Mariel Molino's experience shooting The Watchful Eye felt like home with some help from costar Amy Acker.
Speaking to PEOPLE about her lead role on the new Freeform series, which premiered on Monday, 30-year-old Molino opened up about the relationships she's built with the cast.
"Amy Acker is a treat — and nothing like what her character is like. She is the sweetest, kindest, most genuine person. She's become like a mother to me in Vancouver," Molino says of Acker, 46.
"Sometimes, I don't even have time to cook so she'll be like, 'I've made you some dinner,'" she continues. "I'll come over to her house and she's literally like Chef Boyardee — she's such a good chef, she'll whip up a pot roast or a bolognese sauce that's been cooking for three hours."
In The Watchful Eye, Molino plays Elena Santos, a young woman with a complicated past who maneuvers her way into working as a live-in nanny for a wealthy family at The Greybourne in Manhattan.
The family consists of an architect named Mathew (Warren Christie) and his son Jasper (Henry Joseph Samiri) after the death of Mathew's wife. Meanwhile, Acker plays Mathew's hyper-involved sister-in-law. Elena, however, quickly learns that she's not the only one in the building with secrets and ulterior motives.
"People do complicated things to reach a better quality of life. For not only themselves, but for their family," Molino explains.
Working with the rest of the cast, Molino says, helped bring "beautiful moments of levity" to the show — even with the "complicated" and "manipulative" nature of her character.
"With Ginny [Aliyah Royale], she's able to let certain walls come down. With Scott [Jon Ecker], there's this playful, sexy side," she shares. "Then with Matthew [Warren Christie], there's almost like a yearning to drop everything and become a princess."
She continues, "Working with Kelly Bishop was a dream come true. Such a pinch me moment. [She's] someone I grew up watching on my TV so to be able to work with her... I mean, she is such a pro and delivers every line with precision and intention. It makes you nervous."
The Watchful Eye will offer several twists and turns before viewers find out who is and isn't "all that good."
To find out what happens, Molino urges fans to tune in. "We know it's going to be a ride," she says.
The Watchful Eye airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on Freeform.
