‘The Beauty’ Star Jessica Alexander on Becoming Rebecca Hall’s Jordan & the Show’s True Message

[Warning: The following post contains spoilers for The Beauty Episode 5, “Beautiful Billionaires.”]

While the billionaires were away getting transformed — with hysterically tragic results — in one part of the plot in The Beauty Episode 5, the rest of this week’s installment saw Jordan, now portrayed by Jessica Alexander, reuniting with Cooper (Evan Peters) to explain what’s happened in her post-transformation absence.

For Alexander, learning that she would be embodying the “Beauty” version of a character portrayed by Rebecca Hall was “surreal.” The actress revealed to TV Insider that she’s long been a fan of Hall’s work, particularly in indie films like Resurrection, and was delighted to share a role with her, no matter how unusual it was.

Alexander was also heartened that the characters gave a wink to Hall’s own beauty, too, when Cooper said that she was already perfect before she got the virus: “Basically, no one you see in this show needs to have done that, least of all Rebecca Hall,” Alexander said of the change. “So yeah, it felt really important, not even just so much for Rebecca. I doubt Rebecca needs any affirmation in that sense at all. But I think more just to the messaging of the character and her journey, and acknowledging that you know you don’t necessarily always appreciate how you feel about yourself, until something massive changes and puts it all into perspective for you.”

After Jordan returned to Cooper with hopes of rekindling the romance and professional partnership, they headed out to find answers about what happened to her, with a new sense of urgency due to what they know about what happens to the infected.

Read on for our full interview with Jessica Alexander as she breaks down the key moments in The Beauty Episode 5.

What was it like for you when you heard you were going to get to play the suped-up version of this amazing actress?

Jessica Alexander: I know. It honestly was, yeah, pretty surreal. When I auditioned for it, I actually didn’t know that was the situation of the role. I didn’t really have loads of context, honestly, because obviously, Ryan stuff is so top secret that when you’re going up for it. You’re not always sure, I guess, exactly what you’re going up to do. But when I realized it was Rebecca and that she’d be handing the character on to me, I was just totally gobsmacked.

I admire her so much, and I think she’s such a phenomenal actress. I’ve seen her in a lot of films, especially some of the smaller, more independent projects that I’ve watched. I really love Resurrection — an amazing film. She delivers such an incredible performance in it, and I’ve been saying as well, especially, someone who is obviously a British actress, who’s made it really over in the States, and such a great career, it was just awesome for me to work with her in some capacity, even though we didn’t really cross over very much. But yeah, a little bit of pressure, but she’s very nice.

I liked the scene with Evan, where you guys talk about how she was perfect before. How important was that for you — since as you said, you’re a fan — just having that little bit in there to acknowledge her beauty, too?

Yeah, totally. Well, I mean, I think that’s the complex thing about The Beauty as a concept in general, which is basically, no one you see in this show needs to have done that, least of all Rebecca Hall.

So yeah, it felt really important, not even just so much for Rebecca. I doubt Rebecca needs any affirmation in that sense at all. But I think more just to the messaging of the character and her journey, and acknowledging that you don’t necessarily always appreciate how you feel about yourself until something massive changes and puts it all into perspective for you. So I think just that message alone was important to have in there. She’s not just a shallow character who is just really happy that she looks 20 years younger now. It’s a conflicting experience for her.

Did you work with her at all to develop the character, or did you kind of go in different directions with your own interpretation once it became yours? 

We didn’t work together to develop it at all. Weirdly, we honestly didn’t even talk [about that]. We met, we spoke about it, but we didn’t really speak about the character so much. I actually think Rebecca and I brought a lot of ourselves and our natural demeanor to the roles… I don’t know if it’s just because we’re both English. I just know that’s what Evan would always say, like, “You’re just so English,” anytime I said anything…

I think we just genuinely have really natural similarities. I get on really well with her. I never felt like it was someone that’s a stranger or that I’ve just met. Even when I saw her at the premiere the other day, it was so nice to catch up with her. And I feel like she really cares about my journey into all of this, and she sees that I’m younger and new to this whole scene and new to the industry in the States. And I feel like she maybe has offered a bit of kindness and protection, generosity of time and demeanor, and in sort of making you feel comfortable in those spaces.

I think we’re just really similar. I didn’t really prepare much at all in terms to match her, no. [But] even our smiles, it’s weird! We have a similar, slightly gummy smile, the shape of our smile, all sorts of things that I’ve over time actually noticed like, “That is how we really look, quite similar.”

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What about with Evan? Obviously, in the first couple of episodes, they had established this working dynamic and the friendship and the romantic side of it as well. How was it for you to kind of jump into that?

Evan and I didn’t have loads of time to get to know each other, honestly, before we started shooting…. A lot of our opening stuff, we really did shoot quite chronologically — my first days on set were shooting Episode 5, and these characters are sort of meeting each other again for the first time. So, because there was sort of a lack of familiarity between us, I actually think it kind of worked for these people that are now all of a sudden, have been in love with one another, essentially, but couldn’t say it. And now they definitely can’t say it because they’re meeting all over again. It just got really f***ing weird.

But Evan’s just a really incredible person. Honestly, he’s so open and generous as an actor, and he’s just really easy to get on with and really easy to develop that chemistry with and make it as authentic and truthful and grounded as possible because the world of The Beauty is pretty extreme and insane, and there is a lot of fun in there…. The human heart of the story [is] Cooper and Jordan — for me, anyway, that was the heart of, obviously, my experience on the show.

With your character, you also get the authentic Ryan Murphy experience in that when we first meet you, you’re covered in goo. Can you talk about just trusting him and then having that kind of be your entry — this goopy transformation thing? 

Yeah, I’d heard a lot about the goo and the blood and the sacks. There was a lot of talk about the sacks, and when I finally got in it, it was overwhelmingly warm and quite sweaty, and you can’t really hear anything inside it. And it’s trusting Ryan, it’s trusting Alexis [Martin Woodall], who directed the episode, and it’s trusting all the women that are around me, slathering my essentially naked body in goo and blood. And it was just going for it, basically.

So it was fun, and I’d had a bit of time to sort of warm up into shooting in New York. So I did know people a little bit better. That would have been maybe a bit more of an extreme first day. But I’m sort of up for anything when it comes to stuff like that. It’s extreme, and it’s fun and obviously just a bit mental, so it’s quite exhilarating. But, yeah, it was great… I wouldn’t do it again. [Laughs.]

There is a scene where your character has just gotten the Beauty, and you’re walking around getting all these compliments, but then there’s this tenderness to where you have the revelation that maybe there’s a little bit of hollowness to that adoration. Can you talk about just playing to that small arc in such a short time and squeezing so much into that scene?

Yeah, I mean, you’re right. It is kind of a big arc. The scene is sort of contextualizing what it is she’s been through. And I think it’s also sort of left to the audience’s imagination, actually, what she really might have been through while she was away, because she’s been missing quite some time. And I think every woman can relate to the fact that when you are maybe feeling confident or embodying a certain a certain type of energy, or you’re wearing that dress that you love, and you’re going on a night out with the girls, whatever it is, the journey from home to wherever it is you’re going can sometimes feel a little intimidating, and maybe you are attracting attention that you don’t want, simply for existing. And that is, I think, Jordan’s experience.

At first, she’s enjoying this new body that she’s in, and then she’s also realizing it’s a blessing and a curse. And I think existing as a woman in the world is a bit of a blessing and a curse. Wouldn’t change it for the world, but let’s be real. That’s kind of what it’s like.

So I think it was good to acknowledge that… And I think it’s interesting at this point in the show… by Episode 5, you’ve seen a few people transform, and most of them really wanted it, and they set out to find that for themselves, not thinking of the consequences. Jordan’s character, that’s not really her journey into it. She’s taken advantage of — a man sleeps with her and doesn’t tell her that he has an STI, and so, yeah, it’s a conflicting experience for her. I think for me, in reading the scripts and understanding how I would come into the show, that was an interesting angle for me. It’s thinking, “OK, we’re starting to investigate the idea that maybe this is happening to people without their permission, and it’s bringing on all these complex consequences for them.” So, yeah. I went into a bit of a wormhole there. I think about just society and being a woman. I could go on about that for ages.

You’re so right, though. I also wanted to tap into how that device of her changing changes the trajectory of the narrative in general. Because at first, when we first meet the two, they’re finding answers, but they’re not super locked into this investigation. But now that she has it, she not only needs answers, she needs a solution. So can you just talk about how that changes their dynamic and where the show’s going from here?

Totally. I mean, I think it just raises the stakes massively. I mean, with every great thriller or drama or horror of any kind, you need a really personal throughline in order for you to feel like you’re rooting for those characters. I think there’s a lot of characters to root for in our show, whether you’re sort of rooting for the villain for some reason, or you’re Cooper and Jordan, who are good guys. But I think it just raised the stakes massively. And I’m pretty sure even Cooper probably says it at one point like this, “I just got pissed.” It’s just one of those things.

At the core of the Jordan-Cooper story, it’s a love story, and I approached it like it’s a tragedy — a romantic tragedy — and I just think that brings such a nice layer to it.

In general, what is the message of this show, in your opinion?

It’s interesting. I mean, a lot of the overarching message is obviously asking the question, “How far would you go for beauty?” But I actually think the show pushes the needle a little bit further than that. I think it is asking, “How have we got to this place, and why is no one stopping it?” I think that’s the main thing. Because I think we all know that people would go really far for beauty. That’s not a new concept. That’s been around forever. The Victorians were doing crazy stuff to be beautiful. People have always done insane stuff in the name of beauty, no matter what that is. Beauty standards are shifting and changing every decade. I mean, these days it’s like every week.

But I think everyone just asks, “Why is no one stopping it? And why do we all keep buying into it? And what are those consequences going to be like, not now — 30 years from now in the future?” Because the thing about the way our generation is doing beauty is that we live in the world of social media. Everything’s about instant gratification. It’s like, “Put a needle in somewhere, and by this time next week you’re gonna look even better.” And it’s like, “OK, but what about in 20 years’ time? What’s that gonna do to you? How’s it gonna affect your health?” … The side effects in our show are obviously ludicrous and extreme, and it’s super sci-fi and elevated, high-concept to be. But I do think there’s a very human and current question at the center of it there, and I think we’re all sort of equally curious and also terrified to see where beauty goes in the world because it sort of feels like it’s not going to slow down. Feels like we’re going to end up like we have smooth, little Botox-filled alien people.

The Beauty, Wednesdays, 9/8c, FX & Hulu