The Freeform original series The Watchful Eye follows Elena Santos (Mariel Molino), a young woman with ulterior motives that lead her on a path to working as live-in nanny for an affluent family in Manhattan. Once inside the Greybourne, she realizes that everyone in the building has secrets of their own, and staying focused on her plan might end up being a lot more challenging than she ever could have imagined.

During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Molino talked about all of the twists and turns of the story, what she loves about her character, not wanting to know about the end of the season too far ahead of time, playing someone with secrets of their own, shooting the masquerade ball, getting to work with Kelly Bishop (who plays lifelong Greybourne resident Mrs. Ivey), and how you’ll get answers as well as have new questions, by the end of the season.
COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAY
Collider: This is one of those shows that you just have to keep watching because of all the twists and turns.

MARIEL MOLINO: Oh, that makes me so happy.

When this came your way, what reeled you in? Since you don’t get all the information up front, when you’re doing a TV series, what were the seeds of things that most interested you?

MOLINO: Honestly, when I look at projects and things that I wanna be a part of, it’s character driven for me. If a character is flushed out and they feel like they’re fully developed, that’s really interesting to me. And the moment that I saw that there was a turn with Elena and that she wasn’t who she appears to be and who she says she is, that was when I was like, “Oh, this is interesting to me because I don’t think I’ve ever really gotten the opportunity to play such a complicated character.” In the past, the roles that I’ve had, I’m thankful for them because they’ve gotten me to where I am, but like they’ve been the girlfriend of, the sister of, the daughter of. I loved that Elena really is complicated, deceitful, passionate, and tragic, and all of that is coupled with it being a thriller. I love thrillers, and I had never done one, so that was really exciting. I’m like you, I wanna know everything. I think I know everything. I have all of these theories. I’m the type of person that, when I watch a show, I listen to an accompanying podcast, I listen to other theories, and I go on Reddit. I loved that aspect of it.

Image via Freeform

Once you had the role and you were signed on, how much were you told? Were you given some of the secrets? Did you get none of the secrets? How much did they actually tell you about, and how much do you actually want to know, as an actor? Do you want to know more than your character would?

MOLINO: For a story like this, I still think it’s really good not to know about the things that are outside of your control. I do think that not knowing the end of the season is beneficial for me because then I treat everyone the same. Even if you think it won’t, it might impact your performance subconsciously because you might wanna play something differently. But I knew all of Elena’s backstory. I had a really extensive conversation with the creators. I was able to see where she was coming from, what had happened to her, specifically, her family, her path, and how that coincided to the moment leading up to her entering the Greybourne. That was fundamental in knowing why I was doing what I was doing, and why I was pulling this grift. Other than that, it was like, “Okay, now all the obstacles come in.” It’s this really great acting exercise where you’re like, “Okay, what is your goal? What is your objective? What are the obstacles in play?” And that’s all the residents of the Greybourne and Greybourne, itself.

What’s it like to play a character that’s focused on and determined to uncover secrets, but at the same time, she has all of these secrets of her own that she has to continue to keep? Do you think she really has a sense of who she is?

MOLINO: When we see Elena, at the beginning, she has a very clear sense of who she is and a very clear objective. But as the story unravels, and as she starts forming connections within the Greybourne, and she starts having to hide herself and hide aspects of her past, I think she starts doing some questionable things. It’s like any quest for revenge that’s rooted in anger and resentment. It can lead to you not recognizing who you’ve become, and that’s true of Elena. She’ll realize that, if you hold onto the past and you hold onto anger, it might fundamentally change you, and is it worth it?

Image via Freeform

If she knew where everything would lead her by the end of the season, do you think she would have done anything different or wish she hadn’t started down this path? Would she rather not know everything she knows, by that point?

MOLINO: Oh, my gosh. It’s the hero’s journey. It’s more about the journey, and not so much where you’re going. That’s such a great structure for any story, and it’s true for this one, as well. You learn so much about yourself. She has to go on this journey. She has to go through all of these challenges and obstacles. I think that it will make her stronger, but there are so many times that I just wanna like shake her and say, “Get out of the Greybourne! Just leave this toxic place!” But it keeps pulling her back in.

At what point do you just tear the building down because it’s nothing but trouble?

MOLINO: Right?! It’s nothing but trouble.

Image via Freeform

Whenever you’re dealing with a lot of wealth, rich people seem to like to have parties. What was it like to shoot the masquerade ball, and get dressed up and have the wig and the mask? How much fun is it to do something like that, that you would never normally do in real life?

MOLINO: I swear, I have always wanted to shoot a scene like that. It’s obviously so fun to get dressed up and to have an excuse to get all dolled up. But on another level, there’s that aspect of hiding in the mask and a costume. We really worked together with our costume designer and our makeup artist. It was just so creative to get to create this character with the wig. It was just so fun to play that up. It took a couple of weeks to create that, and it was really fun to actually feel like we were in this Eyes Wide Shut moment. It’s serious and sexy. When I see a ball like that, I get excited. It was really fun to do that and have a moment to be like, “Oh, we’re all dressed up, so let’s dance and forget about the fact that we might die.”

Not only is Elena juggling secrets, but she’s also juggling people. She’s got her life outside of this building, but then there’s everything that’s going on inside the building. How does she view Matthew? Is he a mean to means to an end for her? Does she actually have feelings for him, as things progress? Does she have genuine feelings for any of these people?

MOLINO: I’m gonna do my best not to spoil anything. I think that with Matthew, she actually shares a lot of similarities. They come from pretty similar backgrounds, and they see each other as someone trying to navigate this uber rich world. In that, there’s some comfort. He’s one of those emotional connections that she starts forming in the Greybourne, that could potentially derail her mission and put on blinders for her. You can’t help but have some sort of relationship and bond with someone who you work with in such an intimate space. When you’re someone’s nanny, and you’re in their kitchen, and you’re doing their laundry, and you’re cleaning up after them, and you’re working with them, and you’re seeing them act the way that they do with their kids, it’s a different way of seeing someone, especially someone who is also gone through a loss like you have. You can’t help but have empathy towards them.

Image via Freeform

There’s such an interesting dynamic that develops between Elena and Mrs. Ivey. What was it like to explore that relationship, and to do so with someone like Kelly Bishop? She seems like she could be terrifying, in the right circumstance.

MOLINO: She is. She’s exactly the type of terrifying that you would like to have on set because she’s just so specific in her work. She’s an absolute pro. Getting to work with her was intimidating, in the best way. I am a fan. To get to work with her was such a pinch-me moment, but it also challenged me to really, really stand my ground and go head-to-head with her in those scenes. I couldn’t lose my power. I had to be there, as an advocate for Elena, and treat her as Mrs. Ivey. It’s these two bulldogs, going at it. She is just the most worthy adversary, and also someone to be in awe of and in fear of.

One of the things that I find most interesting about the season is that you get a sense of a certain amount of resolution, along the way, but you start to wonder what’s next. It feels like, even if you get an answer to something, there’s so much that still hasn’t been uncovered. By the time we get to the end of the season, will we have a sense of what has been happening and where things could go, in a possible second season? Will we have like a clear vision of what could be next?

MOLINO: You will get a lot of answers to certain mysteries that have unraveled since episode one, but with more answers also comes more questions. There are just so many underlying secrets in the Greybourne, and with the people, and in the past, and I do think that there’s a lot of room to see what could happen next. I know that I’m hopeful, but I also know that I’m excited to see you know what people think of this first season, and what they uncover and what resonates with them. It’s a place that’s covering up a lot of dirty secrets and dirty pasts.

The Watchful Eye airs on Monday nights on Freeform.