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Watson creator explains the casting decisions behind Moriarty

The Watson series premiere introduced us to the world of Watson. We also got to meet the Moriarty in this version of events.

ByAlexandria Ingham|
“Pilot” – Morris Chestnut stars as Dr. John Watson, who resumes his medical career as the head of a clinic dedicated to treating rare disorders six months after the death of his friend and partner, Sherlock Holmes, at the hands of Moriarty. Watson’s old life isn’t done with him, though: Moriarty and Watson are set to write their own chapter of a story that has fascinated audiences for more than a century. WATSON is a medical show with a strong investigative spine, featuring a modern version of
“Pilot” – Morris Chestnut stars as Dr. John Watson, who resumes his medical career as the head of a clinic dedicated to treating rare disorders six months after the death of his friend and partner, Sherlock Holmes, at the hands of Moriarty. Watson’s old life isn’t done with him, though: Moriarty and Watson are set to write their own chapter of a story that has fascinated audiences for more than a century. WATSON is a medical show with a strong investigative spine, featuring a modern version of

Watson certainly surprised us with the casting decision for Moriarty. Randall Park’s casting was kept quiet from all, and it certainly made for an excellent moment at the end of the series premiere. Creator Craig Sweeny has now explained the decisions behind the casting.

Moriarty is known as the archnemesis of Sherlock Holmes. He has been played by some excellent actors over the years, including Andrew Scott, Ralph Fiennes, Jared Harris, and even Natalie Dormer in the CBS series Elementary.

As much as many would have loved to see Watson as a spin-off of Elementary, that’s not happened. Morris Chestnut has taken on the lead role, and that meant a new face for Moriarty. Well, how about Randall Park?

How Randall Park landed the role for Moriarty in Watson

Sweeny talked with Deadline about the series premiere and the casting choice. It was one of those surprising choices for both him and for the viewers. After all, wouldn’t we usually expect a straight white man to play this role? I know a lot of people would!

Park is known for both comedy and serious roles. He does bring a different layer to Watson, but how did he beat out so many others that likely went for the role? Well, it turned out that he was offered it.

Sweeny shared that he had Park’s number and decided to ask him about the role. The benefit of Park is that he has a nice smile and he is genuinely nice. What if that was all turned on its head? Moriarty is known to be able to get people on his side. He’s a smart and calculating man, so having someone as nice as Park to play the role helps to keep us on our toes.

Park is a recurring guest star in Watson

We won’t see Moriarty in every single episode of the series. Sweeny confirms that he’s a recurring guest star.

It’s clear that he is playing a bigger part in the series. He is interested in Watson’s work at the clinic, and he seems to have something over Shinwell to make the man hand over data and samples to Moriarty. This is going to be one of those season-long storylines that comes up now and then.

While Moriarty has always been the archnemesis of Holmes, he has been a thorn in Watson’s side as well. However, Moriarty isn’t attacking Watson for the sake of attacking him. There is something else he wants the information for, and we know Moriarty is into inventions, so prepare for some sort of scary use for the DNA samples he now has.

Watson will air on Sundays at 9/8c on CBS starting from Sunday, Feb. 16.

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