More than 10 years ago, “American Horror Story” creator Ryan Murphy had penned the pilot for the supremely popular FX show with Mia Farrow in mind, calling her a “bucket list” actress he wanted to work with. Now, the “Rosemary’s Baby” star revealed she actually regretted turning him down.
In a conversation about Netflix’s “The Watcher,” the cast reunited with the Emmy-winning producer to discuss the series and enduring allure of the true crime genre. Before Murphy could finish his sentence about his first attempt to work with Farrow, the veteran actress — who was not working at the time — said, “I’m sorry about that part.”
She continued, “I’m really sorry I didn’t do that, and I regretted it. I also jumped at the chance when you said [to] … Ronan [Farrow], ‘Got this thing for your mother, she can wear all black and it’ll be really interesting.’ And I’m like, ‘Sure.’”
On the flip side, co-star Jennifer Coolidge had been trying to get a role on “AHS” for approximately the same amount of time (the two had previously worked together on his 2003 drama “Nip/Tuck”). The Emmy-winning “White Lotus” star mentioned to IMDb recently that circa 2011, Murphy and his crew had rented her New Orleans home to shoot for “AHS,” and she had been subtly trying to be around the production in hopes of nabbing a part. (“You can’t hide desperate,” she said during the Netflix conversation while characterizing that attempt.)
“I’d be out, like, raking leaves, just, you know, ‘Hey!’ I thought for sure that I would somehow get your attention, and you would say, ‘Hey, Jennifer, I can’t believe we’re using your house, why don’t we just give you one of these roles?’” she recalled.
This was news to Murphy, who didn’t know the actress was interested in the darker thriller genres, though she made it known to him later that she was hungering to portray “evil” characters. Coolidge added, “Jessica Lange was upstairs in my bedroom, and I was like, ‘This is the day it’s gonna happen!’ I guess [‘The Watcher’] was a very delayed response to my wish, but I’m so happy it happened.”
“The Watcher” debuted Oct. 13 on Netflix, immediately rising through scores of titles to debut at No. 1 on the Top 10 English TV list, with 125 million hours viewed. The series, based on a true story of a family haunted by a relentless stalker that was explored in a 2018 New York Magazine piece of the same name, also hit at the Top 10 in 90 countries.
