Ryan Murphy Reveals New Netflix Series Called ‘Ratched’ Starring Sarah Paulson

For those of you who ever wondered about the motive behind the infamous Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, your prayers have finally been answered. Ryan Murphy, of American Horror Story fame, has joined with Netflix to delve into Nurse Ratched’s origin story with an upcoming series titled Ratched. Sarah Paulson is also set to star in the new series, which goes into production shortly.

According to an Instagram post on Ryan Murphy’s official account, Netflix’s Ratched will start filming in a couple of weeks. His post also revealed that Sarah Paulson will play the title role of Nurse Ratched, as well as being a producer on the new series.

However, Sarah Paulson isn’t the only big name attached to the show. The entire cast line up is pretty spectacular. Joining Paulson will be Sharon Stone, Cynthia Nixon, Finn Wittrock, Jon Jon Briones, Charlie Carver, Judy Davis, Harriet Harris, Hunter Parrish, Amanda Plummer, and Corey Stoll.

“[A] true murderers’ row of talent,” Murphy wrote in his Instagram post.

“So many of these actors are supremely talented folks who Sarah and I have both longed to work with.”

As reported by Den of Geek, Ratched will “begin in 1947 and follow Ratched on her journey from being an average nurse to a career nightmare authority figure.”

According to Variety, Ratched has been given a two-season, 18-episode run from Netflix. This new series will be the first for Ryan Murphy on Netflix. However, he recently signed a “massive overall deal with the streaming giant,” according to Variety. So, this will likely be the first of many Murphy collaborations with Netflix.

Murphy is listed as executive producer on Ratched. Michael Douglas, who produced the 1975 film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, based on the book of the same name, will also act as executive producer on the new Netflix series.

As the Mary Sue points out, Nurse Ratched, played by Louise Fletcher in the 1975 movie, is considered one of the greatest film villains of all time, ranking at No. 5 on AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Heroes & Villains countdown. The Mary Sue also points out that Fletcher won an Oscar for best actress, as well as a BAFTA award, and a Golden Globe award for the role of Nurse Ratched that year.

It will be very interesting to see how Murphy and Paulson further develop this iconic figure in the upcoming series.

As yet, no premiere date has been announced for Netflix’s Ratched.