“The Good Nurse” tells the hauntingly true tale of serial killer nurse Charles Cullen (Eddie Redmayne) who is believed to have murdered as many as 400 patients over the course of his 16-year career in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Cullen killed patients by administering lethal doses of insulin and other potentially fatal drugs; he confessed to killing up to 40 people and is currently serving 17 consecutive life sentences in prison. Cullen’s coworker and fellow nurse Amy Loughren (Chastain) ultimately led to Cullen’s capture. Loughren grew suspicious of Cullen after detectives investigated an unusual death at the hospital they worked.
“I wanted to acknowledge someone like Amy,” Chastain told Vanity Fair. “She’s the kind of superhero that I want to celebrate, because they’re everywhere.”
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Based on Charles Graeber’s 2013 book “The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder,” the thriller is directed by Danish filmmaker Tobias Lindholm (“Mindhunter”) and will be released by Netflix this fall.
Both Academy Award winners Redmayne and Chastain had to undergo physical transformations for their respective roles. In a feat of method acting, Chastain wore an earpiece to hear a heartbeat at all times since her character Loughren suffered from a heart condition. Per Vanity Fair, Chastain would ask for the noise to be turned up when Loughren’s health was at risk because of her physically demanding profession.
Redmayne worked with movement coach Alexandra Reynolds to perfect the “spider-like” movement as Cullen. Reynolds previously collaborated with Redmayne on his Oscar-winning performance as Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything.”
Chastain and Redmayne also both went to “nursing school” to prepare for their parts and spoke with Loughren.
Director Lindholm added that “The Good Nurse” isn’t just another harrowing true crime tale: It’s an interrogation of why a medical professional got away with purposefully killing people for so long.
“When I read the book, I realized that it wasn’t just another serial-killer movie,” Lindholm explained. “It was a portrayal of a system that didn’t stop the serial killer, and the nurse who did.”
Check out the first look at “The Good Nurse” below.
“The Good Nurse” premieres on Netflix later this year.
JoJo Whilden / Netflix
JoJo Whilden / Courtesy of Netflix
JoJo Whilden / Netflix
JoJo Whilden / Netflix
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