who is the bates motel based off of
The series, a contemporary prequel to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho; based on Robert Bloch's 1959 novel of the same name, depicts the lives of Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) and his mother Norma (Vera Farmiga) prior to the events portrayed in the novel and film, albeit in a different fictional town (White Pine Bay, Oregon, as opposed to Fairvale, California) and in a modern-day setting. However, the final season loosely adapts the plot of Psycho. Max Thieriot and Olivia Cooke both starred as part of the main cast throughout the series' run. After recurring in the first season, Nestor Carbonell was added to the main cast from season two onward.