Don’t Breathe 2 is out today exclusively in theaters. The horror film once again stars Stephen Lang as the “Blind Man” Norman Nordstrom. He’s joined by Madelyn Grace and Brendan Sexton III. The film is written by Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues with Sayagues directing.
RELATED: Interview: Stephen Lang Discusses Don’t Breathe 2, Norman’s Motivations Changing
“In Don’t Breathe, Norman Nordstrom (Stephen Lang) was underestimated by everyone because of his blindness: he revealed an unflinching will to survive and get what he wants… but also a monstrous, evil side of his personality, as nothing – no person or conscience – will stand in his way,” says the official synopsis. “Now, in Don’t Breathe 2, eight years later, Nordstrom lives with 11-year-old Phoenix; he has recreated the family that was stolen from him by a drunk driver and has found the twisted justice he’s always felt was his due. When intruders once again come to his home, this time focused on Phoenix, Norman will reveal for a second time what’s hidden inside him… and again, it will be in new and unexpected ways.”
ComingSoon’s Sabina Graves spoke with actress Madelyn Grace about her role in Don’t Breathe 2, getting to do stunts, and working with a dog. Check out the video below or read the full transcription.
Sabina Graves: In Don’t Breathe 2, you kind of gave me Kevin McCallister Home Alone vibes with how just capable you were in the movie. I want to know what attracted you to the movie?
Madelyn Grace: I really liked the movie because my character was very resourceful and independent and creative. I really liked how strong she was and she could take care of herself. So it was a really cool character to play.
Did you participate in a lot of the stuntwork?
Yeah, the stunts were super fun. I did all the stunts they would allow me to do. So most of my own stunts. Some of them, they said were too dangerous and had a stunt double do, but, yeah, stunts are like my favorite.
You’re working with Stephen Lang, who is such a seasoned actor. Did he give you a lot of advice when you were shooting and how did you build that relationship?
Yeah, well, we had a lot of meetings ahead of time with Rodo and him. Just like getting to know our characters and, I don’t know about him, but Rodo had me read the script multiple times to get to know my character. Stephen is really a good actor to work with. He is super real and authentic and yeah, I learned from him like really how to get in my character.
Amazing. I love that. There are a lot of dogs in this movie and, I won’t give any spoilers, but what was it like working with the dog?
Okay. In real life, his name is Tony. His character is Shadow, but Tony is the cutest! So they had a training session with me and him and he likes cut-up raw hot dogs as his treat, but he’s like the cutest dog in the world and he’s super calm and he really loved me and I wish I could take him home.
Amazing. Can you tell me what your favorite day on set was?
I really liked the water day.
That was so intense.
The scene when I was in the water. It was my favorite. They were planning only to do like a half a day of filming that because they didn’t know how a kid would react to being in the water and that small of a space, but I’m not claustrophobic at all. I love the water because I can swim, and also the water was heated to 95 degrees, so it was like a hot tub. So they actually did a second day of filming that because it was so much fun. That was the best day.
That’s amazing. When you did research for the role, were there any other movies that you saw to help you get inspired, or did you just create the character in your imagination?
Well, I mostly created the character from my imagination. Rodo did not ask me to watch any scary movies or any of that, but I do watch a lot of scary movies myself with my dad. I watch like Alien and The Shining and The Sixth Sense is one of my favorite movies. So yeah, I watch scary movies, but I mostly created the character from my head and we also have a lot of similarities because we’re both artistic and we’re both intelligent and we can care for ourselves pretty well.
