As we’ve seen over the years,Ryan Murphylikes to establish longstanding collaborations with his actors,Finn WittrockandJon Jon Brionesincluded. Wittrock has appeared in a number of seasons ofAmerican Horror Storyas well asAmerican Crime StoryandThe Normal Heart,while Briones scored roles inAmerican Crime StoryandAmerican Horror Story: Apocalypse. Now, they both move on toRatched.
Briones steps in as Dr. Richard Hanover, the head doctor at Lucia State Hospital who’s eager to test out new treatments on the human mind. Wittrock plays Edmund Tolleson, a man who winds up in Dr. Hanover’s facility after committing a horrific crime. And then, of course, we haveSarah Paulson’s title character, Mildred Ratchet, a nurse who convinces Dr. Hanover to hire her so that she can take care of personal matters at his hospital.
Everyone’s got their work cut out for them in this series, but some of the heaviest material of the show involves Mildred and Edmund. Thanks to Murphy’s growing network of frequent collaborators though, it was like Wittrock and Paulson had a head start of sorts. Here’s how Wittrock put it:
“I think that there was a level of not having to break the ice with her, that we kind of could just dive right into the red meat of the relationship. I just always admire her work, but it feels very cool that I get to say that I know her. Like I literally know her. [Laughs] It just makes it so much easier. It could make things harder, you know? There are other actors that you’d be like, ‘Oh, god.’ That’s terrifying. But she’s such an exact and such a detailed actor. And this part, she’s not always this way. If you’ve seenMrs. America, it’s like a whole other side, which I thought was incredible. But this is a much more kind of reined in, tight fisted character, that she’s holding a lot back. And Edmund was kind of a more caged animal that was more impulsive. I didn’t always know where he was gonna go. So I thought that was a really fun dynamic between the two of us to play with, this sort of restraint and the sort of feral quality of his. It was like we were dancing.”
If you’d like to hear more about Briones’ experience working withSophie Okonedo, find out whichRatchedcast member they’d most like to see appear inAmerican Horror Story, and more, you can give the full chat a watch at the top of this article!Ratchedhits Netflix on Friday, October 18th.
Jon Jon Briones and Finn Wittrock
