Michele Morrone is the newest addition to The housemaid‘s cast.

PEOPLE can exclusively reveal that Morrone, from 365 days Celebrity, will play Enzo, the sexy groundskeeper with a mysterious past who works for Nina (Amanda Seyfried) and her husband, while a woman named Millie (Sydney Sweeney) arrives to work as the new maid.

Based on the first novel in the bestselling thriller series by Freida McFadden, The housemaid The film is directed by Paul Feig and written by Rebecca Sonnenshine.

Morrone, 34, tells PEOPLE that he “heard rumors from several people about how incredible this book and series was” and immediately identified with the character.

“When it was mentioned that the character Enzo was actually an Italian landscape gardener, I thought, ‘Well, that couldn’t be closer to my journey.’ Because before I started working as an actor, I was actually a landscape gardener in Italy, which I really enjoyed,” says the actor, who starred opposite Megan Fox in the recent viral hit Submissiveness.

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In the book, the protagonist Millie develops a close relationship with Enzo while working for Nina and Andrew Winchester (It ends with us star Brandon Sklenar), cleaning her home, cooking and keeping an eye on her daughter Cecilia.

But things soon begin to unravel at the Winchester house as Millie, who has a sad past of her own, discovers more than she bargained for – and a surprise ending that readers have been raving about ever since The housemaid was released in 2022.

Since then, two more books in the series have been published, in 2023 The Maid’s Secret and 2024 The housemaid looks onalong with McFadden’s recently published accompanying short story The housemaid’s wedding.

“I can’t express how excited I am to announce that #TheHousemaidMovie is coming soon!!!,” McFadden wrote on Instagram in October. “@Lionsgate came up with the absolute perfect cast and director and I am just so grateful! I mean, Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried and Paul Feig…amazing!!!!”

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Morrone says, “I’m really excited to be taking this journey with Enzo because I think he’s going to bring some very interesting and mysterious storylines to the film.”

He’s also met Sweeney, 27, and says the two recently met on a Zoom call while we were filming other projects and we had such a great conversation about the film, the characters and life. She’s a lot of fun.”

“I haven’t met Amanda yet, but I’m excited to get to know her,” Morrone adds of Seyfried, 39. “I can’t wait to get back on set with Paul Feig and all work together on the books “Life!” (Morrone is also expected to appear in Feig’s upcoming film A simple favor 2.)

Feig, 62, will co-produce The housemaid alongside Hidden Pictures’ Laura Fischer and Todd Lieberman, while the latter’s Carly Kleinbart Elter will oversee the project. Chelsea Kujawa and Erin Jones-Wesley manage the distributor Lionsgate.

In addition to their starring roles, Sweeney and Seyfried serve as executive producers alongside Alex Young and McFadden.