Why A New Horror in Brandy’s Life Sent Her to Therapy

After a long break, Brandy is back in the horror film genre. This time around, however, the role took her to a dark place — one that had a real effect on her mental health.

The singer and actress stars in A24's latest film “The Front Room,” in which she stars as Belinda, a newly pregnant woman dealing with a mother-in-law from hell (literally), played by Kathryn Hunter. The in-law tries to “get her claws” into Belinda’s child, forcing Brandy’s character to take matters into her own hands before it is too late.

Brandy told PEOPLE Magazine that the character work she did for the project sent her to therapy.

“I’m a little bit method, so it stayed with me,” she explained. “But after, I was able to do a little bit of therapy to release the character and release the dark places that I had to go to with the character.”

The idea of jumping back into horror and choosing this film in particular “scared her,” she added. “I wanted to do something like Belinda to see if I could pull it off, to see if I can expand my range as an actress, my depth.”

“The Front Room” is Brandy’s return to horror following her turn in the popular 1998 film, “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.” Since her character famously survived that film, she’s expressed interest in returning to the “Last Summer” franchise, as the film series is set to get the reboot treatment.

“I heard some things about it,” she said to Entertainment Tonight last month. “So, hopefully.”

The actress recently reprised her iconic role of Cinderella in Disney’s “Descendants: The Rise of Red,” and appeared in last year’s Netflix hit “Best. Christmas. Ever!”