We’ve all heard the saying that it can often be ‘not what you know, but who you know’ when it comes to getting a job. And this was partly true for Jennifer Coolidge landing her role in The Watcher.
The Watcher is Ryan Murphy’s newest true-crime series on Netflix, coming after his string of hit shows including Glee, American Horror Story and, more recently, Dahmer Monster: The Jeffery Dahmer Story, which is the second most-watched show on the viewing platform ever.
It tells the true story of a family moving into their dream home in suburban New York. Only they’re soon plagued by creepy happenings including several ominous letters, strange neighbours and some rather sinister threats.
Weirdly, it was after renting her house to Murphy during the filming of American Horror Story that Coolidge first met the creator.
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"You know, I always wanted to do a creepy story with Ryan," the American Pie star told Sky News.
"He rented my house years ago for an episode of American Horror Story and I kept thinking he would see me in the yard raking leaves or something and go 'Hey Jennifer, I have a part for you in this!', you know? But that never happened.
"Then this weird thing happens...13 years later, here I am. So sometimes just because you missed the boat on one thing, sometimes it comes back around - and I was thrilled."
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Although the story behind The Watcher is real, many of the characters have been fictionalised. However, Coolidge plays the real estate agent who sold the family their new home.
According to House Beautiful, the six-bed home at 657 Boulevard in the small town of Westfield, New Jersey, was built over a hundred years ago in 1905.
Couple Derek and Maria Broaddus bought the home for nearly $1.4 million in June 2014 but their dream soon turned into a nightmare when they started to receive threatening letters from ‘The Watcher’.
The harasser said the home had been a point of obsession for their family for years, and after their dad had died, they had been given the task of watching over it.
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Since then, The Watcher’s identity has remained a mystery.
In 2019, the family decided to sell the house and listed it at a reduced price, hoping to attract someone who might want to tear it down. Only, a new family ended up buying the home.
At the time, the Broaddus family asked for a message to be passed on to the new owners saying: “We wish you nothing but the peace and quiet that we once dreamed of in this house,” reports Digital Spy.
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Mia Furrow, Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale all star in the show alongside Coolidge which is available to stream now.
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Topics: Film and TV, Netflix, True crime
Anna Verdon