'Ratched' stars Sarah Paulson, Share Stone, Cynthia Nixon, Jon Jon Briones and Finn Wittrock spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about how their new Netflix series expands on the story of Nurse Ratched from 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.'
00:00We had a saying in the core, save one life and you're a hero.
00:05Save a hundred lives. Well, then you're a nurse.
00:08Sarah, this series is a prequel to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
00:13How does this show dive deeper into Nurse Ratched's story?
00:16Well, first of all, it just takes the dive period is a deeper dive because there's so little known about Mildred Ratched from the film.
00:24So everything was sort of opened for interpretation and everything was on the table.
00:29And because it's Ryan, he sort of went to some very extreme places.
00:33And I was very grateful for that because it meant I had a lot of room to move around where I didn't have to adhere to one locked way of playing her.
00:42But it's very interesting to have an end game insight of knowing where she ends up and sort of rewinding at warp speed to a time when she was in her developmental stage as a person.
00:55Cynthia, you play a woman who works for the governor.
00:59And we know, of course, that you ran for the governor of New York.
01:01What drew you to this role?
01:04The chance to work with Sarah, definitely.
01:06The chance to be in the Ryan Murphy universe and to act with all of these folks, you know, to get to act with people who are your heroes and your idols like Sharon and like Judy Davis and Sophie Okanedo.
01:24I mean, it's incredible.
01:26Also, just a really fun, fascinating character and a chance to go back, you know, to this historical period when there were queer characters.
01:35But we had no representation in the movies and trying to imagine who we were and what we were up to.
01:41And Sharon, what made you want to be a part of this show?
01:43I think Ryan is a genius.
01:45And I like the fluidity of his mind.
01:47I like how I just think he picks the greatest actors and actresses and every person in every department really brings their A game.
01:57You can go on the set and you can give it all you've got.
02:01And it's not too much.
02:04You know, everybody is giving it all they've got.
02:06Every department is giving it all they got.
02:08You know, there's no it's just you can slide right into just a completely winning environment, which is very, very exciting.
02:19Told that you're mad when that's what's driving you mad.
02:25I should have never let you into this hospital.
02:28You've both worked with Ryan Murphy before.
02:30What is it about him and his work style that keeps you coming back?
02:33Because he keeps asking me and that's a wonderful thing for him to ask you back.
02:39That's a compliment because, come on, his projects are, you know, just one of the best around in the industry.
02:49And he's he's his vision is just, you know, out of this world.
02:53I think because, you know, that everything you're going to be given is going to be we know it's going to be extreme.
02:59You know, we know it's it's never it's never going to be boring and you're going to be put in like maybe emotionally or mentally dangerous territory.
03:10You know, you go to some scary places working with him a lot.
03:13Like we talk about the cast being coming over and over, but not everyone knows that a lot of the crew stays the same from thing to thing.
03:21So it's a safe space to do dangerous things.
03:24There's a dearth of characters for women my age just floating about in the sea of this, you know, industry we're in.
03:32So a lot of people ask me, like, why don't you go work with someone else?
03:36And it's like if someone else were calling with as many interesting opportunities as Ryan continues to present to me, I would.
03:43But I keep coming back because the material is just unquestionably the, you know, rich and a real opportunity to sink my teeth into something.
03:54And he tends to write stories for women who are at the center of the story.
03:58And all of these women are so really, really defined and multidimensional.
04:05And you don't always get that where every every character has a real shape and a real life.
04:11And, you know, that's really how can I walk away from that?
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