'American Horror Story’s’ Evan Peters says 'Cult' was the most difficult season yet

welcome to the envelopes Emmy contender series I'm Yvonne videos each episode will talk with actors behind some of your favorite TV performances this season on today's episode we're talking to Evan Peters who plays kai Anderson in TVs American Horror Story cult thanks for joining us thanks for having me do you feel less nervous I know still really nervous Evan didn't know this was live so let's let's give him a round of applause well so this season of American Horror Story stood out because it was it's one of the first scripted series to sort of explore examine the election right what do you remember about what Ryan talked about what he wanted to achieve with this season approached he said you're a cult leader and sort of like a Manson ask cult leader and then and also you're sorting on a year in your basement looking at 4chan and and sort of in that all right world and so I kind of dove into that world a little bit and found Pepe the Frog and everything that was going on with a trump election and it was fascinating and found the song Chatelet that song that was in the show a lot so uh yeah what was that like sort of preparing I would imagine I mean just re watching some of that like even the first episode hearing the playback of some of the news reports it sort of takes you back to that time and it does make your stomach like a little oh there's a pin in there yes no it was like yeah we had the pizza and then I was it's just frozen and then shocked and I just gotten engaged that night as well so it was how I roll uh kicking the gut hmm this would you say it's safe to say that it's it was the most difficult and demanding season for you yes it definitely was it was exhausting it was like 16-hour days and the content was insane and yeah it was really it was definitely the most difficult and there's a lot of like awkward / if ik scenes I mean you're you're eating into condoms you're pleasuring yourself that wasn't really your by the way what was it's really by the way you cannot fill up a condom with urine it won't work so we try yeah we had we just had to use a water balloon okay clear water balloon so a little movie magic free well and you also pleasure yourself in front of Billy Eichner character so what is that process like like in your trailer just before you're about to go shoot scenes like that like how do you yeah in that space well you just kind of got to imagine that you're at home in your shower and Billy Eichner isn't there great looking guy but I mean it wasn't quite ready for that did he make any jabs at you what do you mean like in between takes like Oh hard time no they were everybody was very supportive go for it man partner you and Sarah are the two cast members that have been with us since the beginning right yeah talk about what it's like working with her and in this season in particular sort of going head to head she's great she I mean she's hilarious I don't know she's so funny and a fantastic actress so it's rich I love doing scenes with her because it's very comfortable and then I think we're both you know we get really into our characters and we just want it to be great so I think we we just try really hard to work off of each other but then we also feel comfortable doing crazy stuff to each other you know like be mean or pointing a gun at her or anything crazy stuff so it's just sort of it's easy with her you know did she make me do you watch The Real Housewives yet No No thank God thank God what would you say it's like being on that set particularly this season I mean I was telling my co-workers earlier it was really hard to watch this season because I would have the clown nightmares I didn't know about the whole phobia and that sort of seeped into my dreams yeah I never knew there was a whole phobia like what is a typical day like are there the masks just like mess everywhere you can't see in the masks or really move or hear anything and they can't really hear you so it's it's not a very practical killing mask but yeah it was it was it was it's fun it's fun to be on that set because I get you know it was a year seven so everybody kind of knows each other and then there's new people there as well so it's fun keeps it fresh but yeah that's not the only thing that's really scary is the amount of hours that we work on that show and sort of the amount of content that's slammed into into one day hmm but other than that it's pretty fun how about the the first episode I mean you blend up Cheetos the cheeto roll yeah yeah that was weird I never I didn't quite understand that but I think that was kind of the point is that guys sort of losing his mind I was the beginning of everything going crazy and idolizing Trump so uh yeah it was just nuts was that actual Cheetos it was partly Cheetos if you blend up Cheetos in a blender with a little bit of water it doesn't quite come out that color so it's more like a creamy orange how do you take that off I mean we know how it'll inch with that get it I need lunch with that it was so gross but yeah they it just comes off with water that they didn't want it because we had to break for lunch and then they would have had to take it off and put it all back on the same way and I said to hell with that I'll just eat my chicken with Cheetos on my face people take photos of that ha ha are you really I took yourself it up you did four decks Terry well we're gonna take some fan questions if you don't mind okay and we had a lot you have a very dedicated admirer named drew sending in some questions Andrew what is your favorite season of American Horror Story that you filmed that's a hard question because I like them all for different reasons I'm probably the first one we speak just because it was fresh out of the gate we didn't know what we were doing and it was all new and exciting and I've got to work with Jessica Lange for the first time and Ty you so it was great and Dylan was great everybody was great and it was just kind of this weird thing that we didn't know what it was full circle like playing CAI yeah like it like they could almost be the same person like yeah tape growing up yeah which I mean it was the villain you know it was this weird villain yeah yeah it definitely did it came full circle is it surprising to you that you have sort of perfected the art of playing creepy or troubled yeah they're um I think it's really it's not so much me I think it's just the way they write it because they write that suppose gonna say before is it the they have these villains but they're just they're these guys who are you know good guys who just have horrible stuff happen to them and then they also have a little chip missing so then it then it just sends them over to this next evil lair and then so I really think it's the writing that enables me to do that I think if it was any other kind of writing it would just be a villain you know I wouldn't have that that third dimension do you find that people let don't know you sort of assume that you're eerily similar to those kinds of characters yeah they're always shocked and I'm I'll take a picture or say hi to them or something there I think I'm gonna spit in their face right exactly yeah jasmine from Twitter asked if you could choose the theme for a future season of America Horror Story what would you choose I always say space I've been saying space for seven years I think space is terrifying and then there can also be like legit aliens and you keep it contained so we can keep the budget down right and I think it would be really fun space I like that space Victoria from Twitter asks how did you feel about politics and American Horror Story cults I I thought this season was very it was very current you know with what was going on Charlottesville and the election and the fear that was all over the country and I think it was it was very current and I wasn't very proud of that and it was cool to be a part of that because it was sort of saying something about our culture and what was going on and then obviously at the end Sarah takes over yeah gets rid of this chauvinist crazy person so it's it's a great thing how did you feel about the ending I liked the ending a lot I was I was like yes okay good down with KY it was good what was it like to shoot that hard that was uh that that whole scene took took all night it was just yeah the whole show was pretty exhausting and that was the end of the end of the line so it was uh it was exhausting yeah yeah how about what's it like having Ryan direct like what kind of notes does Ryan give as a director mm-hmm you just kind of like faster slower does he give you like he does say faster I'll say let's do it like 10% quicker and then what I love about working with Orion is that he'll do different options you know it's it's sometimes as an actor you can get caught trying to redo the last take better but you know you did it already so try a different choice you know maybe you're not so excited asking her out on a date which isn't how it was scripted but let's try it out maybe we'll work in the editing room so he likes a lot of options which is uh inspiring and you can get really creative with your choices so well part of the reason this season was so demanding is you play at some points in the season several characters we saw you inhabit Andy Warhol Charles Manson yeah what was that like and did you find to be more daunting than the other well they were all pretty daunting I remember Ryan came into my trailer and said I want you to look at some Andy Warhol documentaries because you're gonna be playing Andy Warhol in like two weeks I was like oh okay great perfect I'll get right on that so you know just scrambling and looking at videos and trying to listen to his voice and him and Edie and it was just that one was because I was the first one so that one was really daunting but it was also really fun and I learned a lot about anywhere also it was it's very cool but all of them were pretty exhausting but the the cult leaders particularly Jim Jones was the saddest to work with and listened to I kept listening to this video of him doing the mass suicide tape because that's what we were gonna shoot and it's it's horrific you know how he's sort of manipulating all these people and you hear people crying out and trying to you know argue against him and then other people are stomping them down and it's it's just it's tragic so it was it was intense but I definitely learned a lot what was your takeaway and doing all these and all this research like the type of charisma that these people had that they could you know lure people into believing what they believed and also the kinds of people that sort of are susceptible to sort of yeah I think you really mean people just want to be loved and included and you know some people just don't want to including myself sometimes I just don't want to think about anything I just want to believe I want to follow somebody I want them to show me the way because it's just easier so you know that's the kind of people that get involved and it's not you know it's it's educated people as people go to college it's people who are very smart but they just want to be included in something and it's usually under the disguise of something that's you know very noble and is helping humanity but the problem is is that they just totally brainwashed these people and sleep deprived them and you know food deprived them and it's really really sad and you know they're willing to stay in it because they think they're doing a good cause so it's a bit sad you know and it's happening right now as well all over you just don't quite hear about it as much and thankfully they aren't as many mass suicides yeah but yeah well this show is known for sort of embracing the extreme that pushes against a lot of boundaries how is that for you as an actor like is it hard to get comfortable with that or is it like the dream I think it's both I think it is you know Ryan is pushing a lot of envelopes continually and it's it's awesome to be a part of that like even posed coming up is such a cool show to be a part of an inspiring show to be a part of and I'm really loving it so so that's really cool and it is hard though you know it's not always the easiest thing but that's that's that's why it is pushing the envelope you know well talk a little bit about what it's like being in this sort of Ryan Murphy troupe of actors and sort of jumping off of that I wanted you to talk a little bit more about posed and what you can what we can expect from your character yeah it's I mean like I said Ryan has given me opportunity after opportunity I don't know why he you know it's really incredible that he does that and it's very humbling and very exciting and and I just always want to do a great job for him you know I just I love that what he does I love the writing I love his directing so it's awesome to be a part of that group and then and then take care you know so cool because they uh he called me during hoarser and he was like what actor do you think would be you know good for like you know 30s you know two kids and a wife and and you know it kind of gets in this sort of Trump world and whatnot he said just think about it think of any actors that you know any friends with them something that you would like and I was like and I got the phone on site what about me like I would like to do that like I don't know like and that I didn't say that of course I listed off a bunch of people it rock you know he's got 30s and whatnot and and then I found out later that he wanted to offer it to me and that's so cool but yeah it is cool I mean it's the biggest transgender cast it's everybody who's transgender is transgender and it's very exciting everybody's very excited to be working on it and it's about the ball culture in New York City in 1987 and it sort of takes place during that time and shows the community and how much it was discriminated against but also how much they sort of stuck together and helped each other and and lifted each other up out of that and just sort of rise above it all and it's really moving and inspiring and I'm very excited for people to see that well and so when you when the news breaks about like Ryan Murphy landing this like 300 million dollar deal with Netflix uh-huh are you sort of like do I text him Congrats no flowers I know I just I just want to keep working with them I don't I don't know what that means for you know our FX shows or obviously they're still gonna be at FX but yeah I don't know I hope I hope I can yeah right you know move over to Netflix yeah exactly it's great maybe already sort of answered this but maybe there's a different answer a fan from facebook asks what was the most difficult scene to shoot in American Horror Story cult fool so many probably the most difficult for me was the killing of winter because it was just it was rough I you know that mid season really took a toll on me like I lost touch with a lot of friends and fan and it was it was it was really hard and and then you know Kai in that moment is killing his family and it was it felt in a weird way you know the the dedication I was doing for this role is was almost too extreme and that I had lost a lot of my life and then it was like that parallel was was pretty pretty intense and I didn't realize I was so sad yeah do you have any cool Quicksilver moments in the new x-men the darlings maybe I hope so yeah I think I don't know we'll see yeah I hope everybody likes it I'd say you know Simon Kinberg directed it which is which is new and very exciting and fresh and it was great to work with and it's a it's a it's a dark one you know it comes out in November and it's really it's beautifully acted you know Sophie's in you know a lot of it and it's it's just it's really dark and dramatic and powerful so it'll be very cool and you're in American Story season 8 we don't know what the theme is and you didn't know you were in it till people we're picking it up right yeah I mean I knew like you know like do you want to be in it it was like do you mean it I was like yeah of course and then you know then they then I find out online it that I'm in it and I'm like all right cool ok I don't know what character no I don't know anything I don't even know what it's about do you know no I don't but like does that how do you does that give you pause like I would it would be weird if I agreed to do a job and then when they tell me I think I don't want to do that it used to yeah but I'm so I'm so used to that now that I kind of like it's so exciting like I don't know what I'm like whatever it is it's gonna be throwing happening and I'll just kind of hit the ground running so it's very exciting well let us know when you know although we probably will know first okay we're gonna do a lightning round of questions to anything okay get in your zone all right I'm ready like what got that last show you binge watched end of the effing world okay thank you for censoring yourself if you could go back and be on any TV show ever what would it be friends a lot of people watch TV to unwind what do you watch to unwind I watch like movies that I've that I've that I've seen with like a Forrest Gump or like Tommy Boy or Ovie's that I know that this story I'm heading to okay what do you know now that you wishing you on your first acting job wait say that again what do you know now that you wishing you on your first acting job oh my god relax have you ever been fired from an acting job no knock on wood which Golden Girls character do you most identify with Dorothy Rose Blanche or Sophia I was gonna say who's the older one with the white hair but they're all kind of like that I think the taller more them that's more brash okay with the deeper voice Dorothy Dorothy yes yeah the perfect way to end this chat well thanks Evan for taking the time to be here really appreciate you yeah and to all you who we're tuning in thank you and if you want to check out more of our Emmy chats head over to LA times calm Thanks

Channel: Los Angeles Times

Views: 508,219

Rating: 4.9699187 out of 5

Keywords: Los Angeles Times, LA Times, L. A. Times

Id: -S0T3-HJpzQ

Length: 20min 59sec (1259 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 23 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/GregDasta]

Where was "Shadilay"? i don't remember that from the show...