'I'm Tired of People Debating if I'm a Real Person or if I'm Three Men' — The Housemaid Author Finally Reveals Her True Identity and Profession

The Housemaid was 1 of the juiciest movies to travel retired successful 2025 and it surely helped extremity the cinematic twelvemonth with a bang. Now, the writer of the publication bid the movie is based on, Frieda McFadden, has yet revealed her real-life individuality beyond her pen name.

During a caller interrogation with USA Today, McFadden said it was “time” to fto her readers cognize her existent name, which is Sara Cohen, and her existent occupation, a doc who treats encephalon disorders.

“I’m astatine a constituent successful my vocation erstwhile I’m bushed of this being a secret,” she said. “I’m bushed of radical debating if I’m a existent idiosyncratic oregon if I’m 3 men. I americium a existent idiosyncratic and I person a existent individuality and I don’t person thing to hide.”

According to the author, she attempted to support her pen sanction a concealed from her aesculapian nonrecreational peers, but that didn’t past excessively long. Cohen claimed her coworkers were “really nice” astir her treble beingness and swore themselves to secrecy truthful she could proceed utilizing her pen sanction without interruption.

“My full extremity was to support it a concealed until I was [ready to] measurement backmost from my doc job, truthful it wouldn’t beryllium similar everyone I enactment with abruptly knew and it compromised my quality to bash my job,” she explained. “But I person stepped distant from my job. I’m lone moving similar erstwhile oregon doubly a month.” Cohen besides took a sabbatical close aft publishing The Housemaid successful 2022, which astir apt helped extremity disconnected the different infirmary unit members.

That said, Cohen feels arsenic though she volition beryllium the aforesaid idiosyncratic she was to her readers earlier the uncover — and she besides plans to support utilizing her pseudonym. “Even though I haven’t told my existent sanction until now, I consciousness similar I person shared the existent maine each on and everything I’ve told them has been the truth,” she continued. “Even though the sanction volition beryllium a surprise, thing other will. I’ve ever been genuine with my readers.”

Freida McFadden astatine The Housemaid New York screening successful December, 2025. Photo by Manoli Figetakis/WireImage.

The Housemaid, the archetypal publication successful Cohen’s multi-book series, was adapted for the surface by Rebecca Sonnenshine and directed by Paul Feig. Starring Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney, the movie (and book) follows a young pistillate who comes to enactment arsenic a live-in housekeeper for an progressively unhinged joined mates who harbor a full big of troubling secrets.

The movie was a large deed astatine the container office, grossing conscionable nether $400 cardinal globally. That occurrence has enactment a sequel, based connected the 2nd publication successful the bid titled The Housemaid’s Secret, connected the improvement way with Feig and Sweeney returning. Kirsten Dunst was reported to person joined the formed past month.

The sequel movie is acceptable to beryllium released successful theaters successful December 2027, but for now, you tin drawback the archetypal movie connected Starz oregon rent it via Prime Video oregon Apple TV.

Photo by Manoli Figetakis/WireImage.

Lex Briscuso is simply a movie and tv professional and a freelance amusement writer for IGN. You tin travel her connected Twitter astatine @nikonamerica.