First Look: Sarah Paulson as Nurse Ratched in Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series

From Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, Ratched is a suspenseful drama series that tells the origin story of asylum nurse Mildred Ratched.

In 1947, Mildred arrives in Northern California to seek employment at a leading psychiatric hospital where new and unsettling experiments have begun on the human mind. On a clandestine mission, Mildred presents herself as the perfect image of what a dedicated nurse should be, but the wheels are always turning and as she begins to infiltrate the mental health care system and those within it, Mildred’s stylish exterior belies a growing darkness that has long been smoldering within, revealing that true monsters are made, not born.

Ratched was inspired by the iconic and unforgettable character of Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and was created by Evan Romansky. The series stars Sarah Paulson as Mildred Ratched, Cynthia Nixon as Gwendolyn Briggs, Judy Davis as Nurse Betsy Bucket, Sharon Stone as Lenore Osgood, Jon Jon Briones as Dr. Richard Hanover, Finn Wittrock as Edmund Tolleson, Charlie Carver as Huck, Alice Englert as Dolly, Amanda Plummer as Louise, Corey Stoll as Charles Wainwright, Sophie Okonedo as Charlotte, and Vincent D’Onofrio as Gov. George Wilburn.

The series is executive produced by Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, Sarah Paulson, Alexis Martin Woodall, Aleen Keshishian, Jacob Epstein, Jennifer Salt, Margaret Riley, Michael Douglas, Robert Mitas, and Tim Minear.

Sarah Toce

Screenwriter & Journalist | Sarah Brusig (Toce) is an appointed member of the King County Women's Advisory Board and an elected precinct committee officer (PCO) in Burien, WA. As a healthcare worker, Sarah is represented by SEIU 1199NW. In 2010, Sarah created the online news source The Seattle Lesbian, LLC, which still receives upward of 100,000 readers per month. A recipient of McCormick's New Media Women Entrepreneur Award in 2012, Sarah was invited to the White House by President Barack Obama in 2015. That same year, GO Mag recognized Sarah as one of their Red-Hot Entrepreneurs in media.​ In 2016, the National Diversity Council honored Sarah with their LGBT Leadership Award. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) recognized Sarah's advocacy work with the Community Builder Award in 2017, the same year Curve Magazine named Sarah one of their Top Women in Media & Publishing. Sarah served a two-year term as president of the Society of Professional Journalists - Western Washington Chapter beginning in 2018 and was elected Communications Vice Chair of the King County Democrats in 2021.

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