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First Look At Sarah Paulson In Ratched, One Flew Over The Cuckoo Nest Origin Story

First Look At Sarah Paulson In Ratched, One Flew Over The Cuckoo Nest Origin Story

From the creator of American Horror Story

Amelia Ward

Amelia Ward

The first photos have been released for One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest origin story, Ratched.

Starring Sarah Paulson, of American Horror Story fame, the drama has landed a spot on Netflix and is set for an autumn release. It will be available to stream from 18 September.

Ratched is a prequel to the 1975 classic and sees Paulson, unsurprisingly, play the role of the titular character, Nurse Mildred Ratched.

Netflix

There are two seasons currently confirmed for the show, and executive producer Ryan Murphy - who Paulson worked with on American Horror Story - pitched the role in a bit of an unusual way.

Paulson recalled that he originally put it to her by saying: "Lady, do you want to have some like Walter White s*** happen?"

And indeed - there is a lot of scope for the dark and complicated with the character.

As repored by Vanity Fair, Paulson said: "I identified very deeply with her loneliness. I think ultimately at the end of the day, that is sort of what drives Mildred.

Netflix

"A pursuit of survival and of finding some sense of home. Even though the methods that she chooses to achieve that internal security are somewhat questionable, I would argue that she's doing them with a potentially selfish need, but a survival need nevertheless.

"Sort of an animal need that blinds her to the inappropriateness of some her actions."

And Paulson gave a hint into what we can expect - it doesn't look like it will be a far cry from the characters she so expertly portrayed in American Horror Story.

She said: "A lot of us are on the planet trying to figure out how to survive our childhoods, our environments, our circumstances. And to have an opportunity to do a deeper dive into this invented character that has become so pulsating with life for so many people, to figure out why she is so cold...so removed...

"By the time you get to the end of the first season, you will not wonder how and why Mildred became the way she did. You may question her actions, you may have judgment about it-but you will understand it. It will make sense to you."

Netflix

And as preparation, she has to change physically. Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, she explained: "I'm going to take about three months off to eat some food, because I'm going to gain some weight to play her. I don't want to wear a suit because I think it will feel very strange."

She added: "And part of it is about the invisible nature of these women, so I didn't really feel like it would be a great idea for me to come to work putting on some faux suit and be all pumped up with prosthetics and not be able to move my face or feel the feelings that she might have been feeling."

Featured Image Credit: Netflix

Topics: TV and Film, US Entertainment, Netflix