Madelaine Petsch Compares Riverdale To The Strangers While Debunking AI

Madelaine Petsch joined ScreenRant‘s newest episode of Debunking AI to share love for her new movie, The Strangers: Chapter 2, but she still hasn’t forgotten Riverdale. The American and South African actor burst on the teen drama scene in 2017, stealing viewers’ hearts as the delightfully devious Cheryl Blossom in the hit CW series. She has since transitioned to movie stardom, headlining The Strangers trilogy and making her mark in the world of horror.

The first installment served as director Renny Harlin’s relaunch of the critically acclaimed 2018 movie from Bryan Bertino. In The Strangers: Chapter 1, Petsch plays Maya Lucas, a young woman whose road trip with her boyfriend turns into a nightmare when their overnight stay is interrupted by three masked strangers with a taste for blood. Though Maya survived her ordeal at the end of the first movie, her troubles are far from over in The Strangers: Chapter 2, which sees her trying to stay out of the Strangers’ clutches even as the townsfolk seem to be covering for their resident killers.

In this week’s Debunking AI, which you can watch above, Petsch was awed and terrified by the accuracy of our robot overlords. She reminisced about Riverdale‘s early years, including the striking similarities season 2 bore to The Strangers. When it came to her new movie, however, she disagreed ever so slightly about some of AI’s opinions, especially when it came to Maya’s survival skills.

Madelaine Petsch Understood A Key Part Of Cheryl’s Idenтιтy From The Riverdale Pilot

Petsch and AI were off to a strong start when the latter described Cheryl as “a wealthy, confident, and dramatic queen bee with a gothic edge,” whose sharp exterior belies “a lonely, emotional girl shaped by trauma and longing for love.” While Petsch declared that she, “would not have answered it like that at all,” she did find it to be a gorgeously accurate depiction of the beloved Riverdale character.

The thing that shaped her relationships was her mother pushing down her Sєxuality for so long.

However, she disagreed about Jason’s death being a turning point or a catalyst for Cheryl. “I don’t even know if that really affected her as a person,” despite the deep trust between the twins before his death. “The thing that shaped her relationships was her mother pushing down her Sєxuality for so long,” Petsch explained. “I think that was at the root of why Cheryl was the way she was with Toni, more so than losing Jason.“

Cheryl’s Sєxuality was something Petsch was sure of ever since she filmed the pilot, which she recounted pᴀssionately for ScreenRant.

I called Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa] after the pilot and said, “Cheryl’s a lesbian.” I remember doing that, and he was like, “Hey, what?” And I was like, “Yes, she’s a lesbian. I know it. I’m just telling you right now. She’s a lesbian.” He was like, “Okay, cool. Let’s figure it out,” and I thought that was really cool.But he did that, and then we started figuring out why she’s not outwardly a lesbian. Why is she not out? What does that look like?

In the end, Petsch pointed to the Blossom family as the root of her repression because they “don’t see or hear her, and they’re so prim and proper.” A big part of portraying Cheryl properly onscreen was making sure the audience could “feel that innate shame and guilt of having the weight of the world on your shoulders.” She credited the show’s writers with giving its stars “such a runway to really take creative control of our characters in a way.”

The Strangers Trilogy Has Some Interesting Similarities To Riverdale

When asked about potential parallels between Riverdale and The Strangers, AI offered up the key elements of suspense and danger in a small-town setting, and various situations in which the characters must fight for survival. Petsch did allow those things to be true, even acknowledging the diner that kicks off the action. “We actually have a diner set for this press junket, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, this feels like I’m in Pop’s!’“

“They’re similar, I guess, also tonally,” Petsch continued.” “Riverdale’s a little horror-centric occasionally,” including when the Black Hood was serial killing Riverdale denizens in season 2. “But outside of that, I think they’re vastly different.” That being said, she did want to mention that “they’re missing one incredibly key element. Me! I am what makes it alike.“

To take that likeness even further, Petsch got to be on the ground floor with your character in The Strangers, much like she was years earlier with Cheryl. Despite the movie trilogy being based on a pre-existing franchise, she recalled how she “helped rewrite The Strangers” when it came to giving script input and leaning into her producer credit. “I think Riverdale informed my ability to be a producer and to feel creatively in control,” Petsch added, which allowed her “to be in the producer hat for The Strangers in a really natural way.”

How Has Maya Been Able To Survive The Strangers?

Scarecrow, Pin-Up Girl, and Dollface watch Maya and Ryan in The Strangers: Chapter 1.

AI deduced that what makes Maya stand out as a character in The Strangers franchise is her quick thinking under pressure, to which Petsch added, “her resourcefulness… and her confidence. Maya’s just a star.” But is it not that star quality that has helped her survive from Chapter 1 to Chapter 2. The actor credited some of her survival skills to her thoughtfulness, especially in comparison to her boyfriend Ryan, who died at the end of the first film.

I think Ryan acts a little bit more out of impulse, and Maya uses a little bit more thought behind her behavior. He’s a little more reactive. Like killing Joe in the first movie; he just immediately sH๏τ.

On the other hand, she rejected AI’s consensus that Maya survived instead of Ryan due to outsmarting the villains with her resourcefulness. “The reason why Maya survived is not because she was resourceful. They stabbed her in the wrong spot!” Petsch explained. “That has nothing to do with her resourcefulness whatsoever. That’s just the luck of the Irish. Cheating death, straight up.”

When it came to outsmarting AI overall, however, Madelaine Petsch had a very different take: “It’s kind of insane. Maybe I need to remove my footprint from the internet. There’s something concerning about the level of accuracy here.” Of course, by answering its questions, “I’m just adding more layers to it!“

The Strangers is now playing in theaters.

You can check out previous episodes of Debunking AI here: