He’s the most unsettling part of ‘The Whisper Man.’ He’s ready for a rom

Warning: This story contains spoilers for The Whisper Man

Horror keeps finding Owen Teague.

The 27-year-old actor has become one of the genre’s most recognizable young faces, starring in three Stephen King adaptations, including the Itfranchise. Now, he’s the terrifying figure hiding in Netflix’s buzzy new crime thriller, The Whisper Man.

“I am attracted to things that are a little bit twisted. I think it’s my sense of humor,” Teague tells Yahoo, then laughing: “It’s also my face.” 

The irony here is that Teague doesn’t watch many horror movies himself. 

“I love sci-fi and dark, macabre stuff,” he says. “My friends had to really beg me to go see Obsession because I was like, ‘I’m going to be scared.'”

The Whisper Man stars Robert De Niro, Adam Scott and Michelle Monaghan in the story of a widowed father whose 8-year-old son Jake is abducted, reopening a decades-old case involving a notorious serial killer. Teague plays an employee at Jake’s school whose true identity is eventually revealed: He’s Frank Carter Jr., the son of Michael Keaton’s original Whisper Man, and the new killer carrying on his father’s legacy.

Teague was drawn to the contradiction at the character’s core. “He’s the killer and the big, scary monster at the end of the movie, but he’s very kind, loving and gentle with the kids … before he kills them,” he deadpans. “I like characters who you think are one thing and turn out to be another.”

But when he isn’t terrifying children onscreen, Teague’s tastes run more nerdy than nightmarish. He doesn’t have TikTok, and the latest internet rabbit hole he fell into? Searching for violin strings. 

“I’m trying to find a new set,” he says. “I’ve been playing my whole life, and I’ve never looked into what different strings do.”

In Yahoo’s new interview series Generation Now, Teague talks about meeting “Bob” De Niro, why his generation is so hungry for horror and whether he’ll ever stop creeping people out onscreen long enough to make a rom-com.

You’ve kind of become horror’s Itboy — pun very much intended. What is it about this genre that keeps drawing you in? Or does horror keep finding you?

I don’t really watch all that many horror movies, which is the weird thing. … I don’t know! There’s something about my vibe. 

With The Whisper Man, what excited you about playing a character whose true identity is hiding in plain sight?

That was part of the fun. [Director] James [Ashcroft] was intent on making him this sweet, gentle guy who becomes animalistic once things get serious. I read the script and thought, Yeah, this is going to be a great time.

Ashcroft has described Frank Jr. as a victim himself. How did you find the wounded child inside someone capable of doing such horrifying things?

He is a wounded child. All I had to do was think about what he was put through as a kid. We don’t really go into this in the movie, but — I think I took this from the[Alex North] book — he witnesses a lot of what his dad does when he’s a kid. He’s around for that first round of kidnapped children, and his dad involves him in the murders. He’s 8 years old.

He’s stuck at that age and in those experiences. If he can just be enough for his dad and be what his dad wants him to be, then that’s justification for doing these horrible things. It wasn’t hard to find the child in him because he is a victim. 

What was it like working with Michael Keaton? Were his the Batman movies you grew up with?

Yeah, those were the Batman movies I grew up with. I was very intimidated by him, especially because he was in full [method] Frank Carter mode when I met him — and he never really wasn’t in Frank Carter mode. It was a very short scene, so we didn’t really talk. 

It was a tense, short scene.

Yes, but it was fun. I love him as an actor, so I feel very lucky that I got to watch him play that character up close.

You started acting as a kid, so I imagine Robert De Niro has always been one of those larger-than-life figures. What was it like meeting him for the first time?

It was so surreal but also so normal because he’s just a guy. He’s very nice, sweet, kind of quiet — and he introduces himself as Bob. 

I interviewed him last year, and he said, “Please, call me Bob.” I was like, “I’m so sorry, I cannot do that.”

Right? I do now, but it’s almost like —

You’ve earned it at this point.

I didn’t earn anything! I spent around two days on set with the guy. But it’s funny to me to call Robert De Niro “Bob.” It’s just ridiculous.

The Whisper Man is No. 1 on Netflix, while Obsession has become one of the year’s biggest horror success stories. Why do you think audiences are so hungry for the genre right now?

I don’t really know. My hunch, especially because it’s so popular with my generation, is that we’re in bad shape as a society and as a planet. At least among my friends, there’s a lot of anxiety and fear about the future.

Every day, I read the news and things are getting progressively worse. I think we need something that’s scarier than the world we’re living in to help us deal with what’s going on outside. That’s my theory. I have no idea if that’s why other people would say they like horror, but that’s my theory.

You’ve been acting professionally since you were a kid. What has growing up in this industry taught you about yourself?

Oh wow. Nobody’s ever asked me that before. I guess it’s taught me that I’m fairly resilient, which is nice. I don’t think I could be in this industry if I weren’t pretty thick-skinned. A lot of being an actor is being ridiculed by strangers. I don’t say that to be like, “Woe is us.” It’s just true.

We get rejected a lot. Then we do the things we love to do and think we’ve done a good job, and people say it sucks. They write a review and go, “Well, this is terrible.” And you’re like, “All right, that was a year of my life.”

It’s also forced me to let go of my own ego a little bit. It has forced me to take my own thoughts and feelings with more of a grain of salt than some people might.

You’ve become associated with some psychologically intense material, but are you itching to surprise us with something completely different? Am I going to see you in a rom-com or a glossy YA show where nobody is murdered?

I would really enjoy that. I don’t know that it’s going to happen anytime soon, but I did a movie [in 2024] called Griffin in Summer, which is a great movie. It’s a comedy, and the director, Nicholas Colia, is a wonderful man and a good friend.

I played the love interest — the hot guy. He’s an idiot, but Nicholas was like, “This is part one of my campaign to make you into a sex symbol.” Then I keep taking these roles where I’m killing kids and being generally horrible to everyone. Nicholas is like, “Dude, you’re sabotaging my work. What are you doing?”

There’s still time! Are there any rom-coms you grew up watching and thought, I want to do that?

Honestly, I haven’t seen very many.

You’ve never seen How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days? I’m getting a Matthew McConaughey vibe, so that’s your homework.

I have a terrible beard, but maybe.

Pride and Prejudice? It’s not a comedy, but it’s romantic.

There we go.

I could do that kind of thing.

You play a lot of serious and sometimes unsettling characters. What’s the most unserious thing about you?

So many things. Probably my taste in clothes or music.I like everything, but [my girlfriend and I] love Oingo Boingo. We’re a big Oingo Boingo household. I like things that are goofy and stupid.

Not to say Oingo Boingo isn’t good music — it’s really good music. But it’s definitely weird.

When you’re not working, what does a normal day look like for you?

It could be anything. Right now, I’ve been working on some music, so I’ll get up and do some tracks for that. That’s what my days have looked like recently.

Then I’ll cook dinner around 7 or 8. I like to cook, so I’ll see what’s in the fridge. When I’m not working, my schedule and interests have no focus. When I’m working, it’s completely the opposite.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.