Naomi Watts teases her return to horror in 'freaky' Ryan Murphy Watcher series

[Canada]

EW Article

Watts says the original "freaky" article inspired her deep dive into terrifying stalker territory for Murphy's new Netflix series The Watcher: "It’s a genre that you know I love."

Naomi Watts is stalking a grand return to horror in Ryan Murphy's upcoming Netflix series The Watcher.

In an interview for her new movie Lakewood out of the Toronto International Film Festival, the Oscar-nominated actress tells EW she's ready to scare the hell out of us once again, nearly 20 years after she became an iconic scream queen at the center of the 2002 classic The Ring.

"Yeah, that article is so freaky. That's what got me in!" Watts says, referencing The Cut's 2018 piece that follows Maria and Derek Broaddus, a married couple that relocates to a suburban New Jersey paradise in the summer of 2014. Shortly after moving into their dream home, they're met with an onslaught of disturbing handwritten notes claiming to be from the house's decades-long guardian, who's none too pleased with the new tenants.

"I'm only just now getting into prep, we're going to start shooting soon. It's exciting, I can't say much more," she continues, also expressing admiration for her costar, Bobby Cannavale, as the two will play the central couple terrorized by the mystery stalker. "I'm thrilled to be working with Ryan, he seems to have the Midas touch. It's a genre that you know I love."

Though Watts has yet to visit the real-life locale, she's had plenty of experience shooting in terrifying conditions throughout her career. After battling an evil ghost in horror hits like The Ring and its 2005 sequel, Watts played the victim of a psychopathic duo's violent home intrusion in Funny Games and weathered ghostly threats in Dream House, with The Watcher marking her first genre entry since 2016's Shut In.

In addition to The Watcher, she's also set to star in a remake of the 2014 Austrian horror film Goodnight Mommy, which follows a pair of twins who begin to suspect their mother — whose face remains wrapped under bandages while she recovers from facial surgery — is not the same person they once knew.

[Blu Lemmy]

Naomi Watts. I'm in.
So underrated

[master gandhi]

That’s cool. I’ve heard about this real-life story. Could’ve been a hoax, but either way it could make for an interesting story to tell with capable actors and effective suspense.

[MifuneFan]

3 eps in so far. It has some okay, and disturbing moments, but it's so predictable, and the dialogue is so poor at times that it's not keeping me invested in it. Hopefully it picks up. Watts, and Cannavale are pretty good in it though. I'll give my final impressions once I finish it.

edit; My god this has the most amount of annoying characters amassed in one show that I've ever seen.

[Canada]

‘The Watcher’ Renewed for Season 2

[Benoit Blanc]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

3 eps in so far. It has some okay, and disturbing moments, but it's so predictable, and the dialogue is so poor at times that it's not keeping me invested in it. Hopefully it picks up. Watts, and Cannavale are pretty good in it though. I'll give my final impressions once I finish it.

edit; My god this has the most amount of annoying characters amassed in one show that I've ever seen.

It doesn't.

Originally Posted by Canada

‘The Watcher’ Renewed for Season 2

christ...

[MifuneFan]

Yeah I just finished it today, it gets worse lol

[Kevinicus]

I think I watched this a couple weeks ago.

The first half was enjoyable enough, despite some annoying characters. However, after that, I felt it started falling off a cliff. Too many characters acting in too many ways that made no logical sense. It just strained credibility too much.

[TwinCitiesBluFan]

Finally started watching this yesterday! Only one episode in, but I'm really enjoying it so far. Nice setup and good performances, so I'm hoping it continues as I watch more of it.