Ethan Hawke Keeps It Simple And Scary in ‘70s-Set Thriller ‘The Black Phone’

Ethan Hawke landed his first film role at age 14, starring in Joe Dante’s sci-fi fantasy Explorers alongside fellow newcomer River Phoenix. A film enthusiast even before working with Dante, the Austin, Texas native learned much from the filmmaker in an era (late ‘70s) when the art of moviemaking was still a mystery to most everyone outside of the industry.

“VHS was still new so you either had to see a movie at a theater or wait until it was shown on TV, and there was no BTS (behind the scenes),” recalls the actor, who honed his craft and became a successful working actor, earning four Oscar nominations, a Tony nomination and numerous other accolades.

Still a self-described geeky lover of movies, Hawke is happiest when surrounded by others who share his passion for telling stories, whether on film or on the stage. That still youthful exuberance he has maintained throughout his 51 years explains why so many filmmakers turn again and again to this chameleon-like actor, who’s at ease in his roles whether dramatic Shakespearean fare, science-fiction, romantic dramas, comedy or horror. He recently was seen in the Viking saga The Northman and appears in Marvel’s new fantasy adventure series Moon Knight.

Having collaborated a decade ago with writer/director Scott Derrickson and writer C. Robert Cargill on the horror film Sinister, Hawke once again was called upon to come and play. This time, he portrays a terrifying serial killer of children simply known as The Grabber in Blumhouse’s The Black Phone. The ‘70s-set thriller is based on a short story by Joe Hill (Stephen King’s son) from his New York TimesNYT
bestseller 20^th Century Ghosts.

A failed magician, The Grabber plucks young boys off the streets of suburban Denver, and hauls them away to his lair where he keeps them in a soundproof basement, toying with them mentally, until he decides to kill them. The only apparent lifeline for his teen-age victims is a wall-mounted black phone, but it’s disconnected. Yet every now and then it rings, with the haunting voice of a young boy on the other end.

The Grabber’s latest victim, 13-year-old Finny (newcomer Mason Thames) begins hearing from The Grabber’s previous victims on the “dead” phone who try to help him escape before it’s too late. Meanwhile, Mason’s younger sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) possesses telekinetic powers in which she catches glimpses of The Grabber’s victims, including her brother, in her dreams.

The children’s father (Jeremy Davies) forbids Gwen to tap into her psychic powers, which she appears to have inherited from her late mother. The local community is fearful of The Grabber—this was an era before cell phones and when children spent most of their after-school time unsupervised and riding around on their banana seat bicycles. It also was a time of rampant unchecked bullying and parents that administered corporal punishment. So, the brutality of The Grabber is echoed in the film in bloody schoolyard brawls and borderline child abuse. Gwen makes it her mission to find her abducted brother and lead local law enforcement to the mysterious killer before it’s too late.

Hawke’s The Grabber wears a devil’s mask throughout and little is revealed about this character or what has led him to become a brutal child killer, elevating the suspense.

The Black Phone opens in theaters Friday June 24.

Reached via Zoom in New York where he is wrapping up his latest film project, Hawke spoke about taking on the role of The Grabber in The Black Phone and working opposite Thames, who makes his feature debut in this dark thriller.

Angela Dawson: The Black Phone accurately captures the late ‘70s vibe. Your character epitomizes what kids of that era were most afraid of: the mysterious stranger in a van. Can you talk about being a part of this and collaborating again with Scott Derrickson?

Hawke: I was the same age as Mason in that year. I remember my mom telling me to watch out for vans and don’t let anyone give you candy. It was the birth of the modern serial killer that was all over the news and it captured all of our imaginations and created a lot of fear in us.

The movie is so simple. I loved the simplicity. More and more, I just think great art, whether it’s music or painting or a movie, there’s a simplicity to it, when it works. I was touched by this brother and sister looking after each other. They’re surrounded by grownups who are inept, if not actively destructive, and they find a way to love each other and heal themselves, and be there for each other even though the world isn’t supporting them.

It reminded me of Stand By Me. There’s an aspect of the movie that’s like a classic coming-of-age tale set as a horror movie, and I found that kind of moving, because if you can overcome The Grabber, you can overcome anything.

Dawson: There film is violent. It’s not just your character but others, including the father that beats his daughter and the brutal beat-down in the schoolyard.

Hawke: I think that’s really why Scott made the film, which is the level of anxiety and fear that is put on kids. They’re surrounded by it with each other. I remember being terrified to walk to school because of a couple of kids that loved to hit you on the back of your head while they were riding their bikes. It was about the kind of fear that young people have in the way they treat each other and the way that parents sometimes treat their children.

If horror movies have a value the value lives in helping us work through our anxiety and fear and showing us that it is an emotion that can be navigated. I think that’s what I enjoy about it. When (a horror movie) is well done, you can learn from it. You weren’t actually in danger but your heart pounded as though you were, and you learn something from it, and so it’s kind of like a thrill ride. If it’s well made, it leaves you with ideas and feelings that you might not have had otherwise.

Dawson: You star alongside this young actor, Mason Thames, You started out as a youngster when you were about his age. Did you feel, sort of, like you were looking in a mirror?

Hawke: I did. He was wearing the (same style) clothes that I was wearing back then—wearing the same kind of t-shirts, riding the same kind of bike. The cars on the streets looked like my dad’s car.

One of the things I noticed immediately was how much more knowledgeable people his age are about movies. I didn’t have the first idea how a movie was made the first time I walked on a film set. I looked around in wonderment but these (child actors) know everything. Mason would say, “Hey Scott, why don’t we do a push in on this?” They’ve just grown up with the vocabulary of movies as part of their life, which my generation didn’t really.

Dawson: Did he seek advice from you?

Hawke: One of the things I remember most about being that age is how much older people would offer me advice and I had no idea of what they were talking about. The thing about advice is if it’s not asked for, you might as well be whistling. It just doesn’t matter. These kids are so much more knowledgeable about what to watch than I am.

I wanted to take to him about Rosemary’s Baby and The Shining, and Mason was onto 15 other horror movies he thought were better than those. So, he’s a really confident young kid. There’s something that makes a really good child actor. He has to be incredibly confident and not overly precocious. When they lack any humility, children become really annoying. So, he had the perfect combination of absolute guile-less confidence as well as real curiosity and humility. He was a wonderful scene partner.

I said to Scott, “I’ll play this part but the most important thing you’re going to do is cast this kid because if this kid isn’t wonderful then nobody is going to want to watch this movie. Madeleine’s (McGraw), who plays the younger sister, is amazing in this movie. The movie rides their love, their soul.

Dawson: You wear a mask—actually several different masks—as The Grabber. As an actor, how was that for you since the audience can’t see much of your face in the movie?

Hawke: When I was in theater school, I took a class in mask-work. It really is strange (wearing a mask). It’s strange to be robbed of all the superficial elements of your personality but there’s also a strange freedom and confidence it gives you. Your voice changes. I remember being really moved by it as a young person—the freedom and the power, and the way it impacts other people when they can’t read your emotions.

I really tried to let the genius of Scott live in the design of this mask. The mask was always changing. The bottom half, the top half, the different sides of it. I always felt like I was playing a game of hide and seek with the audience. Not to be corny, but that’s where our fear lives—in the unknown, the things we can’t comprehend.

What’s wonderful about the script is that you don’t know anything about The Grabber. You don’t know his name. You know he’s a fake magician and there’s something terrifying about magic and clowns. I just tried to play into that archetype.

Dawson: Speaking of Scott Derrickson, this film reunites the two of you after 10 years, following Sinister. Did you feel a connection between the two films?

Hawke: They felt like siblings to me completely. It’s also the same screenwriter, (C. Robert) Cargill, who’s friends with Scott. When I did Sinister, it had been a long time since I’d been around two people that unabashedly allow themselves to geek out and love movies. I spent the bulk of my youth doing that. I really love being in a room with people that aren’t afraid or ashamed to do that. There’s a power in allowing yourself to completely be a nerd, and just love things. What I love about Scott and Cargill is that they’re great fans of movies. They’re students of movies and lovers of movies. And it’s fun to act for people who love movies.

My first teacher was Joe Dante and he just loved movies. He loved it when the camera was rolling. (Filmmaker) Richard Linklater is the same way. You feel this overpowering sense of gratitude of what an amazing job we have. So, these films felt like siblings to me. In a way, I’d say Sinister was a much darker film. It’s bleaker and nihilistic and terrifying and (The Black Phone), even though it’s about young people, is strangely a more mature film. They’re both very simple. I think a good, scary story should be simple, so I love that about Scott.

Dawson: What are you doing next?

Hawke: I’m shooting a movie with Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali called Leave The World Behind. We’re about to wrap this week.