The Black Telephone sees Ethan Hawke taking over the horrifying function of The Grabber. Hawke isn’t historically recognized for enjoying villains, however he is a good actor and may be very creepy as this character. Hawke shares how and why he left his consolation zone to tackle this villainous function.
Ethan Hawke performs The Grabber in ‘The Black Phone’
The Black Telephone is one other horror film by Physician Unusual director Scott Derrickson. Derrickson and Hawke beforehand labored collectively on Sinister. This time, Ethan Hawke is taking over the function of the horror villain often called The Grabber. He is a terrifying serial killer who kidnaps children and later kills them, main to a thriller round city across the disappearing boys.
Hawke typically performs extra likable roles like in Coaching Day and the Earlier than Dawn sequence. Nevertheless, 2022 has seen a change for the actor as he has performed two villains thus far in The Black Telephone and in Moon Knight. The Grabber is extra horrifying than Arthur Harrow in Moon Knight, however the two nonetheless showcase Hawke’s skill to be sinister.
Hawke needed to get out of his ‘wheelhouse’ by taking part in The Grabber
In an interview with Uproxx, Hawke shares that he was initially skeptical of taking part in a personality known as The Grabber in The Black Telephone when Derrickson contacted him for the function. As soon as he learn the script, he simply thought it seemed like film and he needed to be concerned.
“When Scott called me up and said that he was sending the script and told me a little bit about it, and I laughed and I was talking to him and said, ‘Listen, Scott, I’m dying to work with you again, but there’s no way in hell I’m playing a character called The Grabber,’” Hawke says. “He said, ‘Yeah, I want you to play The Grabber, he’s the guy that abducts and kills children.’”
“I’m like, ‘Are you nuts? I’m not playing that character.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, just read it then,’” Hawke continues. “I warned him before I read it. But then I read it and it just seemed like a really good genre movie to me. And I thought that the mask work was something I’d never done before. And exactly all the reasons why I didn’t want to do it might be exactly the reasons why I should do it.”
Moreover, Hawke was intrigued by the function as a result of it gave him a chance to do one thing “outside [his] wheelhouse.”
“Also, let’s face it, actors, we only go as far as our opportunities,” Hawke explains. “When you have an opportunity to work with a top-tier director, you just have to do it. Basically, my theory about it, Scott’s really smart. He knows how to make a good movie. If it doesn’t work, it won’t work. And the downside of it working great is for the rest of my life, people will be calling me ‘The Grabber.’”
Hawke is comfortable with being often called a villain
The Black Telephone has been receiving good critiques from critics and plenty of are praising Ethan Hawke’s eerie efficiency as The Grabber. Whereas Hawke says he’s fearful about being formally often called this character, he does acknowledge that folks can be ready to separate the actor from the character.
“I think that when I was younger, I was really just slightly aware of the baggage that actors can create,” Hawke tells Uproxx. “Once they actually excel at taking part in a horrible particular person it does get more durable for you to see them as a benevolent soul. As soon as Anthony Hopkins performs Hannibal Lecter, it’s exhausting to watch him as a candy grandpa with the pet, since you’re fearful he’s going to chew his head off. However then you definitely get just a little older and also you understand that, ah, it’s okay. “
The Black Telephone arrives in theaters on June 24.