The actors behind the spooky villains in The Strangers were very committed to their roles.
Froy Gutierrez, who plays Ryan in the upcoming horror trilogy, exclusively told Us Weekly about how he interacted offscreen with the people who brought Dollface, Man in the Mask and Pin-Up Girl to life.
“They were so phenomenal at staying in character, actually,” Gutierrez, 26, recalled of filming the movie, which will be released in theaters on Friday, May 17. “So in between takes, they would usually leave their masks on and they would kind of keep to themselves a bit. When we [took a break] for lunch, it would be a different story for sure. But while we were there shooting the actual scenes, they were very much in it.”
Gutierrez praised his costars for their commitment to the project.
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“Part of the frustration and part of the terror of this movie is that these characters are pleading with these people trying to figure out their motivation. What do they want? Can I give them something? Do they want my things? Do they want this house? What do they want?” he noted. “And you’re not getting anything back from them, you’re just being greeted with violence. That is so horrifying and so terrifying.”
In addition to remaining in costume, Gutierrez discussed the scene improvisation that took place on set, saying, “They really added to it by being so quiet in between takes. And in the trailer [for the movie], there’s a whole sequence with me and Pin-Up Girl where she’s staring down the barrel of a shotgun that I’m holding and she’s dancing in front of it and screaming. That just serves to throw you off more, basically. It’s really terrifying and that whole bit was improvised.”
The Strangers: Chapter 1 is based on the 2008 home invasion horror film that followed a couple who was attacked by masked criminals while staying at a vacation home. In this iteration, Gutierrez stars alongside Madelaine Petsch (who plays Maya) in the trilogy, which filmed all three films across a 52-day shoot in Slovakia.
Gutierrez told Us the experience wasn’t too daunting since he is used to filming scenes out of order.
“Sometimes you’ll shoot a season of a TV show on a block schedule, which is to say all out of order. I’ve done that in the past and so it kind of felt like that in a weird way,” the actor, who previously appeared on Teen Wolf and Cruel Summer, shared. “We had 290 pages of a trilogy. [So] you just take your notes, you figure out where you are on the page and you just dive into it.”
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Surprisingly, the challenges largely came from the lengthy shooting schedules. “It was just how long the days could be at times and how adrenaline-filled they could be as well,” Gutierrez continued. “So you get back to the hotel room and you might have eight hours before they’re picking you up again and you can’t really sleep for four of them. You have to come down from the day a little bit.”
Petsch, 29, has also discussed stepping up to the challenge, telling Us in July 2023, “When I took this task on, it felt far too large for anybody to ever handle. Like truly, I thought, ‘I’m over my head.’ But then when I got there — all three films took place in a short amount of time. So [once I approached it like] I was doing one long movie, it all made sense to me.”
She added: “I was able to fit this puzzle together as if I was basically making one long movie or a television show or anything else. It was actually quite easy to get my brain around it once I realized the span of time it takes place over.”
The Strangers: Chapter 1 is out in theaters nationwide Friday, May 17.
