WOMAN:
00:00:48
Maya. Let me out of here! Let me out of here! Maya! You said you would help me. I am helping you. Let me out! Open it!
VLAD:
00:00:56
Mmm! First on CBSMornings--
TONY:
00:00:58
Ah! Yeah, run! Madelaine Petsch joins us now. I know they're good Samaritans, but when the doors lock, you go, ruh-roh, this cannot end well. Why yes. Congratulations to you on the second installment, because I watched it last night-- alone. That's not good. I'm still feeling very traumatized this morning. Do you like this genre? Love. Because, listen, for people who like horror films, this is a good one. This is the one. Yes. Thank you. I do. I love it. I wanted to do it justice. I really-- I watched all of the movies in Blockbuster as a kid. It's my favorite. But this is the thing. I was reading that you had very little time to prepare for this role. What does that mean? I was shooting another film, and I was offered this three weeks before they started production in Slovakia, which means I had to travel relatively soon to start production.
GAYLE:
00:01:43
Three weeks before? Yeah, so I traveled-- I finished that film a week later, I went home for two days, and then I got on a plane and went to Slovakia. So I even have time to mentally wrap my head around what I was going to do. I just was like, OK, just got to go. And did you know, when you took it, that you were going to be shooting three movies? Yes. Wow. Yeah. This is maybe a dumb question, but when you're acting in a horror movie, is it scary in the scene when you're there or only scary on screen later? I personally feel like you can't manufacture fear on screen. You have to actually feel it. I think you guys would all be able to see that it's inauthentic. So I was scared on set.
TONY:
00:02:14
So what do you like about it?
GAYLE:
00:02:15
Yeah, good question.
MADELAINE:
00:02:16
It's thrilling. It's thrilling. Do you like horror films?
TONY:
00:02:18
I'm not a horror fan.
VLAD:
00:02:19
He does not.
TONY:
00:02:20
I understand the artistry. And this has got artistry into it. And it's a great one if you like horror films. Thank you. But you say the toughest part is what it does to your body or what it-- Like, mentally. So, I mean, speaking of having to be scared all the time, it puts my body into fight or flight and shoots my cortisol levels up, which I already have problems with as a woman. So when I come down and I'm at home at night, I can't sleep. I can't get my mind from stopping to race. And so it's nice because it keeps the tension for me when I go to work the next day. I'm always kind of in fight or flight. But when I finish one of those movies, it feels like-- [SIGHS]
GAYLE:
00:02:49
Yes. I can finally breathe again. That's how I felt watching this movie. Gosh, what-- please let her be OK. Well, you hope so. But, you know, what I want to touch on are the themes in this film. Unlike the first film, where you're basically in a cabin, in this one, you are kind of everywhere-- On the run. --in a hospital, in a car. And you even-- In a morgue. --fight a wild boar at one point. Yes. There's a really incredible scene with that. But there's something interesting about this. The idea that there are strangers that may commit violence is undercut by giving us a little bit of a backstory of who these strangers are. Why did you-- because you're an executive producer on this film, why did you decide to hit that? I actually would like to clarify. I would never refer to it as a backstory. I think it's really important. The original 2008 film, the whole thing that makes it scary, I think, is that you don't need a reason why to kill these people.
VLAD:
00:03:34
Right, exactly. Exactly. So I think giving these characters a backstory will remove that ambiguity in a way that wouldn't work. So what we're trying to do is peek the-- open the curtain to take a peek back at previous killings. And that's basically it. We don't want to be giving people a narrative as to why or what or how.
VLAD:
00:03:50
Oh, interesting. It's more just they've been doing this for a lot longer than you think.
GAYLE:
00:03:54
Yeah, that is interesting. I mean, just the way you open with the statistics that, in 2023, 1,670 people in this country were murdered by strangers, I mean, had totally chosen at random, which I think just adds to the fear of this movie, thinking it could be anybody. Yeah. It could be anybody. Yeah. That's the hardest part about promoting this film, is I don't-- I don't even like to put that out in the world. So I never like to bring it back to that. But, I mean, that is what makes it so scary, I think. You do most of your own stunts, including a stunt with an ax that I'm told is very real, and it was very close to your face. Why would you do this?
MADELAINE:
00:04:29
You know, that is a case of me just blacking out on set and doing whatever I have to do to make the movie happen. In hindsight, the current Madelaine would say no to doing that. But when I'm on set, it's almost like a different version of me takes over, and I'm like, whatever we got to do to get the shot. So they're like, yeah, just right-- it's going to go right by your head, like, right by your head. And I was like, yeah, no, it's fine, it's fine. And then I look back on it, and I'm like, how could I-- I could have lost an ear, at minimum.
TONY:
00:04:52
What were you thinking? So this is so funny that you're-- the way you're describing this to Tony's question, because you got a new movie coming out, which is a comedy, right? It's called MaintenanceRequired. And it's very different, Tony. It's not a horror film. But you are incredibly funny. And so I'm wondering what it's like to go from dodging axes and murderers to this comedic role.
GAYLE:
00:05:10
Hey, Madelaine, it's called acting. [LAUGHTER] But it is. That's what you do. Yes.
TONY:
00:05:15
You have to be--
GAYLE:
00:05:16
Yeah, I wonder about that too, because--
VLAD:
00:05:18
Is acting naturally-- being funny, is that natural or is that acting? I think it's-- I feel like I am naturally funny.
VLAD:
00:05:23
Yes. And everyone behind the camera is actually saying yes. Can you tell?
VLAD:
00:05:27
Right? She's naturally funny. No, I think variety is the spice of life as an actor. The more different things I can do, the more polarizing, the more divisive the character, the more interesting to play for an actor. Do you have a favorite rom-com of all time? Yes I do. Crazy, StupidLove. All right. Yes. I think that is a perfect film. I love Sleepless inSeattle. Is there a back story to your name? Because they kept-- I would say "Madeleine," and they kept saying, no, Madelaine. Is there a back story? I actually got used to people just calling me Madeleine, so it's fine if that happens, but--
GAYLE:
00:05:53
I don't want to do that. My parents-- my mom got to name my brother, and so my mom told my dad he could name me. And he said, right as she was about to give birth to me, "I've got it. Street." And my mom was like, "Absolutely not." And then she went under for her C-section. She came back, and she said, "Laine," like Madelaine, Street. She's like, "We'll compromise." That is hilarious. Yeah. [LAUGHS] So do your folks call you Laine for short? Yeah, they do.
TONY:
00:06:14
Oh, that's cute.
GAYLE:
00:06:14
Mom and dad. OK, Laine.
VLAD:
00:06:16
So it would be Street Petsch. That doesn't have-- That would be crazy.
GAYLE:
00:06:18
I like the name Laine Petsch. That's nice. Thank you so much. Congratulations to you. Thank you.
GAYLE:
00:06:23
The Strangers Chapter 2is in Theaters this Friday.
