Madelaine Petsch

Petsch was born on August 18, 1994, to Timothy and Michele Petsch, in Port Orchard, Washington.^[2][4][5][6] At the age of three, she began dance classes, and two years later enrolled in theater classes. Petsch's parents are from South Africa, and she spent the first ten years of her life dividing her time between South Africa and the state of Washington.^[7][8] She attended the Tacoma School of the Arts and relocated to Los Angeles after graduating.^[9][10][6] Petsch has one older brother, Shaun, who is three years her senior.^[11]

Petsch appeared in a national advertising campaign for Coca-Cola in 2014. In February 2016, she was cast as Cheryl Blossom in The CW's Riverdale,^[12] having been pinned for the role since late 2015 after meeting the casting director, who was at the time working on Legends of Tomorrow.^[13] The series began filming in September of that year. It premiered on January 26, 2017, and ended on August 23, 2023, after seven seasons.^[14][15] In March 2017, she joined the cast of the film Polaroid, which was released in 2019.^[16] In January 2019, it was announced that Petsch would star in and executive produce the horror-comedy film Saint Clare, but in 2022, Bella Thorne took over the role.^[17][18] Petsch's lead performances in the horror movies Polaroid (2019), Sightless (2020), Jane (2022), and The Strangers film series have garnered her the reputation as a scream queen.

In April 2018, Petsch collaborated with sunglasses company Privé Revaux and released her own collection of sunglasses.^[19] Petsch has a YouTube channel, stating that the inspiration to start one was so fans could know the "real her" outside of acting.^[20]

From early 2017 to February 2020, Petsch was in a relationship with musician Travis Mills.^[21] Since August 2022, Petsch has been in a relationship with music manager Anthony Li.^[22] As of March 2025, she has been linked to Tyga.^[23]