Daniel Reece talks about “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone”, his favorite horror film, future projects and more. (Exclusive)

Photo credit: Thomas Brunot

Written by: Gracie Lowes

Halloween is getting closer, and Netflix is starting off the season the right way with its newest horror/ thriller release “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone”.

The film follows “Craig (Jaeden Martell), a young boy, who befriends elderly billionaire John Harrigan (Donald Sutherland). Shortly after Craig gives his friend a mobile phone so they can stay in touch Mr. Harrigan dies, and Craig discovers that he can communicate with his friend from the grave.”

I had the chance to sit down (virtually) with actor Daniel Reece who plays “Deane Whitmore” in the film, to talk to him about his time on set, what drew him to his character, his favorite horror movies, and more.

You can read the full interview below.

Gracie Lowes: Congratulations on “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” finally being out! How has this release and the days building up to it been for you?

Daniel Reece: It’s interesting because since the start of the pandemic so much of this experience has felt so removed for some of us. And with the amount of content that’s out there now, we all take for granted how these releases actually take place. But I anticipated when we were shooting this that it would have an autumn or Halloween release date given the supernatural Stephan king nature, so I was looking forward to this being seasonally appropriate content for people to watch.

Gracie: Just from the trailer, alone fans can see this is a collaboration with Ryan Murphy, Stephan king and Blumhouse. Given that all of these are such big names, what can viewers expect from this film?

Daniel Reece: I think exactly that blend that you just described. Stephan King obviously predates Netflix and Blumhouse and he’s been in our households for decades now, not just with his written work but also on the screen as well. What I would add to that trio is John Lee Hancock’s interpretation of all that, this is largely his work or at least that’s been my experience when working on this film, he was the mediator between all these different collaborators.

Gracie: In the movie you play, “Deane Whitmore”, could you tell us a little bit about your character and what it was like bringing him to life?

Daniel Reece: Without spoiling too much, my character is fairly removed from other characters within this story. And the only other time I can remember having that type of acting experience was on stage or in monologue plays, where there’s usually one person on stage at a time directly addressing the audience. And for me so much of the preparation for this role was on me making my own decisions obviously with the help of the creative team, but getting as much information that the script could provide me with to understand who this person is and where they fit in Craig’s story more importantly since he’s the narrative we’re following along the way. I would describe and defend Deane which I never would, I would say he’s troubled, vulnerable, and lost, and is looking for himself in all the wrong places, especially at the bottom of a liquor bottle. In terms of his entitlement and what he’s able to get away with, I think it was a nice and subtle way for them to introduce the conflict of white privilege into the story without it being a complete distraction from the rest of the narrative.

Photo credit: Netflix

Gracie: I know you just described your character, but if you could describe this film in three words what would they be?

Daniel Reece: That’s a good question. I would say for the audience’s experience: introspective, supernatural and touching.

Gracie: I know this is a horror/ thriller film, are you a big fan of that genre, if so what’s your go-to movie?

Daniel Reece: I have to be honest… I’m not. Not because I’m not a fan but more because I tend to gravitate toward other genres more. But I would say in this world I think “The Shining” is one of the most memorable film experiences of my life. I never read the book but I have watched both the film and one made for TV. But the film experience of watching something like that where it psychologically can get you to think about a lot, that type of film work is very interesting to me.

Gracie: Do you have any future projects you could hint at or talk about?

Daniel Reece: I do! I’ll be starting to shoot something next week, it’s a new tv series for Paramount+ called “Lioness” and I look forward to seeing what the experience will be like. It will be demanding on my part with the work involved but I can’t discuss anything more in detail. But it’s a great team and I look forward to working on it.