How AHS Fans Really Feel About Kaia Gerber's Acting In Death Valley
While "American Horror Story" began with a relatively exclusive ensemble cast, the anthology series has welcomed plenty of fresh faces in recent years. Fans of the franchise know producer Ryan Murphy often works with the same stars on various projects, so it's not surprising to see Nico Greetham and Kaia Gerber go from "American Horror Stories" to "Double Feature: Death Valley."
Gerber entered the Ryan Murphy Cinematic Universe this summer in the "Murder House" episodes of the spinoff horror series. Her character, Ruby McDaniel, metaphorically took over Tate Langdon's (Evan Peters) role as the angst-ridden dead love interest with a flair for murder. Not all fans were sold by the model's acting skills, though. On the show's subreddit, users participated in their weekly episode discussion thread, and Gerber's acting came up once again, now that she could become a regular in the rotating cast.
In "Death Valley," Gerber portrays medical student Kendall Carr. Convinced by the professor she's hooking up with, she converts to the Luddite ways and convinces her friends to give it a chance on a tech-free camping trip. While away, they have an extraterrestrial encounter that sets up the season's conflict.
So, how do "American Horror Story" fans really feel about Kaia Gerber's acting?
Fans again felt Kaia Gerber's acting was too wooden
"I do think Kaia is doing better than her role in stories," opined u/TheFinalGirl84. "That being said she's playing a college aged girl from a rich family, so she's basically playing herself."
That Redditor was one of the more kind critics of Kaia Gerber's acting — most were unimpressed by her lack of emotions in what should've been terrifying scenes, like when the neatly halved presumed-dead cow began mooing at her. "She's never gonna be Sarah (Paulson) or Lily (Rabe) but maybe she can get to 'occasionally expresses an expected emotion,'" wrote u/PerfectedReinvented. Others shared flatly delivered quotes from her character sprinkled with emotionless emojis.
One fan scoffed at how much screen time she had compared to "American Horror Story" veterans Paulson and Rabe. "Ryan Murphy loves his nepotism bbs," replied u/wordworrier, referring to Gerber's famous mother Cindy Crawford and other "AHS" stars related to famous celebrities. This sparked a conversation about the casting of Rabe, Billie Lourd, Paris Jackson, and Taissa Farmiga, and fans questioned their abilities.
Despite the criticism, Gerber shared to Instagram that she had "(spent) the summer doing what I love most" along with behind-the-scenes pictures from "Death Valley." Plus, it's not just her. Fans on the subreddit didn't like any of the modern characters, comparing their scenes to a bad "SNL" skit or an Urban Outfitters commercial. Maybe next week's episode will turn things around as the highly anticipated alien storyline picks up.