The Marvel Actor Who Wrote A Horror Movie Starring Harrison Ford

Clark Gregg, even if he lives to be 100 and works until his final day as an actor, will forever be known best as Agent Coulson. The actor helped kick off the Marvel Cinematic Universe during Phase 1 as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., culminating in a pivotal role in 2012’s “The Avengers,” one of the biggest and most important movies ever made. He even survived his death (thank you, comic book logic) to headline seven seasons of Marvel’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” More than a decade before all of that, though, he wrote one of the biggest hits of 2000.

“What Lies Beneath” was directed by “Back to the Future” legend Robert Zemeckis, with Harrison Ford starring in the lead role alongside Michelle Pfeiffer (“Batman Returns”). It may seem unlikely, but the man behind Agent Coulson did indeed pen a horror/thriller for one of the biggest stars in the world at the height of his powers. What’s even more interesting is that Gregg, to date, only has a few screenwriting credits to his name. So it’s not as though this is some major second career that most people don’t know about, like “Star Wars” icon and Ford’s co-star Carrie Fisher being one of Hollywood’s go-to script doctors. Gregg just happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right take on an idea.

For those who may need a refresher, “What Lies Beneath” centers on Dr. Norman Spencer (Ford), who betrayed his wife Claire (Pfeiffer) by having an affair. Norman’s life and marriage seem perfect with the affair now behind him, but Claire tells him that she’s hearing mysterious voices and seeing a young woman’s image in their home. Norman dismisses it, but it soon becomes clear that something very really is going on, and spooky things ensue.

The film turned out to be a big hit, taking in $291 million worldwide, the tenth-biggest movie of 2000 overall. Though not a big critical darling in its day, “What Lies Beneath,” which is essentially Zemeckis riffing on Alfred Hitchcock, has been rightfully re-appraised over the years. It’s a damn fine thriller and represented a turning point for Ford, who had been on a hot streak in the ’80s and ’90s. Yet, in the early 2000s, he starred in a string of misfires including “Hollywood Homicide” and “Firewall.” This was, in some ways, a goodbye to the Ford of old.

So, how is it that Gregg ended up writing this movie in the first place? During a 2020 interview with Comicbook.com, the actor/writer explained that after moving to L.A., he needed to keep himself occupied and writing filled the void:

“I started writing, ’cause I needed to be busy. I wrote a couple of indie scripts and one of them got the attention of a really amazing person who’s become very successful, Nina Jacobson, who was a young executive at DreamWorks. And she said, ‘You know, we have this ghost idea. It’s a couple of sentences and there were some rumors that Steven Spielberg had been in this idea, possibly.'”

Spielberg didn’t end up directing it, but Zemeckis did, and he kept Gregg on board through the whole process rather than bring on another writer. (Gregg shares a story credit with Sarah Kernochan, but has the sole “screenplay” credit on the movie.) “It was ridiculous. Every step of it,” Gregg added. “I just was like living in a tiny guest house in Venice, going, ‘Oh, for real?’ And then, Bob did this amazing thing, which was he shot the first half of ‘Cast Away,’ and then he shot all of ‘What Lies Beneath’ with his same crew.”

Interestingly, Gregg and Ford are now both part of the MCU, with Ford taking over as Thunderbolt Ross in “Captain America: Brave New World.” Whether or not we’ll ever see them on screen together remains to be seen, but it’s an interesting full-circle moment.

You can rent or buy “What Lies Beneath” from Amazon Prime Video.