Note: The following story contains spoilers from the “Grotesquerie” finale.
“Grotesquerie” may not yet officially have a Season 2 renewal, but that hasn’t stopped co-creator Ryan Murphy and star Niecy Nash-Betts from talking about the FX series’ future.
“We talked about a second season before we ever filmed the first page of dialogue,” Nash-Betts told TheWrap. “Ryan always has a plan. I’m privy to doing things, but you don’t want to give any spoilers.”
That’s especially true of this horror thriller, which stands as one of the most tense and winding series of the year. “Grotesquerie” started as a comparatively simple story at the beginning of Season 1, following Detective Lois Tryon (Niecy Nash-Betts) as she attempted to solve a series of increasingly disturbing murders in her small town. That premise was completely upended in “Unplugged,” an installment that revealed Lois was actually in a coma and all the horrors the audience had witnessed up until that point were all happening in her imagination. But when the same grisly murders she experienced in her comatose state started happening in reality, “Grotesquerie” is further thrust into a realm where it’s impossible to know what’s fact, what’s fiction and if the distinction between the two even matters.
To add to the inscrutable layers around this show, Season 1 ended with Lois and Megan (Micaela Diamond) once again finding a bloody murder scene stylized as Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” Only this time around, the man who was responsible for the mass murders in her subconscious — Father Charlie (Nicolas Alexander Chavez) — served as the disturbing scene’s murdered Christ figure.
Nash-Betts spoke to TheWrap about what she thinks is really happening on “Grotesquerie,” what she wants to do next in her career and why people need to remember that she can do it all — drama, comedy and anything else Hollywood may ask of her.
TheWrap: I want to dive into the finale. You’ve said in past interviews that you believe the murders are for sure happening and Lois isn’t in a coma. But do you think there’s any possibility Lois is having a mental breakdown or anything?
Niecy Nash-Betts: You gotta stay tuned to this particular show. She was in her coma up until Episode 7, and then everything after 7, she was awake, but she was questioning it all. Am I dead? What is happening? What is going on around me? Especially after the murders start to repeat, it forces her back into a reality of, “OK, this is happening, and I’m not crazy. Now, what do I do? It’s hard for me to put the white jacket back on and go save the world.”
As the actor behind Lois, how did you keep track of where she was in which reality?
I have an amazing partner in Ryan Murphy. He held my hand all the way through and made sure all of the questions were answered. We locked everything down and made sure we understood, not just the storyline, not just the journey emotionally, but where is she in her sobriety? Where is she in her addiction and disease?
There’s this sense in “Grotesquerie” that these horrible things are happening, and obviously you can’t tell what’s real and what’s not. But it does feel like our real life in some twisted way. Do you get that sense as well?
I actually do, and I understand why people see it that way. I feel like “Grotesquerie” did what art is supposed to do. It’s supposed to create a conversation. Not only are we questioning what is real, what is an alternate universe, but it also speaks to everything that is happening in the world right now. It speaks to women losing agency over their own bodies. It speaks to climate change and global warming. It speaks to mental health. It’s mirroring the things that are happening in the world right now.
“Dahmer” also opened the door for a very difficult conversation. It’s really awesome to see you take on these roles and fearlessly jump into these complicated characters that do spark conversations. Are you ever afraid of that?
I was just about to say — because you said fearless. I was going to say that, well, that’s not always the truth. You feel the fear; you do it anyway. If I’m a little afraid of something, if it scares me, I run towards it because I know that’s where I’m going to grow. I’m going to stretch in my artistry. I’m going to find other things in my gift.
Has that always been the case for how you’ve worked, or is it something you’ve learned as you’ve been in the industry longer?
I would probably say “learned” because in the beginning, people met me doing comedy. They wanted to leave me where they met me, and the door was not open for me to do any sort of grounded work. So once the door became open, then there was more fear regarding that part of it because I had been locked out of it for so long.
To that point, “Dahmer” did recast you in the eyes of Hollywood. Have you seen more offers for dramatic roles?
It’s so funny, because I feel like there was definitely a shift. Everybody was like, “Oh no, we know what you do. You’re a comedian.” Then it turned into, “Oh my gosh, she can do weighted material.” Now I feel like people forgot I’m funny. But the people who haven’t forgotten, my inner circle and my peers, they’re starting to add the range to my name. Niecy’s a range, from the foolishness to the grounded thing [laughs]. It’s all in jest. But I’m very grateful now that my community knows that they can trust me with whatever the work is.
You’re an executive producer on “Grotesquerie,” and I know that being an EP is relatively new to you. What have you learned as an EP through this experience?
I learned that I’ve really been one all along without the title. The way that I show up and the way that I’m invested is the same, regardless.
I’m not showing up for the credit. I’m showing up in a way that’s going to serve the project, whether I have the title or not. At the end of the day, we all want to turn in work that we’re proud of. This is our legacy, whether it’s comedic, drama, whatever it is. I’m super intentional.
I also wanted to talk about another collaboration you have with Ryan Murphy, “All’s Fair” [which also stars Sarah Paulson, Teyana Taylor and Naomi Watts]. Where are you guys in that?
I’m talking to you [on the set ] right now … It’s great group of women, fabulous clothes, Ryan Murphy, good words to say. It’s a pleasure.
When I spoke to him a little earlier, he said that he was excited to do his take on a legal drama. What does that mean for you now that you’re on set and experiencing what a Ryan Murphy legal drama is?
I feel like I am in a very charming place, because I feel like the shows that I’m a part of with Ryan are different in tone and intentions than some of his other shows. A lot of people showed up to “Grotesquerie” and said, “Oh, I thought this was another version of ‘American Horror Story,’” and it’s absolutely not. Now him tapping into this realm of the legal genre, I feel like I’m — in another way — such a lucky duck to be able to be on things that he’s doing now that are not like anything else on his résumé.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
All episodes of “Grotesquerie” are now streaming on Hulu.
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