AHS' Leslie Grossman Says The Gore Is So Technical, It's Hard To Be Scared On Set
"America Horror Story" is certainly no stranger to the world of violence and gore. The show has terrified and delighted fans for 11 seasons now, with plenty more to come from the FX series. But it's difficult not to wonder how that level of gore, and the work that goes into displaying it, sits with the actors on "American Horror Story." Well, for Leslie Grossman, the production process of getting the gore just right is such a technical feat that it takes away any of the scare factors when working on set.
"No, I have to say, it's so technical when we do all the gore stuff that it's not scary," Grossman said in an interview with IndieWire in late 2022. "You know what's funny? I was just talking about this with Russell Tovey the other day, but it's the most fun job. I've always found the set to be incredibly upbeat and really fun. It's not really somber and intense. It can be if we're doing a scene that's particularly intense or something like that, but it isn't scary — just really fun."
Given the material that "American Horror Story" often deals with, it makes a certain amount of sense for the cast and crew to try and make the set as light-hearted as entirely possible. But the show itself is no stranger to comedic elements, and for Grossman, these two elements of the show share a lot of similarities.
Grossman believes that both horror and comedy require tension
During the aforementioned interview with IndieWire, Leslie Grossman was asked why she believes that the melding of comedy and horror is so successful on "American Horror Story." For her, it's due to the fact that both need a sense of tension to work, and it's something that the series does quite well in order to create a reaction in the viewer's mind and, more importantly, body.
"When you think about horror and you think about comedy, they both elicit a real visceral reaction in your body, right?" Grossman said. "They both involve this tension, like, 'Oh my God, are they gonna get stabbed? Or is somebody gonna jump out?' Or, I'm thinking about when I saw 'Bridesmaids' for the first time, and it was like, 'Oh my God, what's gonna happen? They all have food poisoning: how is that gonna go? Like, what are they gonna throw up all over each other?'"
It's a very good point on Grossman's part, but it's also not an entirely surprising connection to make either. Lots of genres share elements in order to make an audience feel something, and for comedy and horror, it's definitely something body-oriented. Even the best sorts of comedy can make an audience feel gross, much the same as horror does. So it's hardly surprising that the set, and indeed the various plots, of "American Horror Story" utilize both so well.