Madelyn Cline Had a 'Little Freak-Out' When She Met Her Famous 'Knives Out 2' Costars

Madelyn Cline is proof even stars get starstruck.

The 24-year-old South Carolina native, who plays Sarah Cameron on Netflix's hit series Outer Banks, tells PEOPLE she had a "little freak-out" when she first met her famous costars in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery — including Kate Hudson, Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Janelle Monáe and Leslie Odom Jr. — at a party Daniel Craig threw before filming began in Greece.

"Daniel had everyone over to his villa for dinner, and it was nice because it kind of brought everyone together," says Cline. "I was nervous because I know them [as] characters that they've played, but I don't know them."

Cline became so overwhelmed, she needed to excuse herself: "I had my little freak-out when I first met everyone. I had to go to the bathroom and I was like, 'You're good, you're good.' And then from there on out it was just a good time."

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In the highly anticipated sequel to the 2019 whodunit Knives Out, Craig reprises his role as detective Benoit Blanc. The brilliant sleuth has a new case on his hands when a tech billionaire (Norton) assembles a group of friends at a private island for a murder-mystery party, which turns deadly. Cline plays Whiskey, an "influencer-type" who's dating Bautista's character.

The actress says she was a huge fan of writer-director Rian Johnson's first movie, which starred the late Christopher Plummer, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas and Jamie Lee Curtis.

"It was just so funny and smart and classic. Rian hands down has brought the whodunit back and with such force," she says. "He really is masterful with his storytelling."

So she watched with interest as stars signed on to the sequel. "I remember seeing all the notifications on my phone coming through, like Janelle Monáe's cast, Katherine Hahn's cast and Dave Bautista. The cast was just so stacked. I was just thinking about it as a fan — I was like, 'I can't wait to see this movie!' "

When she landed an audition, Cline was stunned. "I stared at this email for a minute because I couldn't believe what I was looking at," Cline continues. "I was like, 'Don't mess this up.' "

Clearly, she didn't. Several days after she auditioned, Cline was flying to New York when she heard from Johnson himself. "As we were landing and I was getting service again, Rian texts me and he says, 'Do you have a minute to chat?' I panicked so hard. I was like, 'Oh no, it's going to be bad [news].' And so I was like, 'Yeah, in an hour.' And then I texted him back right away, I was like, 'I'm sorry, I'm an idiot. I can talk right now.' "

He offered her the role. "I was over the moon," says Cline.

Once filming began, she quickly bonded with her costars — especially Odom Jr., who taught her how to play chess. "We would play all the time," she says. "Now I'm obsessed."

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery plays in theaters for one week beginning Nov. 23, then streams on Netflix Dec. 23.