Current:Home > MyMeet Chloe East, the breakout star of new religious horror movie 'Heretic' with Hugh Grant-InfoLens
Meet Chloe East, the breakout star of new religious horror movie 'Heretic' with Hugh Grant
View Date:2024-12-23 12:49:56
Chloe East waves to Bill Murray every day. She got a huge kick out of doing it for real, even though that first impression could have gone better.
Over a Zoom interview, the effervescent star of the new horror movie “Heretic” (in theaters now) proudly shows off a gigantic “Lost in Translation” poster in her house – a “mistake purchase,” East says, considering she thought it’d be smaller – and shares how she ended up sitting next to Murray at the 2023 Screen Actors Guilds Awards alongside her co-stars in Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans.”
“That was a crazy moment. I was like, ‘Do I tell him that I eat breakfast with him every day?’ ” East says, petting her “needy” dog Michael. “I was like, ‘Hey Bill, I'm Chloe.’ And he is like, ‘Yeah, I'm Bill.’ I was like, ‘I know.’ And then I just couldn't say anything else. I had the photo pulled up to show him and everything.”
Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox.
More A-list meetings are likely on the way for this rising star. East, 23, appears in upcoming movies with Amy Adams, Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie, and notches her first lead film role in “Heretic.” She and Sophie Thatcher (“Yellowjackets”) play Mormon missionaries who knock at the door of the scholarly Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), who makes the young women question their beliefs and faith as well as completely terrorizes them.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
East's character Sister Paxton locks horns with the sinister fellow, and Grant found the actress to be fearless, saying “I suffer terribly from nerves, particularly in the big closeups, but she has none of that. She's completely cool and relaxed, and the camera eats that up.”
Here’s what else new fans need to know about East:
Like her ‘Heretic’ character, Chloe East grew up in the Mormon church
East admits she’s very protective of the likable and super-positive Paxton. “She could have been a character you wanted to put on mute,” the actress says. “I really tried to make her this character you feel for and kind of understand and you don't fault her for the way she is: very naive and very excited to preach the gospel. It comes from a really good place.” East was personally invested, too, having grown up in the Mormon church before leaving during her teens. She reached out to friends who were on their own missions while filming, even getting a recommended passage from the Book of Mosiah to include in the movie.
The film's religious bent resonated with East. “When you grow up in the culture, your beliefs are what you've been told,” she explains. “As I got older, I've always been questioning my beliefs, even things like do I actually like sushi or did my parents just give me sushi as a kid? … I think I realized I'm a lot more like Paxton than I thought. I saw so much of her strength in believing what she believes, even though science says otherwise or whatever it is. It's this awareness of ignorance is bliss and it's so beautiful and I am inspired by that mindset and that takeaway.”
A Quentin Tarantino movie made East a true cinephile
Born and raised in Southern California, East started dance when she was little. “I always thought I was going to be a prima ballerina,” she says. “I was dancing 30 hours a week. I did ‘Nutcracker’ every year. I went en pointe really young.” That led to jobs in Hollywood and commercials, which got her into acting, including appearing on a couple episodes of “True Blood.” Then “I became a 14-year-old cinephile Criterion Channel snob."
The film that changed everything for her? Quentin Tarantino’s Western mystery thriller “The Hateful Eight”.
“I didn't even know who Quentin Tarantino was,” East says. “I looked him up and he had like a top 20 movie list. I'm like, ‘Who's Jean-Luc Godard? OK, I'm going to watch his films.’ I always say ‘Hateful Eight’ was the movie that got me into movies.” (Fun fact: In addition to “Lost in Translation,” her movie poster collection also includes “Phantom of the Paradise” and a Japanese one-sheet of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”)
‘Heretic’ actress is on the rise but maintains perspective
East starred in Netflix’s 2016 middle-school comedy “Jessica Darling’s IT List” and had roles in the shows “Liv and Maddie” and “Generation,” but her biggest break was in “Fabelmans” as the scene-stealing Christian love interest of Gabriel LaBelle’s Jewish Spielberg analogue. And you'll likely see more of her next year. In addition to having a supporting role in Netflix’s new dark comedy series “No Good Deed” (streaming Dec. 12), East next will star in a couple of high-profile movies: “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” featuring Robbie and Farrell, and “At the Sea” with Adams, whom East counts as an "amazing mentor."
Overall, however, she’s keeping clear-headed about her burgeoning career. “I’ve had this quote instilled in my head ever since I started working, which is the calvary isn't coming,” East says. “Even when you work with Steven Spielberg and you've got everyone telling you you'll never audition again (and) ‘This is it!’ the calvary's not coming. There's nothing that I can really sit back on. I have to constantly be in tune with why I do this and my passion for it and not getting lazy with it.”
veryGood! (86)
Related
- Brittany Cartwright Defends Hooking Up With Jax Taylor's Friend Amid Their Divorce
- Uber, Lyft drivers are striking at 10 US airports on Valentine's Day. Here's why.
- Dark skies, bad weather could have led to fatal California helicopter crash that killed 6
- Every week is World Interfaith Harmony Week for devotees of Swami Vivekananda
- Review: 'Emilia Pérez' is the most wildly original film you'll see in 2024
- NYC trial scrutinizing lavish NRA spending under Wayne LaPierre nears a close
- Panel investigating Maine’s deadliest shooting to hear from state police
- Falling acorn spooks Florida deputy who fired into his own car, then resigned: See video
- Alexandra Daddario shares first postpartum photo of baby: 'Women's bodies are amazing'
- Some colleges offer students their own aid forms after FAFSA delays frustrate families
Ranking
- 'This dude is cool': 'Cross' star Aldis Hodge brings realism to literary detective
- House Homeland chairman announces retirement a day after leading Mayorkas’ impeachment
- Things to know about the shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration
- Super Bowl winner Travis Kelce has a new side hustle — the movies
- Social media star squirrel euthanized after being taken from home tests negative for rabies
- Furor over 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan's Super Bowl overtime decision is total garbage
- YouTuber Twomad Dead at 23
- New York City files a lawsuit saying social media is fueling a youth mental health crisis
Recommendation
-
Congress heard more testimony about UFOs: Here are the biggest revelations
-
60-year prison sentence for carjacker who killed high school coach in Missouri
-
Best Red Lipsticks for Valentine's Day, Date Night, and Beyond
-
Human remains and car found in creek linked to 1982 cold case, North Carolina police say
-
NFL power rankings Week 11: Steelers, Eagles enjoying stealthy rises
-
Leopard Is the Print You Want To Be Spotted In- The Best Deals From Kate Spade, Amazon, J.Crew, and More
-
Kate Hudson says she receives 10-cent residual payments for 'Home Alone 2: Lost in New York'
-
Suspect killed by police after stabbings at Virginia training center leaves 1 man dead, another injured