Michelle Gomez Leaves London Production Of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Michelle Gomez will no longer be starring in a new London production of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest due to undisclosed “personal reasons”.

The former Doctor Who star had been cast as the villainous Nurse Ratched in the Old Vic’s new revival of Dale Wasserman’s play, which will also star Aaron Pierre and Olivier winner Giles Terera .

However, on Monday, the theatre confirmed that Michelle had withdrawn from the production, performances of which are due to get underway on Wednesday 1 April.

In Michelle’s absence, Olivia Williams of The Crown and Friends fame will now be taking over the role of Nurse Ratched moving forward.

“The Old Vic is sorry to announce that Michelle Gomez has stepped down from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest for personal reasons,” the theatre’s statement read. “The theatre, cast and company wish Michelle well and thank her for her time on the production.”

It continued: “The part of Nurse Ratched will now be played by Olivia Williams and we are pleased to welcome Olivia to the company. All performances are scheduled to go ahead as planned.”

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest started life as a novel by Ken Kessey in the early 1960s, telling the story of a group of men at a psychiatric facility, overseen by a Nurse Ratched, who looks after the ward with an iron fist.

Nurse Ratched was most famously played on the big screen by Louise Fletcher in the 1975 film adaptation of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, earning her the Oscar for Best Actress.

The character has also been played on TV by Ingrid Torrance and Sarah Paulson in the family adventure Once Upon A Time and the Netflix drama Ratched, respectively.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest will run at the Old Vic until Saturday 23 May 2026.