The Strangers have an iconic look, to say the least. With The Strangers: Chapter 1, the infamous horror franchise was promising a three-part narrative following the masked killers that horror fans are familiar with. Now, The Strangers: Chapter 3 finally lets Madelaine Petsch's Maya put on one of her terrorizer's masks—specifically the one of Dollface, who died at the end of Chapter 2.
Petsch sat down with The Direct to talk about the strange experience of putting on one of those masks instead of running away from it, per usual. "It was a really weird experience," Petsch said about the experience, adding how it "felt very foreign to [her]" and that she "didn't really know how to move and operate." Wearing the mask "actually worked really well for the scenes" because it "does become this level of anonymity that you don't really understand when you're not wearing it."
For Maya, her character in the film, putting the mask on becomes "a level of power" for her, though "definitely not a positive power." Petsch added that she "think[s] [it] feels a little scary to her."
More of Madelaine Petsch's interview with The Direct's Russ Milheim for The Strangers: Chapter 3, which lands in theaters on February 6, 2026, can be read below.
Madelaine Petsch Finally Gets To Put on One of Those Terrifying Masks
"It Was a Really Weird Experience."
- The Direct: "Finally, in this movie, in Chapter 3, you get to experience this story, both as Maya and yourself, on the other side of one of those masks. What was that like on both of those accounts?"
Madelaine Petsch: It was a really weird experience. I didn't even think about it before we shot it, and then when I put the mask on, I was very like—it felt very foreign to me. I didn't really know how to move and operate. It actually worked really well for the scenes, I think, because it does become this level of anonymity that you don't really understand when you're not wearing it. And also there's, like, a level of power for Maya with these masks, and not even, like, definitely not a positive power, but a level of power that those masks hold that once she's wearing it. I think feels a little scary to her.
- The Direct: "You wear Pin-Up Girl's mask. But was there ever talk about giving Maya kind of a specifically designed mask?"
Petsch: No. The idea behind Pin-Up Girl's mask is [Scarecrow's] love for Shelly, the character who dies in movie two, kind of being resurrected within Maya, was the hope. So it's less about like Maya becoming one and more about her becoming his Pin-Up.
- The Direct: "You've spent so long with this franchise, 'The Strangers.' Now that it's done, are there any other iconic horror franchises that you want to take a stab at?"
Petsch: Oh, yeah, actually. It's not a franchise. There's a horror movie I really want to remake from the 70s, but I'm keeping my mouth shut on that one until it happens, because I feel positive about it.
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