What made Nurse Ratched so wretched?
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Shall we briefly pay tribute toOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?
IAN BRENNAN:That movie is so good in so many ways, but the book is as well.
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I think what is so searing for people is the film itself.
It’s a scary feat tale of institutionalization, about being locked away against your will.
You’re being trapped by the insane.
Louise Fletcher’s performance is such a stunner.
Part of what’s scary about it to me is that she’s just tabula rasa.
There’s so little to go on.
You don’t know where this woman is coming from or where she came from.
That’s what was so exciting about this project.
How did you get to those questions in the first place?
What made you start thinking about Nurse Ratchet of all people?
It started as a script written by a very talented writer.
Ryan Murphy bought it.
Then there was a whole issue of rights.
She watches a lobotomy at the start of the series.
Is it a thrill for her to watch this torture or she’s simply fascinated by this new procedure?
I think it’s both.
She’s a nurse first and foremost.
They are the lifeblood.
And then there is this whole other ulterior motive for why she’s in the hospital.
Other people might have different opinions, but there’s something deeply heroic about her.
She’s wounded to be sure and carries a fair amount of scarring in her psyche.
Was Sarah your Mildred all along?
It would be tough to picture anybody else.
She has such a great relationship with Ryan.
They have such a good track record.
It’s such a good relationship, so yeah, I think she was always our Mildred.
It’s pretty gorgeous there.
That was all Ryan.
It was a bold choice and it’s ultimately quite inspired.
This was also a different time period.
He wanted postwar Northern California, Big Sur.
It’s actually quite colorful, very lush and beautiful.
It’s like a mid-century spa.
It seemed like a much more interesting choice to place an asylum.
Ratcheddrops today on Netflix.
