Madelaine Petsch attends "The Strangers: Chapter 2" Special Screening at AMC Century City 15 on September 16, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Vivien Killilea/Getty Images Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text We've all watched the credits to a movie and passed some degree of judgment when the star of the movie is also listed as a producer of some sort. We'll sometimes jump to the conclusion that it must be a vanity credit, one that was offered as sweetener in order to close an actor's deal. But in the case of Madelaine Petsch's The Strangers trilogy, her executive producer title is well-merited. Opening Sept. 26 in movie theaters, The Strangers: Chapters 2 once again chronicles Petsch's Maya as she's pursued across a small Oregon town by the titular serial killers. Petsch, along with director Renny Harlin and producer Courtney Solomon, managed to shoot an entire trilogy in just 52 days. That figure ultimately changed once they addressed fan criticism of Chapter 1, adding three-to-four weeks of additional filming on Chapter 2 and 3. But throughout each phase of photography, Petsch imposed her will in order to better the product on the screen. Related Stories Movies 'The Strangers: Chapter 2' Director Renny Harlin Says Fan-Driven Additional Photography Retooled Upcoming 'Chapter 3' Movies Madelaine Petsch Faces Masked Pursuers Again in 'The Strangers: Chapter 2' Trailer "I did not have the credit at first. I came on set and said, 'Hey guys, would you be willing to listen to [some script thoughts]?'" Petsch tells The Hollywood Reporter. "And that ultimately became [producer] Courtney Solomon and I editing the script every day after set, going through shot lists with Renny [Harlin] and being more sewn into the fabric of the story in a producorial way. So they offered me the EP credit; it was not a vanity credit that I got." Petsch adds that vanity credits are often a necessity for smaller productions. "Usually, they'll do that to pay actors less money because they don't have a lot of money," Petsch says. "They'll be like, 'We'll give you an EP credit, which will help you, but it's a vanity credit.' So I got offered this credit because I was actually doing the work." Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Petsch also previews the concluding chapter of her Strangers trilogy and why she hopes it'll break the fall release pattern of Chapter 1 and 2. *** When we spoke last year for The Strangers: Chapter 1, I asked you what scene will likely linger for years to come, and you said you'd tell me after I saw Chapter II. Was it the wild boar sequence? That's the one! I have a feeling that the boar sequence is really important to Maya's overall arc. Am I correct or incorrect to draw that conclusion? Yeah, you're very, very, very, very correct in that conclusion. Madelaine Petsch as Maya in The Strangers: Chapter 2. Courtesy of Lionsgate What struck me most about Chapter 2 is how little dialogue there is. It's partly the nature of Maya being alone and on the run from silent attackers. Does no dialogue make your job all the more difficult, since you have to sell each moment physically? There's pros and cons to it. It definitely is more challenging because you just don't really do it that often in this industry. You either have a scene partner to do no dialogue off of, giving you something to react to, or you've got dialogue to rely on. I would say there's probably an hour of this film with no dialogue in it, and it's just a different challenge that's not done very often. So there's definitely pros and cons to both, and it's really fun to flex that muscle. For example, there's an interesting moment where she silently takes inventory of her wounds and scars in front of a mirror. What was on your mind in that moment? It's the first time that Maya sees herself and sees the physical manifestation of everything she's been through. It's the moment where it all hits her. It's like, "This is my reality now." When you're in this state of fight or flight, and survival, you're not really thinking, "I can't believe this is happening to me." You're just thinking, "I've got to survive." So in that moment when she stops and catches herself in the mirror, she's taking inventory of every single attack and every single thing she's been through in the last 24-to-48 hours that has changed her innately as a human being. And ultimately, I think she is, in real time, saying goodbye to that final piece of humanity. Lionsgate released a clip of the morgue scene where Maya encounters her deceased fiancé (Froy Gutierrez's Ryan). Was that dummy Froy? Or real Froy? Real Froy! He's very good at being still. It wasn't as weird as you might think. It really didn't affect us at all. When you're shooting a movie like this, that's the least of your concerns. Madelaine