Being A Villain On The Black Phone, Ethan Hawke Feels More Free

Ethan Hawke (Photo: IG @ethanhawke)

JAKARTA - Actor Ethan Hawke plays The Grabber, a vicious child kidnapper in the film The Black Phone. Hawke said the character he played was interesting to explore, because for him, the character had been "broken" because of his past with his family and the environment around him.

"He's clearly a very broken person. In a film about parents carrying on their abuse and how the child avoids it, in many ways, it's about how a generation tries to trample on the love that lies beneath it," Hawke said in the broadcast. Universal Pictures press, Tuesday, June 21.

"I think he feels a sense of justice when inflicting pain on others because of what was done to him."

Furthermore, Hawke shared his experience playing the villain who always wears a mask when he acts. For him, acting with a mask makes him "freer".

"There's something liberating about (using) the mask. When I was a kid, I remember going to drama class and learning what masks can do to body language and voice, and how that can affect the player-audience relationship," says the performer. the movie "Before Trilogy".

"Also, living through a pandemic, with our faces covered all the time, I find that also very interesting."

In addition, Hawke said this is not the first time he has worked with director Scott Derrickson. His first meeting with Derrickson was when the two were in the movie "Sinister", 10 years ago.

"I was very happy to be working on that film ('Sinister') because I learned a lot from him about this genre of film. I have followed his (Derrickson's) career for many years and have great respect for him," he explained.

"So when someone like that offers you a movie, you take it seriously. Also, I feel that unlike 95 percent of scary movies, 'The Black Phone' has a very beautiful heartbeat in the middle." Meanwhile, The Black Phone will premiere in Indonesian cinemas on June 22, 2022.