The Good Nurse: Real-life nurse played by Jessica Chastain says Netflix film helped her heal

Amy Loughren helped police find evidence to convict her colleague Charles Cullen

The real-life nurse portrayed by Jessica Chastain in The Good Nurse has spoken about the impact the Netflix film has had on her life.

Released on the streaming service on Wednesday (26 October), The Good Nurse is a “chilling crime thriller” starring Chastain, Eddie Redmayne and Nnamdi Asomugha.

It tells the true story of nurse Amy Loughren who helped the police find evidence to convict serial killer Charles Cullen of murder.

Cullen, had worked at hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania for 16 years and in December 2003, confessed to killing 29 patients, often by administering drug overdoses.

You can read The Independent’s explainer on the true story behind the film here.

Cullen, played by Eddie Redmayne, was a friend and colleague of Loughren’s who had helped her when she’d needed time off for her heart condition and childcare.

After Cullen was found guilty, Loughren struggled with the guilt of their friendship and not noticing his crimes sooner.

Speaking to BBC News, the real-life Loughren said: “I struggled with the guilt of missing him. I struggled with the guilt of not seeing that that friendship also had a monstrous dark side.

Redmayne and Chastain in ‘The Good Nurse’ (JoJo Whilden / Netflix)

“And I didn’t want to see it. I wanted to believe that he was a mercy killer so that I could still care about him. And he wasn’t a mercy killer. He was a cold-blooded murderer. And for me to not have seen that, I really did struggle.”

Loughren went on to explain how watching the film has helped her to see that she did, in fact, do a lot to help the situation.

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"I literally risked everything to make sure he was behind bars. And I was showing up every single day and pushing myself every single day no matter how sick I was. I still showed up to be a mom,” she said.

“I still showed up to be a good nurse and watching [Chastain], I could be proud of that character. It opened up a space for me to say, ‘I did good.’”

The Good Nurse is on Netflix now.