STACK #216 October 2022

MOVIE FEATURE

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The Black Phone is based on a short story by Joe Hill, the oldest son of Stephen King, and can be found in his 2005 collection 20th Century Ghosts . “I had no idea Joe Hill was Stephen King’s son,” Scott Derrickson tells STACK . “I bought the book when it came out and I read everything in it and just thought that The Black Phone was such a great idea for a movie. And I always held on to that, and I think I even optioned it from Joe at some point, maybe five or six years ago. So when I stepped off the movie I had previously been working on, it seemed like the right time to make this.”

One of this year’s best horror movies, The Black Phone is heading to home entertainment in time for Halloween. Star Ethan Hawke chats with STACK about the challenge of playing the villain. Words Gill Pringle

I n a career spanning four decades, Ethan Hawke never wanted to play the monster, looking at Jack Nicholson’s performance in The Shining as an example of how an actor’s career can be defined by such a role. Starring as a malevolent failed magician turned serial killer – known as ‘The Grabber’ – in director Scott Derrickson’s The Black Phone , Hawke was initially reluctant to take on the part. “I warned Scott before he sent me the script,” recalls Hawke, who first teamed up with Derrickson in 2012 for the horror thriller Sinister . “I said, ‘You know I’m dying to work with you again. But it’s very unlikely that I will do this movie because for years I’ve had this theory about Jack Nicholson, how his whole career changed after The Shining in that, once you unveil your madness and evil side for the world, they can’t unsee it and they start to see it in all your other characters.’ So I’ve always been sensitive towards doing that. “But then I read it, and I felt it was so much fun. The script was so good, and I just enjoy Scott’s work. I loved doing Sinister and I thought to myself, ‘Well, you know what? I’m 50 years old. Maybe it’s time to change the map and start embracing my inner Grabber!’ “I’m glad I did it,” he continues. “There’s something about the story that I just loved, the idea of a horror movie and coming-of-age drama combined just worked for me. A father of four, Hawke was also understandably nervous about playing a child serial killer.

And I also was a child actor, so I’m very sensitive to their situation,” he adds. Although The Grabber’s magic days are over, he still dons terrifying full-face masks, each with a different expression. “I was excited about the idea of playing a character in a mask, and Scott was looking for someone who was game to play with them. The mask work part of it was really fun. And it also felt in service to the role." says Hawke. “When I read the script, I imagined there being just one mask, but Scott devised a plan where the mask itself works in this strange, symbolic universe, constantly adjusting which part of The Grabber’s real face is actually showing.” For Hawke, the biggest challenge of wearing the masks was figuring out how to communicate and relate to the other actors. “Living through the pandemic, we’ve all seen how masks change how we relate to people,” he notes. “When someone covers their face, you automatically look to their gestures. We’re hardwired to read people’s moods by reading their face, so when that’s gone, things like body language and energy are what you immediately start reading. So that was a fun challenge for me to figure out for the character.”

Ethan Hawke and MasonThames

“I worried about that a lot. That just seemed pretty flat out horrible. Not to overuse the word ‘scary’, but it was unpleasant to come to the set and have to terrify a young person, and be horrible and put a young performer through the experience of some unimaginable situations that you wouldn’t want them to imagine. “And yet, I believe in the value of storytelling. And that myths and legends and dark tales and fairy tales all have a value in our psychology, and so you just give over to it. “These kids were so wonderful and talented, and they love making movies. So my fear went away really quickly because they understand – kids today have all grown up in love with the movies.

• The Black Phone is out on Oct 12

30 OCTOBER 2022

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