Madeleine McGraw Jonny Marlow Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text Every so often, a child performance comes along where you just know that the actor in question has the brightest of futures ahead of them. And that was most definitely the case for The Black Phone scene-stealer, Madeleine McGraw. Scott Derrickson, who's now co-written and directed two Black Phone installments, knew full well what McGraw was capable of when he first auditioned her for the role of Gwen Blake in 2020. The then 11-year-old was so convincing in the part of a devoted sister with psychic abilities that Derrickson refused to let McGraw's scheduling conflict upend his plan to pair her Gwen with Mason Thames' kidnapped brother character, Finney. Related Stories Movies Why Filming 'Blue Moon' Required a "Dismantling" of Ethan Hawke Movies Ethan Hawke Teases 'Black Phone 2,' Megan Fox Revealed as Voice for Toy Chica in 'Five Nights at Freddy's' Sequel During BlumFest 2025 As a result, Derrickson delayed filming until early 2021, and this was no small gesture when you consider Ethan Hawke's involvement as the child-abducting serial killer known as The Grabber. Hawke's dance card had its own obstacles to consider, and his casting presumably helped get the supernatural horror film financed in the first place. "I honestly couldn't believe that someone would do that for me, especially when Scott was willing to literally risk losing Ethan just so I could do the movie. I will forever be grateful for Scott," McGraw tells The Hollywood Reporter in support of Black Phone 2's Oct. 17 theatrical release. The gamble paid off as The Black Phone became one of 2022's most profitable films, grossing $161 million against a $16 million budget. McGraw's younger sister, Violet McGraw, also starred in her own 2022 horror hit, M3GAN, turning the two sisters into Blumhouse royalty. (The McGraw sisters now produce their own films with their mother, Jackie.) The Black Phone centered on Thames' Finney, whose own metaphysical gifts of communicating with the dead allowed him to ultimately defeat his captor and escape from his basement dungeon. Throughout her brother's captivity, McGraw's Gwen relies on her prophetic dreams to help the North Denver police pinpoint her brother's whereabouts, as well as all the other undiscovered bodies of The Grabber's victims. Prior to Finney's disappearance, Gwen was interviewed by the cops about another missing boy, one whom she also dreamed about, and the instantly beloved scene established Gwen's trademark sailor's mouth. It was a more colorful version of McGraw's audition scene, and so it makes sense why it kicked off her breakout performance. In Black Phone 2, McGraw has been upgraded to the de facto lead actor, and Gwen's foul-mouthed takedowns are even more vicious. The Grabber may be dead, but his evil spirit is still able to wreak havoc on the Blake family, as they investigate Gwen's latest dreams at a remote winter camp called Alpine Lake. He wants revenge for not only his death, but also for the death of his idiot brother, Max (James Ransone). Mind you, the Grabber was the one who killed him, but he blames Finn for it anyway. Thus, he sets his sights on Finn's own beloved sibling through her dreams à la Freddy Krueger, and Gwen has to fight the Grabber in the dream world while Finn tries to protect her in the real world. Derrickson intended for this to be a reversal of the first movie's character dynamics. "Once I officially read the script, that was when it all set in that it was Gwen's movie. And I was just so, so excited that we were getting to dive more into Gwen's dreams and visions and the [Blake] family's backstory. I was very, very surprised," McGraw shares. Derrickson purposefully made The Gorge in between his two Black Phone films because he wanted to ensure that McGraw and Thames were old enough to follow up their middle school-based original with a high school coming-of-age sequel. This pattern would suggest that a potential trilogy capper would be set during the Blake siblings' college years, but McGraw is opting to not get ahead of herself just yet. "It would be awesome to continue to grow with these characters. I also think that some movies [or franchises] should go out with a banger or on a high," McGraw says. "But Scott and [C. Robert] Cargill are genius writers, and I trust them so much, so we'll see." Below, during a recent conversation with THR, McGraw also discusses doing most of her Black Phone 2 stunts, as well as her dream to play another Gwen, Spider-Gwen, in a live-action film. *** Let's start from the beginning. Scott Derrickson liked you so much for the role of Gwen Blake that he delayed filming The Black Phone until you wrapped your Disney TV show at the time. Your 11-year-old self must have felt quite flatter