# Victoria Pedretti

Victoria Pedretti (born March 23, 1995) is an American actress. She gained wide recognition for starring in the Netflix horror series The Haunting of Hill House (2018) and The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020), which established her as a scream queen. She earned further recognition for playing Love Quinn in the Netflix thriller series You (2019–2023). For these roles, she received nominations at the Critics' Choice and Saturn Awards.
Pedretti played Leslie Van Houten in the comedy drama film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), and appeared in the biographical drama film Origin (2023) and the thriller film Ponyboi (2024). She made her Broadway debut in a revival of An Enemy of the People (2024).

## Early life and education

Victoria Pedretti was born on March 23, 1995, in Philadelphia. She was raised Jewish, and had a bat mitzvah. She was diagnosed with ADHD when she was seven years old. She first expressed an interest in musical theatre while attending Pennsbury High School in Fairless Hills. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in Pittsburgh, where she said her professors advised her not to pursue acting.

## Career

Pedretti began acting in 2014, having roles in two short films: Sole where she played the female protagonist, and Uncovering Eden where she played Edie.
In 2017, Pedretti was cast in Mike Flanagan's Netflix supernatural horror drama series The Haunting of Hill House, in which she played Eleanor "Nell" Crain. It was released in 2018 to critical acclaim, and became Pedretti's breakthrough role. Chad Collins of Dread Central called her the "soul of The Haunting of Hill House", and Lucy Mangan of The Guardian called her "scene-stealing". Dakota Moss of MovieWeb wrote: "Pedretti's emotions to the role add a horrifying realism to the character, and viewers can feel all of Nell's pain and anguish to the very end. This is one of the defining roles for Victoria Pedretti, and she's only getting started." She received Saturn Award and MTV Award nominations for the role and was established as a scream queen.
Pedretti auditioned for the role of Guinevere Beck on the Netflix thriller series You but did not land the part. The directors later cast her as Love Quinn in the show's second and third seasons after seeing her previous acting work and chemistry with her co-star Penn Badgley. While filming during the COVID-19 pandemic, the intimate scenes posed a challenge for Pedretti to film as "it took months to figure out how to do it safely. [...] We played a couple before, but it didn't just immediately come back after being in a global pandemic." The second and third seasons were released in 2019 and 2021, respectively, to critical acclaim. For season two, writers at Elle said Pedretti "delivered the perfect amount of spook and smolder to keep us on the edge of our seats for all ten episodes." She was nominated for the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
In 2019, Pedretti played Leslie Van Houten in Quentin Tarantino's comedy-drama film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which was a commercial success and earned her nominations for several ensemble awards. She followed this starring as Evelyn Porter in the 2020 pilot episode of the anthology series Amazing Stories. She also appeared in the short film This is Not a Love Letter and played Katherine in the biographical-drama film Shirley.
A follow up series to The Haunting of Hill House was announced in 2019 with Pedretti cast in the leading role; it was released as The Haunting of Bly Manor in 2020 and saw Pedretti playing Danielle "Dani" Clayton. Alan Sepinwall of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that "Her appealing vulnerability, and her talent for making the supernatural feel like something painfully real to Dani, do a lot of the heavy lifting this time around. Katerina Daley of Screen Rant said that her performance "has absolutely been a star-making one..." Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture magazine said Pedretti "has proven herself to be one of the most exciting young actors to watch". She was nominated for a Critics' Choice Super Award and won Best Frightened Performance at the 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards.
In 2021, Pedretti appeared in singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves' Star-Crossed: The Film, a companion feature to Musgraves' album of the same name, in a cameo role as a woman participating in a heist. A clip from the film featuring Pedretti later served as the music video for Musgraves' song "Simple Times". Also in 2021, she was announced to star in the film Lucky, based on the memoir of the same name, in which she would be portraying writer Alice Sebold during her freshman year at Syracuse University. However, the film was cancelled after losing its financing.
Pedretti was announced in 2022 to be headlining the Hulu original series Saint X, but she reportedly left the series due to creative differences, with Alycia Debnam-Carey replacing her in the lead role.
In 2023, Pedretti played Irma Eckler in Ava DuVernay's acclaimed biographical drama film Origin. She also reprised the role of Love Quinn in the fourth season of You as a cameo appearance. Michelle Boyar of Screen Rant opined that, because she appears briefly and has few lines, "You season 4 wasted Love’s cameo."
In 2024, Pedretti starred as Angel in the thriller-drama film Ponyboi, which was described as the "queer breakout" of that year's Sundance Film Festival. On accepting the role, Pedretti said that "I think the most important films to be made are the ones that deal with subject matters that people aren't well-versed in and with characters they haven't seen before. This was an incredible opportunity for that to happen." She also starred in the short films Fall Risk and Merci, Poppy as Dylan and Poppy respectively. That same year, she made her Broadway debut in the Sam Gold directed adaptation of the Henrik Ibsen play, An Enemy of the People, at the Circle in the Square Theatre. Gold said of her casting that "She worked really hard in auditions and won the part for proving herself a really strong state actor who could take direction and take [it] all on her shoulders..." Greg Evans of Deadline Hollywood believed Pedretti "is ready-made for her strong-willed, occasionally fretful, role". She next headlined an Off-Broadway production of the Philip Ridley play Tender Napalm.
Pedretti will next star in If She Burns written and directed by Alex Wolff, The Non-Actor written and directed by Eliza Callahan, and The Last Day directed by Rachel Rose. The lattermost is inspired by Virginia Woolf's 1925 novel Mrs Dalloway.

## Artistry

Pedretti has said her experience with The Haunting of Hill House made her comfortable with playing darker roles in the horror and thriller genres, and that she has "got a knack for" them. Laura Studarus of Shondaland says that Pedretti "carved out a niche in the horror and suspense genre" and also opined that she can be versatile. For her performance in The Haunting of Bly Manor, she cites Timothée Chalamet's acting in the film Call Me by Your Name (2017) as an inspiration. After her Broadway debut, Pedretti has expressed an interest in continuing stage work, telling Interview that "doing theater, it’s very ideal. I’d love to keep doing this."

## Personal life

Pedretti currently resides in New York. She briefly dated actor Dylan Arnold in 2021, whom she co-starred with on You.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2014 | Sole | Girl | Short film |
| 2014 | Uncovering Eden | Edie | Short film |
| 2019 | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Leslie Van Houten | |
| 2020 | This is Not a Love Letter | Girl | Short film |
| 2020 | Shirley | Katherine | |
| 2021 | Star-Crossed: The Film | Heist Girl | |
| 2023 | Origin | Irma Eckler | |
| 2024 | Ponyboi | Angel | |
| 2024 | Fall Risk | Dylan | Short film |
| 2024 | Merci, Poppy | Poppy | Short film |
| TBA | The Last Day | TBA | Post-production |
| TBA | Forbidden Fruits | | Filming |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2018 | The Haunting of Hill House | Eleanor "Nell" Crain | Main role |
| 2019–2023 | You | Love Quinn | Main role (season 2–3); guest star (season 4) |
| 2020 | Amazing Stories | Evelyn Porter | Episode: "The Cellar" |
| 2020 | The Haunting of Bly Manor | Danielle "Dani" Clayton | Main role |
| 2023 | Chris Fleming: Hell | Additional characters | Comedy special on Peacock |

### Stage

| Year | Production | Role | Theater | Ref. |
| 2024 | An Enemy of the People | Petra Stockmann | Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2024 | Tender Napalm | Woman | Theaterlab, Off-Broadway | |

### Music videos

* "Simple Times" (2021) – Kacey Musgraves

## Awards and nominations

| Award | Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| Austin Film Critics Association Awards | 2020 | Best Ensemble | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Nominated |
| Boston Society of Film Critics Awards | 2019 | Best Ensemble Cast | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Nominated |
| Critics' Choice Awards | 2020 | Best Acting Ensemble | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Nominated |
| Critics' Choice Awards | 2021 | Best Actress in a Horror Series | The Haunting of Bly Manor | Nominated |
| Detroit Film Critics Society Awards | 2019 | Best Ensemble | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Won |
| Hollywood Critics Association Awards | 2020 | Best Cast | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Nominated |
| Hollywood Critics Association Awards | 2022 | Best Actress in a Streaming Series, Drama | You | Nominated |
| Georgia Film Critics Association Awards | 2020 | Best Ensemble | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Nominated |
| MTV Movie & TV Awards | 2019 | Most Frightened Performance | The Haunting of Hill House | Nominated |
| MTV Movie & TV Awards | 2021 | Most Frightened Performance | The Haunting of Bly Manor | Won |
| MTV Movie & TV Awards | 2022 | Best Villain | You | Nominated |
| National Film and Television Awards | 2019 | Best Newcomer | — | Nominated |
| Online Film & Television Association Awards | 2019 | Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Limited Series | The Haunting of Hill House | Nominated |
| San Diego Film Critics Society | 2019 | Best Ensemble | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Nominated |
| Saturn Awards | 2019 | Best Supporting Actress on Television | The Haunting of Hill House | Nominated |
| Seattle Film Critics Society | 2019 | Best Ensemble Cast | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Nominated |
| TVLine | 2020 | Performer of the Week | You | Won |
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards | 2019 | Best Ensemble | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Nominated |