[This story contains major spoilers from the season finale of Grotesquerie.]
The plot of Grotesquerie may be more confusing than ever after the season finale’s cliffhanger ending. But one message that’s interwoven into the themes of women’s (and men’s) rights, AI and climate change that are explored in the Ryan Murphy horror series couldn’t be clearer for star Lesley Manville ahead of next week’s presidential election. “Be careful what you vote for,” the British actress tells The Hollywood Reporter of a takeaway for American viewers. “Think very carefully before you put your tick in the ballot box.”
Manville starts out playing Nurse Redd in the FX horror series, later appearing simply as Redd, the lover to Lois’ (Niecy Nash-Betts) husband Marshall (Courtney B. Vance) following the episode seven unveiling that the original characters in the story were projections created by Lois while in a liminal state. Marshall, who was originally thought to be in a coma through the first half of Grotesquerie, lands back in a hospital bed in the finale, having attempted suicide after being accused of sexual assault by one of his students. And upon release, Travis Kelce’s Ed introduces him to the Mexicali Men’s Club where he finds himself in the company of like-minded individuals exhausted by pronouns and so-called male witchhunts against “strong men,” including Lois’ trusted Dr. Witticomb (Santino Fontana) and Dr. Charlie (Nicholas Alexander Chavez), the latter whom she’s accused of sexual misconduct with an unconscious patient.
But what’s real and what’s potentially another dream sequence remains uncertain to both audiences and Lois in the end, who questions whether she ever woke up from her coma and if she is actually dead. Dr. Witticomb assures her she’s awake, diagnosing her with Cotard’s syndrome, a condition that results from the mind going through too much to bear, and questions if she could actually be the season’s serial killer, Grotesquerie. Those lingering questions are still hanging by the end of the episode, as there’s no resolution to the identity of the presumed copycat killer, or who or what Grotesquerie is.
According to Manville, there are plenty other issues to ponder amid the uncertainty of a second season of Grotesquerie. Below, Manville shares those takeaways while talking about the duality of her characters, what she sees for their future in a potential season two, and what made her gasp when she read Murphy’s script.
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Co-creator Ryan Murphy and FX boss John Landgraf told THR that Grotesquerie was designed to be a multi-season show, and that the finale sets up a second season [Editor’s note: The series hasn’t yet been renewed.] What did you know about the long-term plan when you signed on?
They talked to me about the fact that it might have legs and it might go again, but we’ll just have to wait and see. They haven’t come forward with anything as yet about another season. But from what I understand, it’s all gone very well. It’s been received favorably, so I think they might want to do some more, and she’s certainly a character that I would be interested in playing again.
What appealed to you most about this project, and did you know about this duality to your character from the outset?
Yes, I did. I met Ryan a long time ago. We met about, I think, 10, 12 years ago. I was in L.A. doing press for a Mike Lee film called Another Year and he requested that we meet up, and we had a fantastic meeting. It was about two hours if I remember right. We both said we’d really love to work with each other and sometimes these things take a little while to gestate and, finally, he came to me with Grotesquerie and he said, “I’m gonna send you all of the scripts because you need to see what happens.” And it was certainly the biggest twist that I’ve ever read in my life. I think I kind of gasped out loud when I [read] what happened, and I called him and we talked and he said, “I’ve got this idea that in the first six episodes, when we’ll ultimately find out that [Redd is] a figment of Lois’ dreaming whilst in a coma, maybe she should be very English.” And after episode seven — when it’s revealed that she is in fact Lois’ husband’s lover — that’s when we see her as an American, and we get her existence as the real living person.
I just thought, “well, that’s too good to not do.” It’s like getting two crackingly good parts in one gig. I’m sure a lot of people were very confused watching Nurse Redd because, what nurse do you know that wears that much makeup, long red nails and is a very kind of heightened, slightly stylized version of a nurse? I think there were a lot of people that were going, “What the hell is Lesley doing?” And I just had to keep my mouth shut and say, “Keep watching and all will be revealed.” I loved when it was revealed that she still had that fantastic red hair. She was a nice lady who made her living post-COVID by having her OnlyFans site and being a little bit of a teasing stripper. I thought it was just brilliant.
There’s such an interesting relationship between Redd and Lois that culminates in this finale proposition to be in a throuple with Marshall. What was it like working alongside Niecy Nash-Betts and developing your characters’ dynamic?
They’re really spiky with each other, aren’t they? Although actually, when you get to episode seven and you see them as it were in the real world, a great deal of that has sort of melted. They’re two very feisty women who know their own minds. But most of the scenes I had with Niecy are when I’m Nurse Redd as a massive figment of her imagination. So I kind of had carte blanche to do what I wanted. But it was lovely working with Niecy. She’s a very bright, very hugely talented actress, and when you work with people like that, you kind of instantly know that you’re on the same page. That you’re gonna give and they’re gonna return, and it’s gonna be a good day on set and it always was with her. She’s a very easy woman to like. And likewise with Courtney B. Vance. He was absolutely delightful to work with.
Travis Kelce had Niecy as a guest on his New Heights podcast yesterday and he said after watching his performance, he felt like there were things he could have done better. What did you think of his performance?
I haven’t seen it, and I didn’t do any scenes with him either so I can’t comment. But good for him for wanting to branch out and do something else and take the very bold step of challenging himself to do something so completely different. That’s a very brave thing to do, to put yourself on the line like that. I’m looking forward to seeing it for a multitude of reasons. But I suspect it’s going to be, given my current schedule — as I’m not only doing this [Oedipus] play with eight performances a week, I’m also shooting a series — December, really, before I sit down and watch Grotesquerie in all its glory.
When you got to the end of the scripts Ryan sent you and you saw how this comes to an end —even though it’s quite a bit of a cliffhanger — what did you think? Did you have theories of how it might have gone differently?
No, because when I get to the end of a script, so much of it is out of my control and not to do with me. So what I was thrilled about when I read the scripts was the challenge and delight of playing British Nurse Redd and American Redd. I had two characters to create and that becomes my job. I totally trusted that Ryan Murphy was going to understand the genre and look of the series, given that it was in such good creative hands. And the script was always changing. So I kind of go into: Yes, I’ve read it. I see where it’s going. Now I need to do my bit. And then you get on set, and you see the brilliant set and costume designs. You work with the hair and makeup team who are just second to none, and I’m doing my job. And in a way, the overall look of it, the edit and everything else, is not my responsibility. So the bit I’m looking forward to now is actually sitting down and watching it so I can enjoy all of these elements that will inevitably have come together.
In thinking about potential future seasons, where do you see your characters going from here?
I think if they do another season, I imagine there’d be no more Nurse Redd, because we know that was part of Lois’s coma. So it would be Redd as Redd. And, in fact, she was, in terms of screen time, the least explored. Because in the first six episodes I was Nurse Redd. So there’s more places to go with her. But, where it would go? I really don’t know. I cannot imagine. But that’s why Ryan Murphy is such a successful producer and writer; he has a head that is probably already thinking where it might go, and it’ll be somewhere extraordinary and probably slightly fantastical. So I wouldn’t speculate because my speculation would probably be quite boring compared to what his is going to be (laughs). I just like making the thoughts that he has in his head. I like being the person, the conduit, bringing those people to life. That’s the bit I can do.
With the series coming to an end so close to the election, what do you hope viewers might take away in terms of the messages that are interwoven into the series?
Be careful what you vote for. Think very carefully before you put your tick in the ballot box. Listen, it’s a brutal series, for all of its many, many layers. There is a very dark picture and message going on, and I think that that’s there in big bold letters. And I think that’s partly why Ryan wanted to do the series. You could say, “Well, it isn’t a typical state-of-the nation piece of drama.” But in many ways, it kind of is. There’s a slightly prophetic nature about the whole series. But yes, think carefully, Americans, when you cast your vote.
English (US) ·