‘The Beauty’ Stars on Trusting Ryan Murphy’s ‘Weird’ & ‘Aesthetic’ Vision for New Body Horror Series
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When Ryan Murphy calls talent about a new show, it could be for anything: a heady period drama, an action-packed broadcast procedural, a grisly true-crime reenactment series, a feel-good comedy, or, as with The Beauty, a gory horror where a woman randomly explodes in the middle of the street as the very first scene. In all cases, when Murphy calls, everyone in Hollywood will answer.
The Beauty features a few of his most frequent screen stars and a bevy of first-timers. The story follows a pair of international investigators as they hunt down the truth about an STD that transforms people’s genetics to make them extremely gorgeous but has shockingly deadly side effects. The series is chock full of body horror, sex scenes, and mystery, and every character has a quirk or two to speak of.
TV Insider caught up with the series’ main stars to find out what it takes to give themselves over to Murphy’s signature vision in a series with so many wild swings.
Ashton Kutcher portrays Byron Forst, also known as “The Corporation,” a haughty techbro billionaire tied to the Beauty.
“This is very different than anything I’ve done before,” the actor told TV Insider. “You enter in having a notion of what the character is doing, what the character wants, but you don’t know what the character’s relationship with all the other variable people are, and you just have to trust that Ryan’s going to take you there.”
Working with Murphy for the first time, Kutcher said, was a revelation. “I’ve never worked with anyone like Ryan before, where he’s incredibly specific about what he wants, and there’s an aesthetic to the show that is this elevated aesthetic,” he explained. “Ryan’s aesthetic pops everything, and it comes off the screen. And so he’s got a very specific vision for that. But then, on the other side, he’s not precious about anything, which is what makes collaborating with Ryan really fun.”
Per Kutcher, Murphy scrapped a three-page monologue he’d been preparing all night for at the last minute, and the actor found that choice refreshing. “I think that combination of not having an ego about it and also having a very specific vision really makes it a safe playground. And then when you get that feeling, you go, ‘Oh, I can go here, I can go there, I can do this, I can do that, and I know that I’ll be protected in doing that.'”
The actor also embraced the message of The Beauty. “It doesn’t matter who you are, how you are, what you are, you will always find your flaws and maybe the most beautiful thing in the world is our imperfections and the fact that we have a chance in life, through life, to change, to learn, to grow, to try to correct the things about ourselves that we don’t love and that we don’t like, and I think that that is the journey, and that is beauty and, and in essence, the question of the show is: ‘What would you sacrifice to have all those things closed in a moment? And would that be enough?'”
Anthony Ramos portrays the Assassin, who works for the Corporation, wears a curious silver eye patch, and has his own experience with the weird little wonderdrug at the center of it all.
For the actor, also a first-time Murphy collaborator, delving into Murphy’s screen world was also quite an experience.
“Stepping into that world, it’s interesting. You do have to let go a lot,” the actor said, adding that the process of production involves “cross-boarding,” or shooting parts of different episodes out of order, which was a welcome challenge. “You’ve got to ask, just, ‘OK, where am I? What are we doing?’ And then, because Ryan’s so fluid with the story, like Ashton said, he’ll cut a monologue right there and be like, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna actually do it this way.’ You don’t know when he’s gonna do that. You don’t, and sometimes there’s no talk before about whether or not he’s going to do that, which honestly, it keeps you on your toes as an actor. It keeps it exciting, too, because you’re like, ‘OK, all right, cool. It’s different. So let’s go.'”
The effect, Ramos explained, is, “You don’t really have a lot of time to overthink it. You just kind of dive in and let it be whatever it’s going to be.”
As for the finished product? “The show is weird, unique, really cool, and everyone looks really dope.”
Not new to the Ryan Murphy TV game is Jeremy Pope, whose character starts as an outsider but becomes ensnared in the Beauty world. But Pope, who previously starred in Pose and Hollywood, still found The Beauty to present a whole new set of challenges.
“Ryan is a trusted sword. He calls you. He has an idea. A lot of times, he’s written a role for you. He’s seeking you. He’s telling you, ‘This is what I think will be great.’ And in my experience, I’ve said yes, and it’s been really fruitful experiences,” the actor said. “This one was totally very different [from] anything I’ve done with Ryan, so to be able to one, work with Ashton, work with Anthony, who I’ve known for over 15 years, to travel internationally, to have a show that was genre bending, but asking the audience a question of themselves and what they might do to access perfection or beauty, I thought was interesting and felt very relevant, culturally, to where we are right now.”
Rebecca Hall is already something of a horror film legend thanks to her work in films like The Awakening, The Gift, and The Night House, among others, but with The Beauty she makes a rare jump into the small screen for her first Murphy experience.
In the show, she plays Jordan Bennett, one of the FBI agents investigating the Beauty, and she fully embraced Murphy’s vision for the role.
“You just suspend any disbelief and trust his vision,” she explained of the process. “It’s a pretty good vision to trust in. I mean, he always strikes on something that feels of the moment and current and gives it this sort of subversive, pulpy, exciting twist. And I think it’s fantastic. I love his world.”
Last, but certainly not least, the biggest Murphy acolyte on the call sheet for The Beauty is Evan Peters, who has been fearless in (and richly rewarded for) his previous appearances in his shows.
For Peters, working with Murphy on The Beauty was another instance of a collaborative experience.
“Ryan is a very collaborative creator. So I think what usually happens is, he has his idea. You bring your idea to the table, and you usually end up trying both, and sort of see what works in the end,” he said. “As brilliant as he is and as strong as his vision is, he’s still very open and collaborative and willing to take suggestions and try out new ideas. So it’s always a pleasure working with him.”
The Beauty, series premiere, January 21, 9/8c, FX (streaming on Hulu and Disney+)
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