After spending time scaring audiences in films like M3GAN and The Haunting of Hill House, Violet McGraw was ready for something a little more lighthearted. With her new project, Double Trouble, she gets action, comedy and the chance to once again star alongside her sister, Madeleine McGraw. “It’s everything I’ve been looking for,” she said of the movie, which the sisters also executive produced.
In the film, a family trip to Las Vegas takes an unexpected turn when a pair of sisters get mixed up in a jewelry robbery. With some help from a security guard who’s seen better days, the pair have to outsmart the crooks and figure out who’s pulling the strings. And if that weren’t enough, they also have to keep their parents from finding out about any of it. Filmed entirely in Vegas, it also gave the McGraws a chance to bring their real-life bond to their characters.
In this interview, McGraw talks about working with her sister, how they rehearse together and what she learned from watching auditions as an executive producer. She also shared why her own horror movies still scare her and an embarrassing moment with Casey Affleck that might be the best answer I’ve ever gotten to a question. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Watch the full conversation in the video below or on our YouTube channel.
This looked like it was super fun to make.
Violet McGraw: Absolutely, yeah.
Did you guys actually film all over Vegas?
Violet McGraw: Yeah, all of it was actually done in Vegas, which is insane. I love it there.
I know you and your sister have worked on things together before, and you do here as well. I just remember at your age, when me and my brother were in a room, one of us would have tried to kill the other. How is it working so closely with your sister?
Violet McGraw: It’s awesome. We are just insanely lucky that we get to be a part of such a cool thing in the world together and just be side by side. I am extremely lucky to have a sister like Maddie.
I hate talking about feelings and emotions, especially to the person I’m talking about. But I truly couldn’t do anything without her, and she’s taught me everything I know. She’s amazing and so talented.
I know you guys have a lot of young fans. I have two girls, and I’m always on the lookout for things for them to watch. where young girls are the smartest ones in the room and end up saving the day. When you were looking at this or looking at other projects, is that something you think of?
Violet McGraw: Oh, yeah, for sure. I mean, having someone come up to me and tell me that I inspire them and they want to do acting because of me means so much to me. It’s just crazy that people are coming up to me and saying that because I love my job so much.
So, seeing other people love my work is really crazy and cool to think about, which I’m also extremely grateful for. I love my fans so much.
And it’s funny that you say that because the fans, especially for M3GAN, are like six-year-olds.
I’m like, “You are not scared? At six? I am scared of that stuff.” And they’re like, “I loved you so much.”
I’m scared of that stuff.
Violet McGraw: I know, exactly. I’m like, “You’re six years old!”
How did this come to you, by the way?
Violet McGraw: John Ducey, the writer of Double Trouble, and I have worked together since I was like five years old, maybe. And he brought up the concept to me and my sister. I was like, Christmas movie, we’re working together, action, comedy, everything I’ve been looking for.
And I love to challenge myself as an actor. Me and Maddie have been in so much horror that we really wanted to be a part of something that was more like happy and lighthearted. Double Trouble just had that. We were very excited and immediately like, “Yes, we have to do this.”
How did you guys get so involved in the horror genre? This is a different direction for you.
Violet McGraw: Totally, yeah. I don’t know. I started acting when I was five years old and I got my first job when I was five years old, The Haunting of Hill House. And I feel like from there I kind of just have grown up in the horror aspect of acting, which is great.
I mean, I love horror and I love the genre and I love those movies so much. I guess we kind of just fell into it. I don’t know how it happened.
When you watch yourself in these movies, you obviously know everything that’s going to happen but does it still scare you?
Violet McGraw: Absolutely. I mean, typically I don’t see the movie until it’s totally done and I’m at the premiere with an audience. So I definitely still get scared.
You are also an executive producer on this. What does that actually mean?
Violet McGraw: This is our second time, me and Maddie, being EPs together. The first time was on The Curse of the Necklace. I think what it means to me is that I feel like I have more of a say and more of a voice on set.
And there’s something so important and special about seeing the other side of making a movie.I think it’s really important to do that also at a younger age. Because then as you get older, you just continue to learn more and more and bring all this knowledge that you learned from the last movie to the next. And you just get better and learn more.
Did you have any say or hand in casting?
Yeah. Me and Maddie got to watch a ton of auditions.
It’s just really cool. Yes, we wanted to be producers, but we also really wanted to be a part of casting because we thought it’s so cool and interesting to see that side of things.
Does watching other people’s auditions help you as an actor?
Violet McGraw: I feel like just watching anybody, I learn so much, which is really cool. I just kind of absorb and see how they get into their zone and how they do their craft. Yeah, I would say it helps me for sure.
What was the scene you were most looking forward to doing in this movie?
Violet McGraw: I think I’m going to go with this scene between Charlotte, Willow and Matthew, the pool boy. I’m not sure if you remember him.
Oh, at the very beginning of the movie?
Violet McGraw: Yes. So, Preston, who plays Matthew, he did a Disney show with my sister a while back when they were both much younger and getting to work with him was like really cool because it kind of just felt like I was doing a movie with my sister and a really good friend of mine. Like, it just didn’t feel real at all.
I think it really showed, because since we all know each other in real life, there is just this really good scene that looks so natural on camera.
Watching you and your sister in a scene together, I guess it’s chemistry or whatever but you guys riff back and forth so well. Do you rehearse before you do your scenes?
Violet McGraw: Maddie loves to be prepared, which I get. I like to be prepared, too. But she definitely likes to be prepared and that means going over our scenes a lot of times.
We would definitely prepare and rehearse with each other. As soon as we got the script, we would just go over the script and read like our characters’ lines just to get into the zone for the movie.
Are you the kind of person who writes notes in the sides?
Violet McGraw: Oh, definitely. Yeah, I think that’s a super important part of acting.
What do you have coming up that you can mention?
Anything?
Violet McGraw: I have a horror movie called Anything But Ghosts that comes out next year. And it was done with the same director from Obsession. The one and only Curry Barker, which is insane. I can’t wait to talk about it more.
I used to ask questions like, “What’s your most embarrassing audition?” But with self-tapes, we don’t really have auditions anymore.
Violet McGraw: Very true.
So, with that, what’s your most embarrassing moment on set, either this movie or in the past?
Violet McGraw: Oh, my God. I have one because I’ve said it before.
There’s a movie called Our Friend and it’s with Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson and Jason Segel. I play Casey Affleck’s daughter and I’m sitting on his lap… This is so bad, but I farted on his lap. And you can tell. They actually kept that in the movie. You could just see us dying laughing. That is not acting, that is absolutely real laughter.
That is the best answer I think I will ever hear.
Violet McGraw: I’m glad. I will hold that honor.
