When it comes to horror franchises that strike a chord with both tech-anxious adults and genre-savvy teens, few have made the kind of cultural impact that M3GAN has. The 2023 film became an instant viral sensation, blending sharp satire with unsettling thrills, and at its emotional core was Violet McGraw’s performance as Cady, a grieving girl who forms a dangerously intense bond with an AI companion. With M3GAN 2.0 on the horizon, anticipation is sky-high—and so is the emotional weight for Cady, who now finds herself grappling with trauma, trust, and the haunting legacy of her robotic best friend.
I recently sat down with Violet McGraw to talk about returning to the role that helped define the franchise. Though just a teenager, McGraw brings striking emotional intelligence and nuance to her performance—something that seems to have only deepened in the sequel. In our conversation, we explored what it was like stepping back into Cady’s shoes, the evolving relationship between her character and the lovable but evil machine M3GAN, and how it feels to be a central figure in one of horror’s most talked-about modern stories.
A Tougher Cady Than Before:
When we first are introduced to Violet’s character Cady in the first M3GAN film, we see that she’s a grieving young girl. She has just lost her parents due to a car crash and is then taken care of by her aunt Gemma (Allison Williams) with whom she’s a little awkward with. But when Gemma introduces her to her robot that she created, M3GAN, she instantly forms a bond with her and kind of views her as a sort of older sister or parent, even.
Obviously though, if you’ve seen the first film, you know that eventually M3GAN’s system goes haywire and she turns into a full-on killing machine. When I asked Violet about what it was like to return to play a more mature and toughened version of Cady, this is what she had to say:
“I think it definitely helps that I’ve also grown up… I’ve kinda grown up with Cady and honestly M3GAN for that matter, which was awesome. In the first film, Cady lost her parents and also lost her best friend and the only person she could really rely on after her parents passed, which was M3GAN. So, Cady and Gemma obviously are still working on their relationship and Cady just wants Gemma to be there for her when she needs her most. Cady has become a lot stronger, she’s doing aikido, soccer, and Cady is just… she’s growing up and she’s also becoming more independent. She’s trying to find herself.”
How Does Cady Grieve M3GAN?
After the “death” of M3GAN at the end of the first film, surely Cady must be the only person who would be genuinely grieving her, so I asked Violet what it was like to portray someone who feels such empathy and loyalty to a machine that everybody else in her world sees as a threat.
“I think obviously Cady has had a way bigger bond than M3GAN… killing other people of course… and everyone tells Cady that she’s just a robot and that she doesn’t have feelings or whatever, but Cady sees her as way more than that. She sees that she’s a good person and wants to help her and she actually is one of the reasons she wants to give M3GAN a second chance to go face-to-face with AM3L1A. They kind of need M3GAN in order to stop her. Cady still remembers that her aunt almost did die and M3GAN did kill a few people, but, you know what? She had Cady’s back.”
AM3L1A’s Role:
Just by watching the trailer you can tell that the new robot villain AM3L1A is going to be an extremely central character that’s going to get a lot of screentime in this sequel. Violet touched upon her character and what she’s excited for fans to see in regards to that character.
“It was amazing [to be on set]. Ivanna [Sakhno], who plays AM3L1A, she is lovely to work with and insanely talented. I love the way that she gets into character. Like, she literally becomes AM3L1A. I think after fans see her, there’s just gonna be like ‘yup, that’s gonna be my Halloween costume. That’s when I’m going to be for Halloween this year.”
Conclusion:
Speaking with Violet for M3GAN 2.0 was an extremely delightful experience and I can’t wait to check out the film when it lands in theatres on June 27 (one day before my birthday!). Check out the full video interview linked above to see our full conversation which also includes Violet discussing what horror franchise she’d love to be a part of next, as well as who she thinks would win in a fight between M3GAN and The Black Phone‘s The Grabber.
