NEED TO KNOW

• Madelaine Petsch recalls watching 2008’s The Strangers for the first time in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE

• “My parents had just started leaving me home alone, and I watched that film and it really stuck with me. I mean, obviously it’s terrifying,” she says

• The actress stars as Maya in the relaunch of the popular horror movie franchise

Madelaine Petsch goes way back with The Strangers franchise.

The actress, 31, stars as Maya in the relaunch of the popular horror movie franchise. But before that, she was merely a viewer of Bryan Bertino’s 2008 movie about a couple tormented by three masked killers during their stay at a remote vacation home.

Speaking with PEOPLE about the release of The Strangers: Chapter 2, Petsch recalls her first experience with the movie franchise. “I was home alone and my brother thought it’d be funny to tell me to watch that movie. So I did, and I was quite young. I came out in 2008. I was like 15 when I watched it,” she says.

“My parents had just started leaving me home alone, and I watched that film and it really stuck with me. I mean, obviously, it’s terrifying. I’m home alone and my parents have these giant glass windows in the living room, and I was like, ‘I’m going to be murdered by the man in the mask tonight,’ ” the actress remembers.

The movie ultimately left an impression on the scream queen, who notes that it has a relatable aspect. “I’ve seen so many horror films that feel supernatural or otherworldly, so you can’t really liken them to your own life. But with The Strangers, they’re just people with masks on who want to kill, and I think that’s what makes it so terrifying,” she says.

Petsch starred and produced The Strangers: Chapter 2, which saw her character in the aftermath of the brutal attack that left her boyfriend dead. Still being targeted by the titular characters, she is, once again, thrown into a fight for her life.

The movie was preceded by 2024’s The Strangers: Chapter 1, and will be followed by a third installment, all of which are directed by Renny Harlin.

The actress is best known for her small-screen role as Cheryl Blossom on The CW series Riverdale for seven seasons from 2017 to 2023. She also starred in and produced the Prime Video romantic-comedy Maintenance Required.

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Petsch previously opened up to PEOPLE about how she isn’t bothered by reviews of her work, saying, “You kind of can’t avoid them on social media. It’s going to show up on my ‘For You’ page on TikTok, or my producer’s going to send it to me. It is what it is.”

“At the end of the day, what’s most important is that I’m proud of my performance. That’s literally the only thing I can control,” she continued.

“I think the best films are polarizing,” Petsch said, adding that she’s sure there’s a movie that she loves but other people don’t. “That’s what makes film and art so cool.”

The Strangers: Chapter 2 is now in theaters.

Read the original article on People