Excitement is ratcheted high

Chills and awe rippled through the ‘Ratched’ cast as everyone realized who else would be on hand

In Ryan Murphy’s newest Netf lix series, “Ratched,” one of f iction’s most unforgettable villains — Nurse Ratched of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” — gets an origin story. And women play a key part.

The noir-esque drama is set in 1947 and introduces Mildred Ratched (Sarah Paulson, who also executive produces), a former wartime nurse, as she arrives in Northern California to seek employment at a psychiatric hospital that will house the killer of four priests, Edmund Tolleson (Finn Wittrock). The reason for her mission becomes clear as the season unfolds.

But Tolleson isn’t the only character adding layers to Ratched’s evolution. There’s Gwendolyn Briggs (Cynthia Nixon), the savvy press secretary to the governor who has taken an interest in the hospital for reelection purposes; Lenore Osgood (Sharon Stone), a wealthy, vengeful eccentric who walks around with a monkey on her shoulder; Charlotte Wells (Sophie Okonedo), a patient with multiple personalities; and Betsy Bucket (Judy Davis), the head nurse of the hospital who is highly suspicious of Mildred.

The series was created by Evan Romansky and is executive produced by Murphy and longtime partner Ian Brennan. The first season premiered Friday.

In a mid-September interview conducted over video conference (with only minor technical glitches!), The Times gathered Paulson, Nixon, Stone and Okonedo — Davis, who is in Australia, was unavailable — to discuss the appeal of

Where: Netflix When: Any time Rating: TV-MA (may be unsuitable for children younger than 17)

Photographs of Sophie Okonedo by Josh Shinner; Sarah Paulson, Cynthia Nixon and Sharon Stone by Zoey Grossman Netflix. Illustration by Micah Fluellen Los Angeles Times STARS of “Ratched” — yes, the nurse in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” — include, from left, Sophie Okonedo, Sarah Paulson, Cynthia Nixon and Sharon Stone.