‘American Horror Story: Double Feature’s Leslie Grossman Has Some Pointers on How to Play a B*tch

In recent years, American Horror Story has welcomed a new Queen Bee into its folds. Ever since Leslie Grossman first appeared in Cult, her sassy one-liners and perfectly scathing looks have added a new dash of perverse fun to this beloved series. That’s especially true of Double Feature, a season with twice the story and twice the Grossman.

Following Double Feature’s finale, Decider spoke to the actor about what it was like playing two drastically different characters and if Mother Calico may return to the world of AHS. Grossman also spilled on the funny reason why her longtime friend Sarah Paulson is “annoying,” why she’s drawn to the absolute worst characters, and what exactly goes into playing a memorable bitch.

Decider: When were you approached about being part of the season? And did Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk ask you to be part of Red Tide and Death Valley at the same time?

Leslie Grossman: I knew I was going to be back because I had signed a muti-year contract. So I knew that was something that was going to happen. But you have no idea what you’re going to be doing or what the ideas are. That’s what’s so incredible and exciting about it is that it’s brand new every single time. It is always like getting a gift. You get to open the package, and you’re like “Oh my god!” and it’s so exciting to see what they’ve cooked up.

It’s always really wild, especially this season. In Double Feature you play two drastically different characters, Red Tide’s Hollywood agent Ursula and Death Valley’s abducted dancer Calico.

I love both of them so much, obviously for entirely different reasons. I mean Calico and Ursula are diametric opposites of each other, so that was sort of fun. I have great affection for both ladies.

In Ryan Murphy’s world, your characters are typically these queen bees who are very sarcastic. But Calico is very sweet. What was it like playing this vastly different type of character?

It was refreshing, and it was fun, and it was nice to play someone who was a total genuine soul. She still has some sassy one liners. But I think that Ryan loves to hear me say certain things in certain ways. I think it’s just personally amusing for him. There’s also a way that he and I interact, and I feel like sometimes that can bleed into the show.

Look, it’s so funny. I’m very good at playing very bitchy people. I know this about myself. I consider myself a very kindhearted human being, but I do seem to have this skill. I don’t think it means that I am a true bitch. I think it means that it’s just fun for me because I say things that I would never, ever get to say ever in my regular life. To me, it’s just like getting to play in this really fun and extreme way. Then to get to play Calico, who is just this sweet angel person, was sort of a really nice change from having done Ursula for many months.

You are very skilled at playing, for lack of a better word, bitchy characters, dating all the way back to Popular.

I’m really good at it. I’ve got to tell you, I don’t really know why. But I can deliver a line in a very specific way. Again, the reason I feel like I’m good at it is probably just because I think it’s fun. I hope that that fun comes through. I would never, ever in my regular life relate to people who behave like that.

Do you have any pointers as like the queen of portraying bitchy characters?

Oh god. What are my pointers? I really should have thought this through.

You know what it is? It’s that I have no filter. Things that you may think in your head, you say them out loud. It’s that there’s not a lot of thought between what goes on in your head and what comes out of your mouth. It’s really going on instinct, I guess.

You know how they always say you have to be smart to play dumb? I do feel like — listen to me defending myself, trying to tell the world that I’m not actually a horrible, awful, terrible person. I do think that you have to come from a perspective of like “This is so crazy to talk like this to someone” to make it work.

As far as the world’s perception of you goes, I feel like you’re probably fine. Most people know that Ryan Murphy’s worlds are just insane.

But I have to say, when there are terrible people who come up in the zeitgeist, like that awful Marjorie Taylor Greene, there’s always a part of me that’s like “Oh god, I hate knowing that I would be a really good choice to play her.” I know I’d do a great job playing her, and I don’t know why because she couldn’t be more different from me. She’s a terrible, awful nightmare person. But I think I could play the hell out of her. So I don’t know what it says about my personality.

Remember there was that thing with Rudy Giuliani and [Mellissa Carone] was saying that she had seen votes being thrown out, ballots being thrown out? They played her on Saturday Night Live. I was like, “God, I’d be good at playing her.” Just the worse a person is the more I’m like, “Oh! I’d be good at playing that!”

Getting back to Death Valley, in the finale you have a bunch of scenes with Sarah Paulson. What was it like working with her?

Sarah’s one of my dearest friends. It’s very funny because when we work together, I find that it impedes my ability to talk to her about things I need to talk to her about. They start rolling and I’m like, “I haven’t finished talking to her about something very important.” Also, it’s just, it’s hard because when it’s someone you know so well, sometimes it can be a little difficult.

Look, she is the most incredible actor ever. And what’s annoying about her is that she can’t — and when I say annoying, I mean that in a fun and kind way. She can be giving me shit, laughing, telling me something funny, and then in one second, flip into her character and cry and be dead serious and say a monologue with of words without skipping a beat. And I’m like “Wait, that’s not fair. Why do you get to do that?” Because it takes me a minute after we’re having a conversation. But I will say it is one o the greatest joys of my life. Isn’t the goal to work with your friends and to get to work with people you love and adore? The fact that I get to do that makes me endlessly happy on my favorite workdays.

That’s so lovely.

I know. It’s very, very, very lucky because our friendship grew very organically. We knew each other before Horror Story. Actually, we met years and years and years ago, like maybe 15 years earlier. We had friends in common, but we never really had a chance to hang out. When I came onto the show, this was her world and I was a visitor in it. I’m very — I don’t know if I’d say laid back. But I know my place, particularly in a new environment. I’m a guest in someone else’s home here. And she was so wonderful, welcoming, and open. It was such a delight to me that we formed this really wonderful, real friendship.

The way I see it, and correct me if this is a wrong interpretation, you seem to be positioned to be one of the go-to leads for American Horror Story going forward. Has Sarah Paulson offered you any advice about continuing the legacy of the show or anything like that?

No, no, no. And while that is a lovely thing for you to say, that has never been a discussion. I have no idea about next season. I have no clue if I will be asked back. It’s something I actually never bring up with Ryan. If he’d like to discuss it with me, I’m obviously open to discussing it.

The way that I look at it is this: This show, to me, has been a gift, an unexpected gift I never knew was going to happen and that I appreciate in a way that words can’t possibly explain. If it were to end now, I would be so thankful for the experience. And if it’s going to continue, that’s wonderful too. But no. There’s been no discussion of the future. Sarah hasn’t given me any advice. And also, no matter what, Sarah will always be the queen of Horror Story. That’s it. She’s the queen. It’s hers. It doesn’t matter if there’s 30 seasons, she’s always going to be the grand dame of that show.

Getting back to Death Valley’s finale, at the end of the season Calico decides to become the alien mother. Have there been any discussions about Calico possibly returning in the future?

I have no idea. I always feel so terrible when I’m asked these questions because I literally know as much as you do. What you know is what I know. I have no idea. I love Calico. I would love to get the chance to get to play her again.

It’s always really funny. I have to ask these questions because of my job, but also I know you guys don’t know more than I do.

I really don’t. I’m as in the dark as anyone else. That’s why when people say to me “You should have said” or “Why didn’t you tell us”, how do you think I know? I don’t know. I have no idea. I find out just like how everyone else finds out. I get the scripts and I’m like, “Oh my god. OK, I didn’t know that was going to happen.” By the way, that’s what I love about the show. It’s the least boring job on Earth.

So far what’s been your favorite season of the show?

I always say this: I love all my babies. I love all my seasons. I really, really enjoyed doing Red Tide. It was such a specific time. We were supposed to go back in April of 2020, and obviously that didn’t happen. I also was going through, I had a lot of personal stuff I was going on. I was going through a divorce when we were filming Red Tide, and I lost a very close family member to cancer while we were filming that. It became a sort of safe little cocoon for me. Everybody was so lovely and kind to me, and having work as this balancing thing in my life was such a lifeline for me. For just purely personal reasons, I will always cherish doing Red Tide. I loved working so close with Finn [Wittrock] and with Lily [Rabe] and Ryan Kiera Armstrong, who is such a powerhouse, brilliant actress, and Angelica Ross and getting to work with Macaulay Culkin, who is so wonderful. I really enjoyed it, and I loved getting to go to Provincetown. It was such a good experience for me, personally and professionally.

I’m so sorry for your loss, by the way. I didn’t know.

I appreciate it. I don’t know anyone who’s gotten through this time without having something major happen to them. I got a couple dings, but you know what? We’re moving through. We’re doing our best.

Speaking of Red Tide, American Horror Story, has had many over-the-top seasons. But Red Tide’s horror is a lot more subtle. It’s a slower burn. What was it like playing in that world?

I enjoyed some of the more muted aspects of it. And obviously some of story is over-the-top. There isn’t such a thing as a pill that will give you all those things. But it’s an allegory for something very real, right? What happens to somebody who’s going to go after their goal and what toll does that take on their loved ones and the people around them? What happens when you go after a goal and you’re not really great at it? Who are you then?

Also, I have to say, I’ve been asked this before about Ursula. I don’t think her behavior is extreme in terms of people I have met in my travels in Hollywood. I think there are people who would do exactly what Ursula did. And I’ve met people where I’m like, “Wow. OK, you are literally like a cliche out of a horrifying novel about the evils of Hollywood.” I’ve also met really lovely, wonderful, and kind people. But Ursula is, to me, not an exaggeration. I think that person could absolutely exist in today’s current Hollywood.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Where to stream American Horror Story: Double Feature