“The Housemaid” Author Freida McFadden Likes the Movie Better Than Her Own Book. Here's Why (Exclusive)
- - “The Housemaid” Author Freida McFadden Likes the Movie Better Than Her Own Book. Here's Why (Exclusive)
Yamillah Hurtado, Rebecca AizinDecember 7, 2025 at 6:00 AM
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Freida McFadden reveals why she thinks the movie adaptation of her novel The Housemaid, is “better than the book”
“The end was so exciting and it really made the whole thing go out with a bang,” she told PEOPLE at the New York premiere
The psychological thriller, starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, is in theaters Dec. 19
Freida McFadden feels the film adaptation of her bestselling novel The Housemaid is better than the source material.
In a September Instagram post, also shared on the film’s official Instagram, the author wrote an early review of the psychological thriller, which stars Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried.
“I was lucky enough to get to watch a sneak preview of The Housemaid movie, and I absolutely LOVED it!” McFadden wrote at the time. “The second it was over, I turned to my husband in the theater and said, ‘Omg, I think it was better than the book!’ (And he said, ‘Yeah').”
Speaking with PEOPLE at the New York premiere of the film on Wednesday, Dec. 3, McFadden shared the reasoning behind that statement.
“I just thought the end was so exciting and it really made the whole thing go out with a bang,” the author said. “I can't give out any details about it, but I just loved it.”
Dia Dipasupil/Getty
Freida McFadden on Dec. 2, 2025
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In her Instagram post, McFadden said the film “captured everything that readers love about the novel.”
“And the performances by all the actors were nothing short of incredible,” the author continued. “It (almost) made me want to write another Housemaid book. (Almost!) The only problem is, I don’t know how I’m going to be able to wait until December to get to watch it again!”
Courtesy of Lionsgate
Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney in "The Housemaid"
McFadden is an executive producer on the film. She is also the author of other books within the Housemaid franchise, including The Housemaid’s Secret and The Housemaid is Watching.
When asked if she would want film adaptations for the sequels, McFadden replied: “Oh my God, I would love that.”
“That would be a dream, and hopefully, you know, I know Paul Feig would do an amazing job in the sequel. He’s incredible,” she added.
Feig, the director of The Housemaid, told PEOPLE that hearing McFadden’s praise was “such a relief and a real joy.”
“Some authors can get very precious about their project, but Freida's is such a great entertainer. Her books are meant to entertain,” Feig says. “She embraced the fact that we wanted to make the movie as... it's dark, and it has serious topics, but it's really entertaining. She went along with that in a great way.”
He adds, “I also try to be very, very true to the book. We were pretty good at kind of following everything. The things we changed were things that we wanted to be a little more cinematic than there was. And then we added an extra ending onto it.”
The Housemaid is in theaters Dec. 19.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
