“Scott Derrickson Is Really Brilliant”: Ethan Hawke Celebrates The Black Phone 2 Return Confirmation

With the sequel’s development gaining steam, Ethan Hawke opens up about his confirmed return in The Black Phone 2. The four-time Oscar nominee starred in the 2021 adaptation of Joe Hill’s short story of the same name as The Grabber, a maniacal serial kidnapper and killer terrorizing a late ’70s Denver suburb, leaving children in his basement with a mysterious black phone hanging on the wall. Co-written and directed by Scott Derrickson, the movie centers on his latest victim as he uses the phone to communicate with The Grabber’s past victims to come up with a plan to escape based on their own efforts.

On the heels of the confirmation of his return, Screen Rant interviewed Ethan Hawke for Leave the World Behind, during which he was asked about his Black Phone 2 return. Though stating he’s unsure what he wants to explore with The Grabber in the sequel, he expressed his excitement to reunite with Derrickson for the movie, saying he would do anything the director asked him to. See what Hawke said below:

I have no idea. I have no idea what I’m trying to explore with my life. I’m an actor and I really enjoy storytelling in all its — there’s a place for small art film, and there’s a place for a love story, and there’s a place for, “Let’s get together and watch a movie at midnight and scare the hell out of each other,” right?

If you’re a performer, I have a love for all those different genres of the ways to tell stories, and I’ve spent my life trying to push myself to do different kinds of things. That director, Scott Derrickson, is really brilliant, and if he asks me to do something, I’ll do it.

Hawke & Derrickson Are A Match Made In Horror Heaven

With his return in the sequel, The Black Phone 2 will mark Hawke and Derrickson’s third collaboration together, continuing one of the star’s best recurring relationships in the industry. Across his near-40-year career, Hawke has collaborated with a handful of filmmakers across multiple projects, the most notable being that of Richard Linklater. Beginning with 1995’s Before Sunrise, he and Linklater would team up for four subsequent projects, including the two Before sequels, which he also co-wrote with the director and co-star Julie Delpy.

Though having occasionally explored the genre in the past, Hawke and Derrickson’s first teaming on Sinister would be his first proper exploration of horror and proved to be an exceptional match. The filmmaker’s blend of naturalistic direction allowed the focus to be on the characters and the actors behind them, with Hawke and Juliet Rylance standing out as they try to work through their struggles, with the former’s Ellison trying to recapture his fame at almost any cost while the latter’s Tracy tries to remind him of his family.

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While the 2021 movie saw him on the antagonist side of the story, Derrickson and Hawke again found a phenomenal rhythm with one another in The Black Phone. Much of The Grabber’s terror could be found in his subtle theatricality as much as his horrifying masks, which author Joe Hill even teased as being a key inspiration for the story of The Black Phone 2. Though it’s still unclear as to how Hawke’s character will return following his death in the first movie, the reteaming between him and Derrickson will prove to be a thrilling continuation of the success they’ve enjoyed thus far.