Get ready for a long stay at The Greybourne. Mariel Molino stars as Elena Santos, a young woman who maneuvers her way into working as a live-in nanny for an affluent Manhattan family in The Watchful Eye. When she steps into The Greybourne, she finds herself surrounded by mystery, including deadly secrets. HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Mariel, Jon Ecker, and Aliyah Royale about what to expect.
“I think from the jump Elena seems to be on the same page with Scott, and I think she definitely makes him believe that. But as I think about more of her journey and where she’s going, I think that from the beginning, she had different intentions and different motivations. She wanted something different out of this journey into The Greybourne, which I think ultimately becomes really problematic, not only for her but for their relationship and the trust between them,” Mariel told HollywoodLife.
Even though Scott isn’t working at The Greybourne, viewers will get a glimpse of life outside of the mysterious building. “I think slowly throughout the episodes you get a little more and more insight into his life, into his relationship with Elena, and some of his motives,” Jon said about Scott. “It might not be revealed in the first episode or two. Little by little you start to get more and more pieces of that puzzle.”
When Elena begins working at The Greybourne, that’s where she meets Ginny, played by Aliyah. Aliyah revealed that Ginny and Elena’s relationship is “organic” from the beginning. “I think when you have a relationship that starts off with that much chemistry, it’s very easy to get close very quickly,” she said.
Mariel added, “I think what’s so great about this relationship is that Elena sees someone who can see through the bulls**t. I don’t know if I can swear. But anyways, I think that she finds comfort and solace in that because I think that The Greybourne begins to really screw with her mind and her soul, and she sees someone that is really pure of heart. But she doesn’t want to trust her because she’s been hurt in the past. So there’s that conflict of do I trust them? Do I not?”
Elena becomes a nanny for Matthew, who tragically lost his wife. Mariel teased what the dynamic between Elena and Matthew is going to look like, and whether or not there is anything more between them.
“I think I have to cut Matthew some slack because he’s going through it. He just lost his wife, and he has to raise an 8-year-old kid. He’s alone and also navigating this uber-rich world,” Mariel explained. “I think in Elena he sees someone that is actually a lot more similar to him than he expects. I think that there is kind of like this gaping void that in some way Elena fills and that’s comforting. It’s also always so comforting to see your child connect with someone who is able to provide just happiness. I think that does something to you. It does make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. Although I think it is a very professional relationship. I think when you’re in an intimate space like that working for a family so closely maybe those lines can be blurred. I don’t know.” The Watchful Eye will premiere with two back-to-back episodes on January 30 on Freeform.