Madelaine Petsch Has a Refreshing Mindset When It Comes to Dealing With Critical Reviews

The actress traverses the world of Hollywood with this unshakable sentiment.

Madelaine Petsch / Paul Archuleta/Getty Images

As the saying goes, “Everyone’s a critic.” Feedback—both positive and negative—is something to be expected in any job in any industry, but there’s no denying it’s especially prevalent in Hollywood.

Madelaine Petsch is, of course, familiar with this fact, as the actress is no stranger to receiving feedback on and reading reviews about her projects. Still, rather than take any review too personally, Petsch recently shared that she has a refreshingly healthy relationship with criticism.

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How the actress approaches reviews

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE this week, Petsch opened up about how she deals with people’s perception of her work—especially with how fast opinions can spread on social media platforms like TikTok, saying, “You kind of can’t avoid them on social media. It’s going to show up on my ‘For You’page on TikTok, or my producer’s going to send it to me. It is what it is.”

But she noted that just because she has to see them, it doesn’t mean she has to internalize them, adding, “At the end of the day, what’s most important is that I’m proud of my performance. That’s literally the only thing I can control.”

In addition to letting her own opinion about her performance speak louder than the comments she may receive, the actress also believes that, in the film industry, there is seldom a middle ground when it comes to audience reviews. Some viewers are either absolutely obsessed with a particular title, while others may feel like it’s not their cup of tea.

As an avid consumer of media herself, Petsch attests that she feels the same when it comes to what she watches, which is why she can view criticism objectively: “I think the best films are polarizing. That’s what makes film and art so cool.”

Madelaine Petsch attends "The Strangers: Chapter 2" world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2025 in September 2025 in Austin, Texas. / Rick Kern/Getty Images

Her new horror movie

The Strangers: Chapter 2 is the 31-year-old actress’s latest project. In the sequel, Petsch reprises her role as Maya: a survivor of a small town’s horrors who finds herself in a dangerous situation once again as she attempts to escape her aggressor’s grasp. The 2025 film tells a story of survival, showing what someone on the brink of death can do to ensure they live to see another day. Regarding the role, Petsch also told the outlet that she sees a lot of herself in a character like Maya.

“I really believe that every character I play has a piece of me in them and then they leave a piece of themselves in me that I can take with me through my life,” she shared. “We think very similarly. Honestly, I think we are similarly resilient. I just don’t know if I could do what she does, but then at the same time, I’m sure at the beginning of movie one, Maya didn’t think she could do all the stuff she’s doing now.”

And that resilience is certainly alive and well in Petsch, both on and off screen!

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