Madison Pettis on Her New Movie With Miranda Cosgrove, the Foundation She’s Been Using Since 14 and the Haircut Hack That Saved Her Curls

If you’re not one of Madison Pettis’ 4.3 million followers on Instagram, you probably know her from her days as a child star commanding the screen in fan favorites like The Game Plan and Corey in the House. Now, at the age of 27, you can find Pettis attending events, modeling and filming new projects one of which just premiered on Netflix—The Wrong Paris. We caught up with Pettis a couple of weeks before the Netflix release to chat all things beauty, child stardom, reality dating shows, curl care and more.

I loved seeing you work with Miranda Cosgrove. Did you guys bond over childhood stardom at all?

“Yeah, I was really excited to work with her. I was surprised I hadn’t met her before. I’d always been a fan of hers. I think she’s so funny and talented. It was really fun watching her on set and her comedic timing is so great. We bonded over that, for sure. We both had very similar trajectories and paths, and we both look back at those times really fondly, which is nice. We both feel really sentimental about that time. And we both had a really good time balancing school and set life.

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She and I both took school very seriously. You get this time in a set day where it’s three hours of school, that has to be school, and then the other six hours are on set, but the three hours can be broken up into 20-minute blocks. Like, it’s not three hours continuous. So half the time you’re in the middle of a math test, and they’re like ‘okay, they need you back on set once your 20-minute block is over.’ And you’re like, ‘oh, I want to finish my math test.’ She and I had similar stories of being like, ‘I want to finish my quiz’ or ‘I care about this history lesson that we’re in.’”

The Wrong Paris centers around a dating reality show. Do you watch any yourself?

“I’m not the most loyal dating show person. I’ve watched The Bachelor over the years. I dip in some seasons and some seasons I won’t. I watch with my friends who are all big reality people. So we’ll do little watch nights and stuff like that. Then for this project, I watched some Love Island, rewatched some Bachelor, and I watched some Southern Charm to get my little southern accent.”

Would you ever go on one?

“I couldn’t. I don’t think so. I’m too easily jealous to compete with other people for a guy. When we were filming it, I was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t have what it takes. Those people are strong. I don’t have it.”

Do you have anything in common with your character in the movie?

“She’s different than me, for sure. It’s fun to play characters that aren’t just like you. She’s a southern girl, which I am myself. I’m from Texas originally. She’s from Tennessee. I don’t have the southern little twang that she’s got going on, but it’s still in there somewhere. My Texas soul is still in there. And I think, similar to me, she actually is looking for love. I think she’s kind of a businesswoman with her influencer career going on. I think she knows the show is a good opportunity, but I do think she’s actually there trying to meet the love of her life. So I think she’s pure intentioned in that way. And if I were in her situation, I would also be looking for love and trying to do it that way too.”

What are some of your favorite rom-coms?

“13 Going on 30 is my favorite movie just in general of all time, it’s perfect. I’ve seen it 200 times. It’s flawless. Notting Hill is one of my favorites. 10 Things I Hate About You is so good. I love that one.”

Your curls have always been amazing. How have you kept them healthy all this time. Do you use anything to enhance them or you just wake up like this?

“It depends. You know, if you’re a curly girl, you don’t know what your hair is going to give you that day, like day one wash day to day three is completely different hair. I try to get curl-by-curl cuts. It was a big game-changer for me when I discovered those because I had had a few unfortunate haircuts before I discovered the curl-by-curl cut. I had gotten my haircut like a person with straight hair when it’s wet, but your hair expands so much when it’s curly and dry, and when it’s wet it’s way longer, so you can’t tell how much you’re really cutting off because my curly hair right here would actually be down to here when it’s wet and straight. So you think you’re cutting off this much, but when it shrinks up, you’re actually cutting off a big chunk, like maybe double or triple. So I would think ‘oh, yeah, it didn’t look like they cut that much off,’ and then it would dry, and I was like, ‘Oh, I have a little bob, not what I thought we were doing.’ So a curl-by-curl cut is a much safer way to go. They cut it dry, ringlet by ringlet, or just go through and snip it exactly how you want. So that’s a great key.

I try to do a good detox shampoo every once in a while. I like the CÉCRED one ($38) with the scrub in it. It’s really nice because product buildup can weigh curls down. I’m big on deep conditioners. Even if it’s not a deep conditioner, I leave any conditioner in my hair for like five to 10 minutes while I’m doing the rest of my shower stuff. I’m always conditioning longer than it says on the bottle. My hair just cannot get enough hydration.”

We covered hair, so what are some of your favorite makeup and skin-care products to use?

“Oh, so many. I’m loyal to products. I’m big on checking to see if they’re non-comedogenic and acne safe, because I just have very sensitive, acne-prone skin. I can’t experiment. I’ve got to keep my skin clear. The Armani Luminous Silk Foundation ($69) I’m really loyal to. I’ve been using that since I was probably like 14 and I always go back to that one. It’s tried and true.

I like Kosas products a lot. I try to do talc-free powders and their powders are really great. I love the Tower 28 powder as well. It’s also talc-free. I’m a big Fenty Beauty girl. I love all Fenty Beauty products. I’m also big on anything that makes my makeup last. I feel like I have a face that tends to eat makeup away. I’m like, ‘It’s only been on me for a few hours, and it’s going away.’ So I’m big on the Milk Hydro Grip Primer ($38), it’s really good for long wear. I love the ONE/SIZE spray ($34). It’s a really good matte. It almost feels like hairspray on your face, but it keeps the makeup on.”

How do you think growing up in Hollywood affected your relationship to beauty and confidence?

“I feel like I’ve always just been aware of how I present publicly because I’ve been in the public eye for so long and I get recognized in public a lot. So I think about it more when I leave my house. I dress like Adam Sandler when I’m in my house, but when I’m out in public it’s like ‘maybe I’ll put on a little concealer and blush today so I don’t scare the people.’ It’s also been interesting growing up and seeing how my makeup style has evolved when I became an adult and a teenager and started wearing a full face.

I’ve always had a fun relationship with makeup. I was wearing makeup on these shows as a kid, just like a minimal amount, but I was always sitting in the makeup chair getting concealer or maybe a little bit of blush put on because the lights kind of wash you out so they have to bring a little bit of color back into your face. So I’ve always loved playing with makeup since I was a kid. I also did dance competitions, so there are pictures of me with like a false lash on at five because that’s the dance competition way. So I’ve always loved makeup, and that’s never changed.”

What do you do to maintain your wellness in the midst of a busy schedule?

“I’m a big Pilates girl, that’s my main workout. Even when I’m away filming, I try to find the new Pilates spots. We filmed most of this movie in Vancouver, and I found a Pilates spot near where I was staying, and I was going all the time. It was Lagree, which I love doing as well as traditional reformer Pilates. That’s my favorite workout ever.

For overall wellness, sleep for me is essential. If I don’t get enough sleep, I don’t feel good, I don’t look as good. If ideally I can get 10 hours of sleep a night, I will. I try to get that in. It’s pretty much impossible to do when you’re filming because the hours are so long and crazy, and you only really have 12 hours in between when you wrap and when you’re on set the next morning. So 10 hours is a little trickier when you’re filming, but when I’m making my own schedule, I prioritize sleep over everything. I feel like it affects every part of my wellness.”

Are you more of a morning or a night person?

“More of a night person. If I could make my ideal schedule, I would sleep from midnight to 10 AM every day. That would be perfect for me. I’m better when I sleep in a little bit.”