Actress Madelaine Petsch became a household name thanks to her role as Cheryl Blossom in Riverdale (which is streaming with a Netflix subscription). She’s been keeping busy in the years since the Riverdale series finale aired, in film projects that span multiple genres. Funny enough, her horror sequel the Strangers – Chapter 2 hit theaters just a week and change before her new rom-com Maintenance Required was released for those with an Amazon Prime subscription. And she spoke to CinemaBlend about the challenge and joy of promoting these two very different movies at the same time.
Critics were mixed on The Strangers Chapter 2, but her role in the franchise is cementing Petsch as a bonafide scream queen. But only a week and a half its release she’s promoting the rom-com Maintenance Required, which is out now on Amazon. As you can see in the video above, I asked the 31 year-old actress/producer about what it’s been like to have these two very different projects come out at essentially the same time. She told me:
There are moments where I, like this morning when I got to the Amazon studios, I was like, ‘Okay, this is a rom-com. You weren’t just being chased by masked killers. Your love interest is a person. He’s not dead, His name is Beau.’ I had to like, kind of remind myself about the film. Just because we just finished press for it.
Talk about genre whiplash. Because while Petsch starred in both of these titles, they’re very different projects. One is a rom-com putting a modern spin on You’ve Got Mail, and the other features her trying to survive bloody encounters with masked killers. So the actress having to take the to reset her mind while doing press makes a great deal of sense.
While this might have been a bit exhausting for the actress, having these two movies come out at the same time does offer the opportunity for her fans to do a Madelaine Petsch double feature. They just have to see The Strangers – Chapter 2 in theaters and then go home and decompress with Maintenance Required on Amazon. Later in our interview, the Riverdale alum explained the “gift” of having these two titles arrive at the same time. In her words:
But honestly, what an amazing gift as an actor to show the versatility and performance like that. Like, I feel so lucky to know that people can go watch Strangers 2 in theaters and go home and watch Maintenance Required and see Charlie and see the vast difference in those two characters.
Points were made. While she might be exhausted, Petsch’s leading roles in both of these movies does show a ton of range for her. Add in the fact that she’s executive producer on Maintenance Required, and she’s even more impressive. Talk about versatility and work ethic!
Those moviegoers who like seeing the actress in scary movies are in luck, as she’s already set to reprise her role as Maya Lucas in the upcoming horror movie The Strangers – Chapter 3. We’ll just have to wait and see if that threequel also arrives at the same time as another Madelaine Petsch movie. The actress certainly doesn’t seem opposed to this process.
The Strangers – Chapter 2 is in theaters now and Maintenance Required is on Amazon as part of the 2025 movie release list. Go forth and make that double feature happen, you cowards!