Fina Strazza went from 'Fear Street' to 'John Proctor.' Will she conquer the Tonys next?
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The 'Fear Street: Prom Queen' film left R.L. Stine asking one question
Acclaimed author R.L. Stine chats with USA TODAY's Ralphie Aversa about the Netflix film adaptation of his book, "Fear Street: Prom Queen."
Fans of Netflix's 'Fear Street' horror movies have good reason to tune into the Tony Awards on Sunday.
Fina Strazza, who plays a villainous mean girl in the 1980s-set slasher film 'Fear Street: Prom Queen' (streaming now), snagged her first Tony nomination for actress in a featured role for 'John Proctor Is the Villain.' The Broadway show has seven nods going into the June 8 ceremony at Radio City Music Hall, including best play and lead actress for Sadie Sink. The 'Stranger Things' star also has ties to 'Fear Street' after appearing in two of the three movies in the 2021 film trilogy.
Strazza, 19, is 'feeling good' but 'still in a little bit of a haze about the nominations,' she says over a recent video chat. 'Can't quite wrap my head around it still.'
In the play, Strazza stars as Beth Powell, a devout, by-the-book overachiever at a rural Georgia high school circa 2018 in the wake of the #MeToo movement. She and her fellow students are studying 'The Crucible,' Arthur Miller's 1953 play about the Salem witch trials, and over the course of a narrative peppered with pop music references, the kids wrestle with the themes of the play, its connection to their own lives and how John Proctor probably wasn't the hero everyone thought he was.
'It's about these young teenage girls grappling with how to be young feminists in a community that they've never been taught how to be, and how to think critically and how to take up space when they've never really had that encouragement,' says Strazza, who had her Broadway breakthrough at 8 years old when she was the youngest actress to play the lead role in the musical 'Matilda.'
For the past two years, 'there's not been a single day that I haven't thought about this play,' Strazza adds, and she sees firsthand how its story has affected young theatergoers. 'It's been really kind of heartbreaking but also empowering to see how relevant the story still is, even though it takes place seven years ago. We kind of all feel like we're still in the same place. And I feel that audiences have been leaving the theater every night with this kind of vigor and drive to keep up a fight in this world. It's been really meaningful to be a part of that.'
Strazza's also enjoyed working with Sink, and those two go way back: Strazza starred with Sink's brother Mitchell in 'Matilda' and their families have been friends for years.
'I've always been very proud of her to see how much she's done,' Strazza says. 'I've been following in her footsteps a little bit with 'Fear Street' and now with this. I'm happy to be on this little path behind her. She's just the most grounded and sweetest person ever. I really enjoy being around her.'
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