Madelaine Reveals: “I Used To Work Three Jobs To Pay Rent!”
THE ACTRESS OPENS UP ABOUT HER LIFE BEFORE FAME.
Madelaine Petsch may be known for playing of Cheryl Blossom in Riverdale now, but before landing her iconic CW role, Madelaine’s life wasn’t exactly glamorous. In fact, she says it was far from it and she was struggling to make ends meet. “I was working three jobs to pay my rent, which was crazy,” she opens up. “In the morning, I would open up a coffee shop, during the day I was a personal assistant to a photographer in Venice and at night I was a host at a restaurant in Beverly Hills.”
THERE WERE NIGHTS I WAS AT HOME CRYING!
While having more than one job at once was tough,
Madelaine still found time to fit in her real passion. “What was nice about all of those jobs was that they were flexible enough that I could audition during my first two jobs,” she shares. “Since most auditions are before 5:00 during weekdays, I could still try to make my dreams come true of becoming an actress.” However, going on audition after audition and not landing any parts started to take a toll on Madelaine’s self-esteem. “There were nights I was at home, crying, thinking I’d never make it,” she admits. “But my family believed in me and I think that’s a huge reason why I was able to get up the next day and go to the audition, do my best and try my hardest.”
After 247 auditions, Madelaine says she got the audition that changed her life. “One day, I was driving to my personal assistant job in Venice when I got a call asking if I could come in for an audition. I called and asked my boss if I could miss work that day and she told me to just come over when I was finished,” she explains. “After I auditioned, I started heading back to my personal assistant job and I got a callback asking if I could come in to read for the pilot of Riverdale.” Even though she thought that audition went well, Madelaine says months went by and she never heard anything from them. She kept working, assuming that it was just another acting opportunity she lost.
WORKING THREE JOBS PREPARED ME FOR WHAT I’M DOING NOW!
Four months later, the phone rang and Madelaine got the news she never thought she’d hear: She booked the role of Cheryl on Riverdale! “I was at my personal assistant job at the time and I picked up the phone thinking that I was about to be told that I hadn’t gotten it, but then my manager and agent told me I got it!” she smiles. “We all started to cry. My boss even overheard me on the phone and was like ‘So I guess you’re going to quit?’ and I was like ‘Yep!’”
The next thing she knew, Madelaine was in Vancouver shooting the pilot of Riverdale, but she says she’ll never forget her days of being a struggling actress in Los Angeles. “Working those three jobs totally prepared me for what I’m doing right now,” she reveals. “And