Director Renny Harlin and star Madelaine Petsch have finally followed through on their promise to bring the world a trilogy focused on the iconic horror franchise The Strangers. With Chapter 3, the story comes to a close—but as it turns out, the ending wasn't always set to go down the way it did in the final movie.
In the film, Maya breaks into Scarecrow's hideout in the final act. Instead of a bit of a shootout, a more intimate, twisted scene plays out as Maya seemingly seems to show signs of affection or caring for the man who killed everyone she loved. Though, of course, that wasn't the case, and she used those moments to get close enough to stab Scarecrow, killing him forever.
In an interview with The Direct, The Strangers: Chapter 3 star Madelaine Petsch revealed how the original ending to the movie would have gone down, while also speculating on the fate of her character at the end of the film after she's dispatched the last iconic member of the titular villains.
Petsch revealed that the original ending of the movie "was not scripted like that," and it used to be "what you imagine... a big final blowout." Maya would have come into Scarecrow's den with a shotgun and had a big shootout. Instead, the actress suggested that Maya do what she would do in real life: "use [her] womanly wiles to convince the person that [she's] on their side."
After Maya sneakily stabs and kills Scarecrow, as he lies dying, he tells her that she's "just like him." She responds, saying, "Maybe," grabs the iconic Strangers mask, and leaves the hideout. But what does that mean for Maya's future? Could this be the beginning of her path to healing or the birth of a new villain?
"I'm in two lines about it," Petsch explains. "Part of me wants her to heal," she elaborates, "but another part of me wants her to become nasty back." Despite her own thoughts on the matter, she does make it clear that at the end of the day, "It's really left [to] the audience's interpretation."
I'm in two lines about it. Honestly, I think there's a part of me that wants her to heal,
It's really left the audience's interpretation. I was the one who said, Can I grab the mask at the end of the movie? I was like, I think she should have it in her hand. We can do one with, one without, and you guys can decide.
Madelaine Petsch revealed that when she had Maya grab the iconic horror mask at the end, her intention "was that she was going to become one [of The Strangers]." At the end of the day, despite playing with both possibilities in her mind, she revealed that she's "leaning more towards her becoming a bad guy."
More spoilery tidbits from Madelaine Petsch's interview with The Direct's Russ Milheim can be read and viewed below. The Strangers: Chapter 3 is now playing in theaters.
The Strangers: Chapter 3 Ending Used to Be Different
The Ending Confrontation Used to Be "A Big Final Blowout."
- The Direct: "Was that last confrontation with Scarecrow always going to be as intimate as it was? Because that finale is not really bombastic per se. It's just that it's a very intimate moment. Is that always what it was planned to be?"
Madelaine Petsch: No, it was not scripted like that. It was scripted to be, like a big final, what you would imagine, like a big final blowout. She comes in with a gun, they have a big altercation, but the guy who plays Scarecrow is a big dude, and I'm not a big dude. So we were like, how? What?
And to me, I always felt like this cat and mouse, like, if I was in a situation—this says a lot about myself—I would use my womanly wiles to convince the person that I'm on their side. That's what I've always told myself. Like, I would convince somebody I've got Stockholm syndrome, and I make them think I'm in love with them, and then I would turn on them the moment that I could.
So, when I got this script, I was like, that's what I would do. Can we try that? And I spoke to the actor, and he was like, 'Yeah, you could never overpower me.' And I was like, 'Okay, well, hold on, don't say that.' But yeah, we both kind of agree that was the move. And then we went to Courtney [Soloman] and Renny [Harlin], and they were like, 'We love that. We haven't seen that before.' So, it kind of happened naturally.
Maya's Fate After The Strangers: Chapter 3 Revealed?
"I'm Leaning More Towards Her Becoming a Bad Guy."
- The Direct: "Before Scarecrow dies, he kind of says to you, 'You're just like me.' And you go, 'Maybe.' But, when the movie ends, do you think that Maya is going to continue a spiral, or is this maybe the start of a recovery of some sort?"
Madelaine Petsch: I'm in two lines about it. Honestly, I think there's a part of me that wants her to heal, and there's a part of me that wants her to become nasty back. You know what I mean? Like, after spending so much time being terrorized, part of me wants her to terrorize.
But I don't know, honestly, I think that's what's so fun about it, is it's really left [to] the audience's interpretation. I was the one who said, Can I grab the mask at the end of the movie? I was like, I think she should have it in her hand. We can do one with, one without, and you guys can decide.
When I did that, my intention was that she was going to become one. And now I've kind of spent more time with it, and I'm like, maybe she doesn't, maybe she wants it as a souvenir, I don't know. I'm like, what kind of person would go through all that trauma and want a souvenir? I don't know. So I do kind of feel like I'm leaning more towards her becoming a bad guy.
- The Direct: "There's a very specific moment that I feel like people are gonna be talking about, and so I wanted to ask you about it. It's when Scarecrow takes her sister and kills her right in front of [Maya]. But Maya doesn't really do anything. She's reacting as she realizes who it is, but she doesn't do anything. So, in your words, what is going through her head in that moment, and how she reacts?"
Madelaine Petsch: Well, she is tied up for the record. So, I mean, all she could really do is, like, hop out of the car. I don't know, like, what—but really she'd fall. It'd just look like a little caterpillar sinking on the ground... She couldn't physically do anything.
But that moment was so important to us. We spent so much time shooting it, because it is like the final piece of humanity leaving Maya's body. And that was so important because she doesn't have much left to give. She doesn't have a well of emotion and sadness left.
And when she watches her sister die, to me, it always was this moment of like, she is no longer Maya. She's a shell of herself. She's lost everything, and even the moment before that, when she willingly kills Doll Face, which is her first intentional human kill, I think that's one of the final pieces of her humanity, and she's not even thinking about her sister. She's just a shell of herself. And then when she sees her sister, it's this final piece of loss and acceptance. I think it's almost an acceptance of, 'Yeah, this is my life now. This is my fate. I should have known this was coming.'
The full interview can be viewed below:
