The Black Phone 2 is just around the corner, and it's set to turn Ethan Hawke's now iconic killer from the original film, The Grabber, into a new-age Freddy Krueger. The movie also sees the return of Mason Thames' Finney alongside Madeleine McGraw's Gwen, two siblings who share a supernatural connection with The Grabber.
In an interview with The Direct's Russ Milheim, Thames (of recent How to Train Your Dragon fame) and McGraw discussed their characters' deep sibling bond and why it's so important. "Finney and Gwen, even in the first movie, all they've really had is each other," Thames explained, adding that with this sequel, "it really shows it's all or nothing [and] that they're willing to give their life to go to the ends of the earth for one another."
McGraw pointed out that, in terms of building their dynamic between themselves as performers, they "actually got to be around each other a lot more, which probably helped." Not only were their characters separated for most of the first installment, but production happened during COVID, making it "much harder to hang out and be around each other."
Universal Pictures' The Black Phone 2 hits theaters on October 17, 2025.
Madeleine McGraw & Mason Thames on Gwen & Finney's Sibling Bond
"All They've Really Had Is Each Other."
- The Direct: "I think the sibling bond between you both in the film is so good, and it's core to the narrative, obviously. Can you talk about how you guys got to explore that in a whole new way with this sequel?"
Madeleine McGraw: Well, I mean, the roles are definitely reversed in this movie. It's now Finn looking out for Gwen. I feel like on set, you know, we actually got to be around each other a lot more, which probably helped. During the first film, it was Covid and it was much harder to hang out and be around each other.
Mason Thames: This is the most we've [got to be together on screen]. The stakes were a lot high. Finney and Gwen, even in the first movie, all they've really had is each other. In this movie, it's kind of, it really shows it's all or nothing that they're willing to give their life to go to the ends of the earth for one another, each other, because that's how it started. It's how it end. So, yeah.
Diving Deeper Into Trauma & Grief With Black Phone 2
Director Scott Derrickson Trusted the Actors Implicitly.
- The Direct: "The movie itself has a very unique exploration of grief and trauma, and you both get some really serious and extremely well-performed scenes in this film. Can you talk about getting to dive or dig deeper into all of that in unexpected ways for the sequel?"
Madeleine McGraw: I mean, for me, I felt a lot of pressure going into a lot of those scenes because they do deal with such dark topics, and the reactions, in my opinion, do have to all be different, because she is going through something different in every single traumatic event, and no one reacted the same to that. So that was definitely a challenging part for me.
I had days where I would literally just talk to Scott [Derrickson] for like, the longest time about the scene and every little thing that is going to go into it and what he wants. And a lot of the time, he would tell me just to trust my instincts and do what I think my character would do because Scott believes that we know our characters more than anyone else does.
So, I feel like just being present and in the moment was the most important thing to me, and really just feeling what my character was going through.
Mason Thames: I mean, Finney, he's just, especially with the scenes I had to do in this movie. It's something of in that cold and the serious topics that [are in] this movie, and the story and what they're going through. It's kind of a thing where I really had to dive deep into Finney, and it took a bit for me to get out after, but I really gave it my all, and it was a fun journey. He's just such a complicated person.
Scott [Derrickson]... just trusts us. So, whenever we have scenes like that, he just lets us go and let's Finney just do his thing. And I think that's really important, and we just collaborate on a lot, which is very rare.
The full interview can be watched below, including a fun bit about how much The Black Phone 2 stars hate the cold:
