ComingSoon spoke with Maintenance Required stars Madelaine Petsch and Jacob Scipio about their new movie. The duo discussed finding their chemistry in the romantic comedy, playing different types of roles, and more. The film will stream exclusively on Prime Video on October 8, 2025.
“Charlie, the fiercely independent owner of an all-female mechanic shop, is forced to reevaluate her future when a flashy corporate competitor moves in across the street. Seeking comfort, she turns to an anonymous online confidant – unaware she’s confiding in Beau, the very rival threatening her business. As sparks fly both online and off, the truth threatens to blow everything apart,” says the official synopsis.
Tyler Treese: Madelaine, what was your level of auto repair knowledge going into this role? Because I was so impressed by how you were making adjustments to the cars, and it looked so realistic to me. So if you don’t, you completely fooled me.
Madelaine Petsch: Thank you. Before the movie, I had no knowledge. I couldn’t even add windshield wiper fluid to my car. But I spent time in a garage and learning how to do all the things I needed to do in the movie and being really comfortable under the car, in the hood of the car, fixing things. So all of what you saw was real by the time we started shooting the movie.
Jacob, I wanted to ask about your first face-to-face scene with Madelaine in the auto shop, because you’re both kind of equally charming and awkward in that scene. How was it that balancing act of finding chemistry, but not fully acting on it?
Jacob Scipio: Yeah, man. I mean, it’s kind of like that when you find someone that you have that initial spark with, they bring out that awkward nature in you because you want to impress and you want to be yourself, but at the same time, you don’t wanna show too much and play it cool.
So working with Madelaine, that scene was awesome because we really found a way to walk that line and have all the elements of those emotions that you get from a meet-cute.
Madelaine, there’s a lot of buildup and setbacks to this relationship. I feel like the ‘will they, won’t they’ is just gonna hook viewers. So, what did you like most about that tension between these two, and how they just can’t get on the right track?
Petsch: Well, I think it’s ultimately really realistic to the way that people date these days. But I also like, as an actor, when there’s tension or there’s pressure, there’s so much more ability to make diamonds, I think, in performance than when there’s just open range.
So there was so much room to play in these spaces where you could bring out any emotion, and there are so many undercurrents of what they are actually feeling. And so it’s so much more fun and complex as an actor.
Jacob, I’ve loved you in the Bad Boys movies, so it was really interesting getting to see you do just a totally different type of role. What did you find most interesting about getting to explore a character’s softer side rather than, you know, kicking and doing a more macho role?
Jacob Scipio: Yeah, man, it was a fun opportunity to act in a movie without holding a gun for once. I didn’t know if it was possible, but it is. I switched the gun for a wrench in this movie, and yeah. Beau, he’s probably the closest to me to myself personality-wise and character-wise. So it was great to play just a regular guy who’s just yearning for love.
That’s good that you’re not walking around with a gun all the time in real life.
Scipio: No, I save that one for the movies [laughs].
Madelaine, my last question for you. I saw The Strangers: Chapter 2 last night, and I had so much fun watching you fight this boar, which I was not expecting at all. What was your reaction when you saw that you were going into hand-to-hand combat with this giant pig? That was crazy.
Madelaine Petsch: Well, I did a big, “What? Are you sure? Okay. Yeah, let’s… sure!”
I mean, look, the thing is, as an actor, anything that feels like intimidating or challenging or scary, I wanna do what I wanna jump into. It was a really hard thing to shoot, I’ll be honest with you, but I did it and I like it.