Brandy recently returned to the horror genre, but she needed a little support. In a new interview with PEOPLE, the singer and actress discusses her starring role in the new A24 horror film, The Front Room.
Her character doesn’t have an easy time in the film. Based on Susan Hill’s short story of the same name, The Front Room stars Brandy as Belinda, a young pregnant woman who is looking forward to her first child with her husband Norman (Andrew Burnap). But when her husband’s father dies unexpectedly, the young couple decides to welcome her mother-in-law Solange (Kathryn Hunter) into their home. It’s a bumpy ride, as Solange turns out to not just be racist but also possibly demonic.
“I stayed in character. I’m a little bit method, so it stayed with me,” Brandy tells PEOPLE. “But after, I was able to do a little bit of therapy to release the character and release the dark places that I had to go to with the character.”
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The Front Room marks Brandy’s first horror film since 1998’s I Know What You Did Last Summer. Her other recent performances have been on the brighter end of the emotional spectrum, such as reprising her iconic role as Cinderella in Descendants: The Rise of Red and last year’s Netflix holiday movie Best. Christmas. Ever!
But Brandy relished the challenge of acting alongside Hunter, a renowned Shakespearean actor with acclaimed recent performances in Poor Things and The Tragedy of Macbeth. She even hired an acting coach to help her deal with the pressure.
“It scared me, so I wanted to do something like Belinda to see if I could pull it off, to see if I can expand my range as an actress, my depth,” Brandy tells PEOPLE. “And I wanted to work with [filmmakers] Sam and Max Eggers, and Kathryn Hunter … She’s such a phenomenal actress. I wanted to be able to react to her and stay as present as possible.”
It’s good to get that training in, because now that she’s caught the horror bug again, Brandy also wants to be part of the upcoming reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer.
The Front Room is now in theaters. Watch the trailer below.