I sat down with actor Jack Griffo, who played Max Thunderman on the Nickelodeon series “The Thundermans,” and actor Violet McGraw, known for “The Haunting of Hill House” and “M3GAN,” in my office on Zoom for an exclusive press junket for “Double Trouble.” The action comedy from director Shaun Paul Piccinino follows two sisters, played by Violet and her real-life sister Madeleine McGraw, who get pulled into a Las Vegas heist, with Griffo as a cocky superstar named Juniper and a singing voice I had no idea he had. Violet called the film her first comedy after a career spent almost entirely in horror, and for someone so young, she answered with remarkable detail and care. What stayed with me most was how warmly both of them talked about the people who made them better, from the producers who handed Griffo seven, eight or nine notes at a time to the sister Violet says she couldn’t do this without.
McAuley Tucker: Comedy is hard to do. Comedy is very hard to do. You, Jack, you’ve said you’ve been doing comedy for a long time. And Violet, I know you said in a magazine… that you really enjoy comedy… For both of you, what’s the hardest thing that you find performing comedy in a format like this?
Violet McGraw: I think this kind of was my first comedy, and I’ve done horror like practically my entire life. I would say I was a little bit nervous ’cause a comedy is a much different environment than a horror movie. I would say the hardest part is, I guess, finding the timing because you want to make the audience laugh… I found that when I was watching the movie, I was doing so much improv in Double Trouble, and I feel like it made it a lot more natural and more funny. So, I guess finding the timing and just improv and really go for it and don’t be afraid to hold anything back.
Jack Griffo: I would say commitment. You know, when you’re doing a script that you know is funny, you can’t know it’s funny or else it’s not funny. You know what I mean? Like, you have to be totally serious about it or else we as the audience know that you’re acting. So, you know, the more serious and intense it is for the character, the more funny it’s going to be for the audience.
McAuley Tucker: One thing I thought was really cool about this production specifically for you, Violet, but also of course this kind of connects with you, Jack, is executive producing… but of course you guys are both performers. How have you guys found yourselves transitioning into a position such as that?
Violet McGraw: I’ve been wanting to be a producer… I just think it’s really important to see a different side of that whole process of making a movie. And I would definitely say I want to continue to produce in the future because on this film specifically, I definitely just feel like I have more of a say and more of a voice on what’s going to happen on set. And I was also a producer on The Curse of the Necklace with Maddie as well. So I just kind of took what I learned from that and brought it on to this project as well.
Jack Griffo: I think kids, young people are smarter than most people give them credit for… When we came back to do more Thundermans, me and Kira being on the team was just kind of a given because, you know, no one was really going to know the show and the world better than us and the other executive producers… I think it’s just a big puzzle piece, you know? It’s a big question mark of how you going to make everything fit, how you going to make everything make sense, how you going to make it all be on time. It’s really a management role. It’s really a people position role. But really, it’s just a bunch of fun. I mean, you’re just getting together with your friends and creating a project, creating an art project like in school. It’s the same thing, but just more money.
McAuley Tucker: One of my final notes that I found cool about both of you guys is that both people in your life have helped you… grow as performers. I know, Violet, your sister has helped you… in rehearsal practising your lines, and for you, Jack, I know your brother years ago… would also help you with your lines as well. Who would you say from both of you has the hardest notes?
Jack Griffo: For me, I think being on set as a kid at 16, 17, 18… when you have like a multicam format, like you’ll do the scene and then you’ll cut and all the… producers at the time… I wasn’t a producer, so I was just, you know, minding my own business on set waiting to get the notes. But then they would pow out and they’d come in with, you know, they’d give me seven, eight, nine things to do differently in the very next take. And so it made me really acute when it came to applying a bunch of notes very quickly. It was challenging, but it was honestly the best thing for me as an actor because now when I’m on a film set, the notes are much more minimal. And so if I get one, two, three notes on a film set, that’s like cake to me to apply to the next take because I’m used to doing seven, eight notes, you know? It just makes everything so much easier.
Violet McGraw: I mean, we’ve been side by side in this like acting industry since we were so young. And I truly don’t know how I would do this without my sister. And getting to work with her right next to her and seeing her do her craft is something so cool. And I just think we’re both extremely lucky that we get to be a part of this together.
McAuley Tucker: Of course, having a supportive person in your life is very important. Without that, I don’t know where I would be.
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