The Black Phone rightfully terrified audiences when it was released across theatres in 2022. And now, just in time for the Halloween season, director Scott Derrickson is bringing the nightmarish void of his supernatural world back to the masses with Black Phone 2, where true evil transcends death…and the phone is ringing once more.
As the film arrives across the globe this week, The AU Review’s Peter Gray spoke to both Derrickson and lead actress Madeleine McGraw. Here, McGraw breaks down the difference in returning to her character compared to the first film, the trust she and her director have in one another, and the task she’s set herself to honour the craft of acting she enjoys so much.
Before I get to Black Phone 2, I wanted to ask about a factoid from the first film, because I believe there was a swear jar for you on set? Do you know what ever happened to the money from that?
(Laughs) I honestly don’t know. I don’t even think I ended up getting (the money). I feel like it was one of those days on set where you pulled a ticket and the winner gets the money. That’s so funny. I totally forgot there was a swear jar on set. That’s crazy. Memories are flying back!
And I know that when I last spoke to you, you hadn’t seen Sinister. Apparently your mum told you you could see it when you were 16. Have you seen the film now?
I have seen it. Wow, you have a great memory. I watched it filming Black Phone 2, funny enough, and I watched it in my cabin at night, and the power went out multiple times when I was watching it. So scary. It made everything 10 times more scary. But I wanted that, I wanted to put myself through that for some reason. If I want to get scared, I want to get scared!
Well with Black Phone 2, Gwen is carrying the narrative in a much bigger way. There’s the psychic visions, the connection to her mother, the haunted sibling dynamic. As an actor, how do you approach stepping into that expanded role versus Gwen in the first film? Did your process change to get into her frame of mind?
My process was definitely different for the second movie. I feel like I was so young (in the first), and as a kid you see the world differently. I feel like I knew a lot less about acting. So coming around for the second one, it was honestly much harder for me to get into character, because Gwen has changed so much since the first movie. There were some days before shooting where I would call Scott and talk to him about a certain scene, or if I was nervous or feeling pressure, because there are some pretty dark scenes here. I would talk to Scott a lot on set and off. I feel like what helped me, honestly, was the wig. That helped me get into character. That was definitely a major factor. But also what helped was coming up with back stories as to what Gwen had been doing in the years that we didn’t get to see her. That was definitely a contributing factor.
She’s so different this time around. In the first movie, I feel she was very social. I would say she was popular in school. Now, I feel like it’s the complete opposite in every aspect. She’s literally getting bullied for having these visions, and people think she’s a witch. It took a lot longer to find her this time around. But I was able to tap into her before filming, which was awesome.
I know that you said Scott encouraged you in the first film to basically do whatever Gwen would do for a first take, and that was so often the version that stuck. For this film, were there moments, especially when you’re going into those intense, supernatural moments, where you improvised or deviated, because it felt more “Gwen” to you?
Yeah, there’s the scene with me, Jeremy (Davies) and Mason (Thames) where we’re all in the snow. I’m so scared to spoil anything (laughs), but we did a lot of rehearsing the choreography for that. But Scott really loved the way I was saying all my lines in that scene, and so I just took it from there. When we were filming, he barely gave me notes. He did give me one night about changing something and he wanted me to go back to how I was originally doing it, so he would let me put my twist on it. He believes that actors know their characters more than anyone else. He knows that I have this insane connection to Gwen. I mean, I’ve been playing her for a long time now. What’s also so great about Scott is that he’s very collaborative. It’s why I loved working with him on the first movie, even as a young kind, he sees you and treats you as an equal. I feel that’s very rare to see, especially as a child actor in the industry. But me and Scott have such an open and honest relationship with each other, so if I have thoughts on the scene, or if he has thoughts on the scene, it’s nice that we’re able to just be straight up with each other.
It’s a testament to you as an actress that your instinct is what he ultimately chose. And with the growth as an actor between these films, did you discover a new skill at all? Was there something about technique, your stamina, or expressive range that even took you by surprise?
It was definitely different for me with the wig. I feel like when you have a different hairstyle, it changes your facial expressions. I would do a scene and I’d watch it back and be like, “Hmm, I feel like I could do that a little better,” I felt like I had to change my expressions around the wig, because it was shaping my face differently. I also found that when your eyebrows are covered in scenes, you have to express more. Our eyebrows express so much and so drastically change our expressions, so that was interesting to learn on this movie. I just feel like I took a lot of time in building my character’s story, which is something I did when I was younger. I’m taking everything a lot more seriously now. Not that I didn’t before (laughs).
I also just want to know so much about the industry, and so much about what I’m doing. I want to know the history of everything. This doesn’t have much to do with the movie, but I guess it sort of contributes, but I’m watching a movie a day now, because I want to know more about the people that I’m working with. Directors, cinematographers…I want to know as much as possible so I can have conversations with those people. I want to continue doing this for the rest of my life. It’s an art I enjoy doing so much. I feel like, as an actor, you should know a lot about the craft you’re doing.
Black Phone 2 is screening in Australian theatres from October 16th, 2025, before opening in the United States on October 17th.
