As ‘Grotesquerie’ Uses Bloodshed to Wrestle With Religion and Politics, Its Cast Finds Refuge in the Sacred and Profane: ‘The Ryan Murphy Universe Is a Blessing’
variety.comWilliam Earl administrator While filming a series as grim as the new FX drama “Grotesquerie,” it helps to have someone like star Niecy Nash-Betts cut the tension once in a while.
Otherwise, things can get dicey, spending all day filming bloodied bodies posed in perverted Biblical poses. “There is that shock factor when you first walk in,” she said in an interview with Variety. “After that, you say, ‘I’ve got to tell some jokes to try to keep this crew up all day.’ After all, we’re going to be standing in all of this blood and guts for the next 12 hours.” Although Nash-Betts has a gifted comedy voice, she’s playing against type in “Grotesquerie” as Detective Lois Tryon, a troubled alcoholic pursuing a serial killer with a penchant for Biblical carnage.
To help her unravel the religious clues, she teams with reporter and nun, Sister Megan Duval (Micaela Diamond) — all while juggling a difficult family life with her daughter Merritt (Raven Goodwin) and coma-bound estranged husband Marshall (Courtney B.
Vance). For Nash-Betts, it was a gift to play a part so far removed from her typical roles. “I’ve never played a character like this,” she said. “Detective Lois has a lot of drama in her family life, and now she’s hunting a serial killer that’s taunting her.
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