Niecy Nash-Betts Says “More Twists to Come” After Surprising ‘Grotesquerie’ Reset
[This story contains major spoilers from the seventh episode of Grotesquerie.]
Episode seven of Ryan Murphy’s Grotesquerie turned the entire series, already a puzzle as it were, upside down when it revealed everything that’s transpired thus far has only occurred within the mind of its protagonist, Lois Tryon (Niecy Nash-Betts), who was believed to be a detective attempting to capture a murderer on a killing spree.
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“What we come to find out is that it really wasn’t Marshall, Courtney B. Vance, who was in the coma, it was Lois all along,” Nash-Betts explains to The Hollywood Reporter. “So that plot twist and all the things you were introduced to believe about all the other characters, that really wasn’t their truth either. So now that Lois is awake, who are these people? And, what the hell is happening?”
Neglecting to answer her own question for fear of unleashing any spoilers, Nash-Betts says of the remaining three episodes of the FX horror, “I can tell you, more twists to come.”
The already surprising plot twist confirms Raven Goodwin’s prior claim about her character, telling THR in a previous interview, “Merritt is way more than what meets the eye.” In episode seven’s “Unplugged,” she’s revealed to be a cancer researcher with two doctorate degrees — rather than a gluttonous homebody — who’s married to Travis Kelce’s Ed Laclan, who is no longer a charming orderly, but a philanderer who’s been sleeping with his mother-in-law, Lois, when he’s not working at Cinnabon.
Lesley Manville’s Nurse Redd and Marshall remain in a romantic relationship, though she’s now Cherry Redd, an OnlyFans model of sorts and Marshall still a professor and apparent cheater who, hypocritically, is so disgusted by Lois’ affair with Ed that he decides to pull the plug on her. It’s then that Sister Megan’s (Micaela Diamond) interest in cult crimes takes on a new form as she’s shown to be the true chief detective of the police department who then shows up at the hospital to pay her respects to Lois. It’s there that Father Charlie (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) is revealed to be a critical care physician, rather than a man of the cloth.
Below, Nash-Betts, who’s also also an executive producer of the series, talks about keeping the plot a secret from the rest of the cast, potential love scenes with Kelce and filming that vicious kitchen fight with Diamond.
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Ryan Murphy told THR he didn’t tell you much about this series before he sent you the scripts, other than he wanted you for this role. What was your initial reaction and what made you say yes?
Well, listen, he had a couple of things going, as you know. He’s always up to something. So first we sat down at Chateau Marmont, and he pitched all of these things and I’m like, “Oh, that sounds interesting,” and then he sent me some scripts. Once I saw the script for Grotesquerie I was like “ding ding ding.” I love this so much, I’ve never played anything like it. I was seduced by a character that I’d never played before. And I just had to do it.
Lois is such a complicated character. Where do you pull from to embody all that she is?
Honey, all I gotta do is turn around, look right behind me at this family that I was born into, and [say], “I’m gonna take a little bit of that from that auntie,” “I’m gonna take that from that uncle,” “I’m gonna take that from that person.” I borrow the things that I’ve experienced in life to create her.
In unfolding this Russian doll twist on twist, how do you play a character like that while knowing everything? And, do you know everything about how the story ends?
I know a lot. I know a lot, because you have to unravel the thread of where the story is going so you know how to be along the way, how to perform, how to show up. Ryan is a great collaborative partner because we walk it down and talk it down almost on the daily to make sure we’re getting it right. [When] you unpack the mind of Ryan Murphy — I don’t even know how he comes up with this stuff, but I trust him so much that he always has me at “hello.”
Was it hard keeping the details a secret from the rest of the cast?
No, because each scene, we are so locked in. And it’s fun to be on a set where the cast and the crew are having conversations about whodunit. We start off as a horror, then we move into a family drama, and then it becomes this big whodunit. There are so many different things that we’re playing through this series. We’ve got enough to keep us busy.
Speaking of, the fight scene between your character and Micaela’s is brutal. Can you talk through that execution and how much time you spent getting it right?
We spent a lot of time on it. You look at a fight on television and it’s just like looking at a dance, there’s choreography that has to happen. They don’t just put you in a room and say, “all right, scratch each other’s eyes out.” It’s “when she puts her hand here you put your hand there,” “when she does this you do that,” so there’s a lot of moving parts and our stunt doubles came in. My favorite, I’ve been working with for many years, her name is JJ Branch, and they walked through exactly what their part is going to be and what Micaela and I are responsible for. So it was intense, and I think we probably had about three days of shooting to get that.
The partnership between Lois and Sister Megan has been enjoyable to watch up to this point. What was it like working with Micaela so closely?
Oh, that’s my baby. I love her so much. She’s so talented. She comes from the theater, so this was her introduction into television, and I just thought she did a fantastic job. I also love that we got to marry a little bit of her industry in the story when we do the drive-along and we get to sing together in the car [in episode four].
Ryan also said you have incredible chemistry with Travis Kelce. Initially it seemed the relationship with Lois and Ed might just be in her head, but later we learn they’ve been intimate. Are there any romantic scenes between the two of you coming up?
Well, first of all, I love Travis. He’s a great guy, great to work with. I thought that he did such a good job for this to be his acting debut. I love the fact that all of these characters get to play a duality. So we get to see him as fast Eddie in the beginning and then the plot twist — oh, he really has a mullet and works at the mall. So, are you gonna get to see exactly what happened between Lois and Eddie? Stay tuned.
Raven Goodwin told THR that you called after she sent in her audition tape and asked her if this was something she really wanted to do. What made you reach out to her and ultimately choose her for Merritt?
She was my first choice from the beginning. I sent her materials to Ryan, and I was like, “We need to see this woman.” I even went so far as to put a picture of me and a picture of Courtney B. Vance and her little face in the middle. I’m like, “Don’t we look like a family? She look just like her daddy. Come on now.” (Laughs) I was rooting for her. I really wanted to work with her because I think she’s so talented. And when she came in to audition, I was like, “I’m coming. I want to read with her. I need you to see it in the room. It’s going to be great.” And it was, and she is. I was so happy that it all worked out.
What did it mean to you to be an executive producer on this series and have a hand in shaping it as you did?
It means, “Listen up and lean in. I got something to say.” (Laughs) It just means that I was able to fully participate in all the areas of this production. And I love it there. I love it there because you are creating, and you are molding and influencing the world and the people around you. It’s one of my favorite things to do to be a leading lady and an EP.
An Emmy nomination seems pretty imminent for this role. How do you feel about that prospect?
When you show up to do the work you’re not thinking in the moment, “boy this is gonna get ‘em. This will be the one.” You have to be present and locked in and dialed in in order to get a grounded performance. When I did my big speech in episode three, when I completed it, all of the cast that was sitting around were like (claps) and that didn’t make me say, “Oh, here’s another Emmy coming.” But what it made me say is, “I did something that was believable,” “I did something that people saw and they had a visceral response to the performance.” And then the next thought is, “Okay, what’s the next thing?” because you can’t live in that. “Oh, they started clapping for me?” No. We’ve got a long day.
This series touches on a lot of important themes in the midst of this existential crisis, from abortion to climate change and AI. Do you think the timing of the series is important on the verge of the presidential election?
Do I? Of course I do. I’m not the only Black woman trying to save the world from evil.
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Grotesquerie releases episodes eight and nine next Wednesday at 10 p.m. on FX (streaming next day on Hulu), followed by its finale on Oct. 30. Read THR‘s interview with Murphy and FX boss John Landgraf on the twist reveal.
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