Crime Crime History 'The Watcher' 's Christopher McDonald Admits He 'Would've Left Sooner' If He Were in the Broaddus Family's Shoes The Watcher chronicles the real-life story of the Broaddus family as they dealt with an apparent serial stalker after moving to their new neighborhood in 2014 By Stephanie Wenger Stephanie Wenger Stephanie Wenger is a TV Writer/Reporter at PEOPLE. She joined the brand in 2021 as a digital news writer, covering stories spanning across the site's verticals. She previously contributed E! Online, Hollywood Life and Oscar.com. People Editorial Guidelines and Skyler Caruso Skyler Caruso Skyler Caruso is a Writer and Reporter of PEOPLE Digital Entertainment. She joined PEOPLE in 2021, but has eight years of experience working in digital publishing with a focus on entertainment and pop culture news. People Editorial Guidelines Published on October 19, 2022 04:24PM EDT The Watcher's Christopher McDonald Admits He 'Would've Left Sooner' If He Were in the Brannock Family's Shoes. Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Christopher McDonald stars as Detective Rourke Chamberlain on the true crime series The Watcher, but he wouldn't want to be in the real-life situation of the Broaddus family. Co-created by American Horror Story mastermind Ryan Murphy and creative partner Ian Brennan, the Netflix show follows Derek and Maria Broaddus as they dealt with ominous letters from a neighbor calling himself "The Watcher" after moving to a new neighborhood in 2014. The 67-year-old actor told PEOPLE at the show's New York City premiere that he would have put the house up for sale if he was put in the couple's shoes. "I would've left sooner personally," he shares. "I would've left town and sold the house." The Watcher's Christopher McDonald Admits He 'Would've Left Sooner' If He Were in the Brannock Family's Shoes. Eric Liebowitz/Netflix Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale Have a 'Hopelessly Devoted' Neighbor in Bone-Chilling The Watcher Trailer According to The Cut, the Broaddus family bought a second home in Westfield, New Jersey, using an LLC to keep the location private. In 2019, they was finally able to rid themselves of 657 Boulevard when they sold the home at a loss for approximately $959,000, according to Zillow. McDonald admits that he's had to deal with some scary situations in his own life. "There have been little things," he reveals. "A couple of fans get a little bit too crazy and they show up and you go, 'No, we got to stop doing this and I mean it.' You gotta put your foot down a little bit." "But, that doesn't happen very often," he adds. "It used to happen a lot more." The Watcher's Christopher McDonald Admits He 'Would've Left Sooner' If He Were in the Brannock Family's Shoes. Eric Liebowitz/Netflix The Watcher: What's Real and What's Not in Netflix Series Playing a detective on The Watcher — which is based upon a story originally shared in a 2018 New York magazine article — made McDonald break out his own investigative skills to try to figure out who the stalker could be. "I mean we're all kind of trying to figure it out because it's one of those stories that doesn't really have that clear answer," he says. "It could be a lot of different people that people are going to see in the episodes. So they kind of look around and they see the telltale signs and, as a detective, this guy went through this all and so I hope he'll be happy with it." However, McDonald refrained from reaching out to the Broaddus family or Detective Chamberlain before taking on the part, saying, "I didn't want to actually because I don't know if they wanted to and I didn't want to push the issue. Nor did I talk to the detective. So I just had the book as my source and the script." Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Streaming now on Netflix, The Watcher is part of an overall deal Murphy and Brennan made with the streamer that also led to them producing Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.