“What I love about The Watcher is not knowing their identity,” said Ryan Murphy of his wildly popular television series. “We all live in this anxious age. The way that you calm your brain is to get answers, but The Watcher provides none. It remains unsolved.” It’s a whodunnit without knowing who.

We would all love to escape the perceived danger of the big city and live in a big house that we probably overpaid for, in the relative peace of the country. It would all be worth it if it wasn’t for the stress of being watched by a stranger dubbed The Watcher. You can’t identify the threat and you can’t protect your family and loved ones. Therein lies the menacing terror the Brannock family faced while living at 657 Boulevard, Westfield, NJ.

The Watcher is based on a true story that has still never been solved. There was an article published in The New York Magazine called The Haunting of a Dream House By Reeves Wiedeman about it. When Ryan Murphy and Ian Brenner realized Netflix obtained the rights to the story, they asked if they could write the pilot. It was a relatively quick process lasting about eighteen months.

Creative Screenwriting Magazine attended a press conference with creator Ryan Murphy and cast members Margo Martindale who plays nosy neighbor Maureen (Mo), Naomi Watts who plays Nora Brannock, the distressed mother and wife, Jennifer Coolidge who plays Karen Calhoun, the intense real estate agent, and Noma Dumezweni who plays Theodora Birch, the private investigator.

“We’re all safe in our homes, until we’re not,” declared Naomi Watts.

Top L-R: Maureen/Mo (Margo Martindale), Nora Braddock (Naomi Watts), Middle L-R: Theodora Birch (Noma Dumezweni), Karen Calhoun (Jennifer Coolidge). Bottom: Ryan Murphy. Photo by Vivian Killilea for Getty Images/ Netflix

Although The Watcher is based on actual events, Ryan Murphy tapped into his love of horror to shape his story. “While watching The Amityville Horror, I felt that the house was a character. That’s how I felt about 657 The Boulevard where the Braddocks lived. I always felt The Watcher was a real estate thriller,” stated Murphy.

People are looking to park their anxieties somewhere – Ryan Murphy

Ryan Murphy credits his late grandmother Myrtle Andersen for instilling an appreciation for strong female leads in his life. “You’ll tell if I got captured by aliens if the lead in one of my shows is a twenty-year-old girl,” he chuckled. Granda Myrtle’s favourite film was Dracula. She loved horror films “because they make you feel alive.”

Murphy, cast and crew are still amazed at the success of The Watcher. “In its first two weeks it’s had two million viewing hours streamed,” beamed Ryan. “It has become part of the culture in an interesting way.”

Naomi Watts made a major mark in the film world with her role as Rachel in The Ring in 2002. “Mulholland Drive (2001) launched me into a new arena.” She’s remained reasonably loyal to the horror genre with occasional forays into  other genres. “There are a lot of emotions that come under the umbrella of fear,” said Watts.

Nora Brannock (Naomi Watts) & Dean Brannock (Bobby Cannavale) Photo by Eric Liebowitz/ Netflix

Jennifer Coolidge is enjoying an extended moment in the spotlight with her role as an unscrupulous realtor who’ll do anything to close a sale. Anything. She’s unsure why The Watcher resonated so well with global audiences, but she loves the attention. Perhaps it has something to do with streaming audiences who may be less fixed in their viewing choices and habits?

Jennifer’s character was based on a Reddit thread of a manipulative realtor called Karen Calhoun. “We fell into Reddit wormholes for all the characters,” confessed Ryan. The prospect of working with Ryan Murphy was enough to lure any actor. Queue Ryan blushing. But Coolidge grinned, “I’ll only do it if I get to kill someone.” To be clear, Jennifer Coolidge hasn’t actually killed anyone on or off set. She was attracted to the idea that someone thought of her to play a dark, ruthless villain to enhance her acting repertoire.

The look of these actors was integral to their characters. Margo Martindale with her power track suit became the go to Halloween costume this year. Mo and her husband Mitch (Richard Kind) creepily stared at the Brannock house from across the street. Could one of them be The Watcher? Or part of the Neighbourhood Watch?

Mitch (Richard Kind) & Mo/Maureen (Margo Martindale). Photo by Eric Liebowitz/ Netflix

Noma Dumezweni sported a turban and gloves making her look more like a fortune teller than an investigator battling terminal cancer. The gloves had their own story and Ryan insisted on Noma wearing them on set. Naomi donned the creams of purity and wholesomeness, while Jennifer strutted around in her Chanel knockoffs hoping nobody in the country club would notice. These were more than costumes. They were characters who captured the zeitgeist of the moment.

Murphy noted that the main female cast comprised of women over forty. That was by design. “Women over a certain only become better and more wonderful because we have more capabilities than people realize,” stated Martindale. “The longer the life, the more the collective experiences, and the juicier it gets,” echoed Watts. Audiences crave these rich, important stories from actors of a certain age. Margo Martindale won her first Emmy at aged sixty for her portrayal as Mags Bennett in Justified. Things just kept getting better from there.

Noma Dumezweni entered the Ryan Murphy orbit playing Tasha Jackson, Elektra’s mother in POSE. Ryan Murphy and co-creator Ian Brennan wrote the part of Theodora especially for Noma. “We gave Theodora a ‘Murder She Wrote’ quality who spends her life solving riddles,” added Murphy. “I always wanted to do an Agatha Christie type of tale. I grew up loving Death On The Nile with an all-star cast.”

Many mystery television shows imply a perpetrator, either directly or directly, to provide a closure for the audience. Murphy did no such thing. When asked about who The Watcher might be, the cast was stumped. “I don’t know, but I love the possibilities,” declared Noma.

The internet was full of its own sleuths busily promulgating their own conspiratorial version of events and the real identity of The Watcher. “There were theories that the real estate agent was in on it. There was another theory of a screenwriting teacher in town,” said Ryan.

The true crime genre is certainly enjoying notoriety on our screens, but it’s not clear why. “There’s a lot of darkness in the world and a lot of chaos,” said Watts. The process of analyzing these characters to see how they’re wired and what may drive them to such crimes, may help us understand what’s going on in our chaotic and uncertain world. “It helps us unpack things. There’s a sense of control by figuring things out,” she continued.

Murphy extended his gaze and asked the cast what the cast would like to see in season 2 of the show. “I think Karen needs a slap across the face. I think she needs to be punished because she’s gotten away with a lot,” chuckled Jennifer Coolidge.

Karen Calhoun is possibly the prime suspect, so she has to remain both inconspicuous as well as a contender. She gave off murderous realtor vibes. “She’s playing something fascinatingly dark,” said Murphy without confirming that she was the culprit in his mind. He was fine with not knowing. He quoted her role as “asking a jazz musician to play sheet music. You ask them to interpret it and see what happens. She goes off into these streams of consciousness dialogue. There were takes were Jennifer would riff four seven minutes and get a standing ovation from the crew.“