John Proctor is the Villain’s Fina Strazza on Art, Feminism and the Scariest Play She’s Ever Done

Age: 19

Hometown: New York City

Current Role: Fina Strazza is Tony-nominated for her performance as tight-laced but fiercely feminist student Beth Powell in John Proctor is the Villain, a coming-of-age play by Kimberly Belflower set in a small Southern town, where a high school English class re-examines their role models and the world around them.

Credits: Strazza plays Tiffany Falconer in Fear Street: Prom Queen, the most recent installment of the Netflix horror film series based on the R.L. Stine books of the same name (others star her John Proctor castmate, Sadie Sink!). She also had a leading role in Prime Video’s Paper Girls as KJ Brandman. On stage, Strazza made her Broadway debut in 2014 at eight years old as Matilda in Matilda the Musical, making her the youngest actress to take on the lead role.

From Broadway to School Plays
You’d think a seasoned Broadway actress like Strazza would have no fear performing in front of her own classmates. But she says doing her first high school play, The Wolves, was terrifying. “It was very fulfilling, but also probably the most nervous I've ever been,” says Strazza, who started working at her mother’s theater company as a young child, but didn’t do a school play until her junior year. “I put a lot of pressure on myself to really make sure I was doing my best,” she says of her jitters. “But at the same time, I got so close with the girls in that cast because The Wolves has a similar conversational, teenage girl, small cast energy as John Proctor. It's hard to do a play like that and not get close to the people you're doing it with.” Strazza attended a STEM school on the Lower East Side, but one with a surprisingly rich arts program. “I took a lot of creative writing classes in high school, and I like to write short stories and poems. I also draw a lot and I like to write little things that align with what I’m drawing,” she says. Strazza’s wide-ranging creative interests eventually led her to enroll in the Collaborative Arts program at NYU Tisch. “I knew I didn't want to go to Tisch Drama,” she says of NYU’s famed acting program, preferring some “separation” from life as an actor. “I can't imagine myself feeling as fulfilled in any other program. We learn everything from web design to dance to music recording to studio art,” she says. “Every creative bug that I've caught, I can pursue.”

Feminists Raising Feminists
In John Proctor is the Villain, a group of teen girls start a feminism club and challenge each other’s ideas of what feminism encompasses. In real life, Strazza herself was raised by a strong, feminist mother. “My mom has always been my biggest teacher and my biggest advocate. I've learned a lot about my place as a woman in this world from her,” she says. “I'm very proud to be my mother's daughter doing this show.” The fiercely feminist play has also been a place for mother-daughter connection, with mothers bringing their young daughters to see the show. “I think that's a good sign for the world we're in right now if someone feels like this is a work of art they want their child to see,” Strazza says of the phenomenon. “And if it's their first show, I could imagine that would be pretty impactful for them and stick with them for a long time.” It’s not just the audience learning from each show–Strazza is, too. “Every time I do the show, there's a moment that becomes clearer, or something I haven't felt before will arise at different moments.”

Close-Knit
What does Strazza love most about her character, Beth? “She has a great sweater collection,” she says. With a few eye-catching pieces from Sezane in her wardrobe, it’s easy to see why Strazza loves Beth’s costumes, which she helped costume designer Sarah Laux hand-pick. “She's very collaborative and warm and has so much care for the costumes aligning with who you think your character would be—making sure your clothes look like they're lived in and that they make sense for the way you move,” she says. But it’s not just the softness of the sweaters—it’s the balance between vulnerability and protection they represent. “She always wears long sleeves, except for the end of the show.” In past roles, Strazza has donned period costumes, primarily of the ‘80s variety in her new Netflix horror film Fear Street: Prom Queen and the time-traveling Prime series Paper Girls. But she’d love to take it back even further. “I would love to do a Victorian piece with tons of layers and be all ball-gowned out one day.”

Written in the Stars
In John Proctor, emotions run high and fast, jerking both the actors and the audience between laughter and tears (not to say they even take turns). Backstage, there is also a fair amount of laughter. “My dressing roommate is Amalia Yoo, who plays Raelynn, and they call us Tweedledee and Tweedledum,” says Strazza. “We have this this way of constantly laughing about nothing and making random quips that are reminiscent of those two twins in Alice in Wonderland.” As for the rest of the cast, Strazza says everyone gets along and uplifts each other. The cast has also bonded over a shared love of astrology, a common first dalliance into the dark arts befitting a show that evokes the Salem Witch Trials. “If anyone's feeling off or like their shows aren't going the way they want, we’re like, ‘Ugh, Mercury is in retrograde.”

Graduation Day
Between her roles as Beth in John Proctor, KJ in Paper Girls and Tiffany in Fear Street: Prom Queen, Strazza has spent more than her fair share of time as a high school student. It’s made her grateful for the opportunities to learn from her characters’ mistakes as she navigates growing up herself. “There's something about playing other people and test driving those choices that help you learn the kind of person that you want to be in your own life,” she says. As much as she enjoys getting to fill the shoes of various classroom-bound teens, she’s excited to move on to different roles. “I love being in the high school setting, but I do look forward to what's next. There's a lot I wanna do and I'm excited to get older and see what else is waiting.” Strazza adds just one adolescent caveat: “I'd love to play Juliet one day in Romeo and Juliet.”