” making Wonka as an Oompa Loompa is the tale that has somehow gotten twisted in the telling. So when the actor had the opportunity to sit down with Variety, he set the record straight with this comment:
Everyone said, ‘Yes, we loved it. We loved it. We loved it. And when they got to me, just for a comedy moment at the end, I said, ‘I hated it.’ But on the web, it’s become a fact that I hated making that film. And I didn’t hate it all; I loved making it. I’m absolutely thrilled with it. That’s what the internet does. It scrubs humor, and it scrubs context to create little clickbait moments. It’s one of the reasons I loathe it with such violence, really.
So apparently, the press conference that promoted Warner Bros’ 2023 musical starring Timothee Chalamet is the moment that turned into a game of telephone gone wrong. Which, I can totally see how that’d happen, as Hugh Grant is a very dryly funny person.
That much is especially true when tackling the public perception of such abilities as being a sign of being a curmudgeon. I’ll admit, I was one of those journalists who partially fell into that trap myself after hearing the initial story. Looking back however, I think we should have known once Wonka director Paul King noted Grant’s commitment to the role that the story may not have been what it was cracked up to be.
I certainly learned my lesson when speaking with the actor about his “orange period” continuing in 2024’s Unfrosted. As you’ll see in our archival video with Hugh Grant, it's more than a safe bet that story of discomfort can finally be put to rest:
This once again circles us all the way back around to the fact that Hugh Grant is a master of dry wit that can be mistaken as a sort of annoyance. And you can bet that now he’s brought more clarity to this scenario, any further inquiries will probably lead to some of the snark seen in Wonka becoming a little more real.
But for those of you who want to head back to those angry Oompa-Loompa songs for a well deserved laugh, you can watch Paul King’s musical comedy through the power of a Max subscription. Which, coincidentally enough, is where Heretic should be making its subscription service debut, per Max’s exclusive deal with A24.