Last Wednesday, the cast of The Watcher hit the red carpet for the thriller series premiere in New York City. Based on the puzzling true story, Ryan Murphy’s latest nail-biter follows Dean (Bobby Cannavale) and Nora Brannock (Naomi Watts), a couple who pour their life savings into their dream home at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey. However, as soon as the Brannocks close on their sprawling estate, they realize that their new neighbors aren’t exactly giving them a warm welcome.
The Brannocks’ bizarre realtor Karen (Jennifer Coolidge), begins to give them strange vibes. Their eccentric neighbors Pearl (Mia Farrow) and Jasper (Terry Kinney) from across the street keep entering their home. Their nosy and entitled neighbors Mitch (Richard Kind), and Mo (Margo Martindale) from next door make things quite uncomfortable. Nora, Dean and their children begin to feel like they aren’t wanted in their new house. Things escalate even further when they receive menacing letters from someone who has deemed themselves “the Watcher.” With the family fearing for their safety, things spiral out of control. Haunting secrets about the Brannocks’ new neighbors and their picturesque neighborhood reveal themselves, and it’s a lot more terrifying than anyone could have anticipated.
Tudum caught up with the stars of The Watcher where several of them recalled some quirky encounters with real-life neighbors. Check out their responses below:
Naomi Watts: I haven’t had a similar situation myself, but I think [Nora] dealt with it, in theory, definitely how I would have. I would want to stand my ground and not be put off by it. You’ve moved your kids to the suburbs, they’ve changed schools, and said goodbye to friends. So it feels so disruptive to just up and leave. It takes endurance, but I would go back and forth between wanting to fight and wanting to run for the hills.
Mia Farrow: I have not; I’ve always had very nice neighbors. I would do anything for my neighbors.
Christopher McDonald: I did have a situation where [my neighbors] were tracking me down, and they just wanted to hang out. I said, “I can’t do that. I’m sorry.” So they never got anywhere near my house. That happened like 15 years ago, and since then, that hasn’t happened.
Terry Kinney: Almost everywhere I’ve lived, I’ve had nightmare neighbors. I’ve been in New York for a long time. I had a nightmare neighbor in Chicago who would put things outside of our door, thumping on the ceiling all the time, telling us to shut up or he was going to call the police. But we were not making noise, we were walking. Where I grew up was an odd little town called Lincoln, Illinois, and there were eccentric neighbors in the other houses. You didn’t know what was going on in there quite often. You didn’t know who the parents were and who the children were, things like that.
Noma Dumezweni: I’ve been really lucky, but I do remember I lived on one street, and the neighbors across the way — I was always worried about the neighbors on either side of them because they would play, mid-week, music until two or three o’clock in the morning. There was no rhyme or rhythm, and then it would stop.
Margo Martindale: When I was in school at the University of Michigan, there was something uncomfortable that happened in our dorm. I can’t really go into it, but it was scary, and it scared us all.
Michael Nouri: Yes, I have had a strange neighbor in my past. I remember it was just very uncomfortable. He didn’t like me [laughs]. He had bad taste in people. I tried to get him to like me but to no avail. We couldn’t figure it out.
Paris Barclay (executive producer): I’ve never personally experienced that, but being a producer, you do get strange letters from time to time, and some of them you have to give to the police. I have experienced that, and the terror of not knowing who’s sending it or why. The first time it ever happened was on NYPD Blue in the ’90s. Luckily we had a lot of cops working the show, so we could get into it right away. Some people were just upset by [the show’s] subject matter. At that time, it was very controversial. It had a lot of profanity and some nudity for network television. So we got a lot of response from people.
Henry Hunter Hall: I have never dealt with a nightmare neighbor situation. All of my neighbors have been super kind. They let me throw parties and stuff. I would knock on the door and say, “I’m going to have a little thing; you can hop over if you want.” It’s been a good vibe. I’ve heard stories where people have had bad vibes, but I haven’t, personally.
Isabel Gravitt: I’ve had nosy neighbors, I wouldn’t describe it as a nightmare, but it’s not convenient. There were cameras in our backyard. It was a bit invasive and a bit creepy.
Richard Kind: The worse it’s been is that I have an air conditioner that drips on my neighbors, and it’s annoying to them, so a lot of times during the summer, I have to live in heat because the condensation drips below. But when I was growing up, the kid next door used to take rats and mice and throw them into our yard; we weren’t even in New York. We were in the suburbs of Pennsylvania.
Luke David Blumm: I have not. I’ve only lived in two places, so there are not that many options for bad neighbors. I did have one peculiar neighbor, but she was very nice.
Dive into the mystery of 657 Boulevard when The Watcher premieres on Netflix Oct. 13.
