Netflix ‘The Watcher’: Ryan Murphy reveals why he took up the project

Ryan Murphy opened up about why he decided to adapt The Watcher for Netflix in an interview filmed ahead of the movie’s release.

Murphy sat down with his female stars Naomi Watts, Jennifer Coolidge, Mia Farrow, Noma Dumezweni and Margo Martindale for a conversation. After he had read the 2018 article in New York Magazine’s The Cut, Murphy revealed he had wanted to adapt the true story.

Murphy, who has an overall producing deal at Netflix, says he knew it was his next project and made a phone call, but the rights had already been sold. “And it had sold to somebody at Netflix. And I went, ‘What?’ So it sold very quickly. And so I found out that it was my friend Eric [Newman].”

The co-creator then called Newman, who also has a deal with Netflix, per The Hollywood Reporter, and told him that he wanted to be the part of the project because he was such a fan of the piece. “I got involved as a fan, just because I was very into the story and I deeply related. It was personal, I think it was personal to Ian Brennan, who co-created it with me, as well.”

On the topic of what drew him to the project, he added, “I instantly thought of my own family and I think that idea of how we’re living in a world now where everybody all over the world, I guess, seems under attack in some way and that idea of, ‘How do I keep my family safe?’ was something I was instantly motivated by,” said the co-creator of the psychodrama starring Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale. “I wrote it on the note card and I put it by my computer when we were writing the scripts.”.

Further adding to the conversation, the director said, “I only make things that I want to watch. I have a very strict rule about that and I always have. And I always think the more specific something is, the more universal it becomes. I don’t know if that’s one of the secrets to my career, is I become obsessed with things.”