LOS ANGELES 鈥� Production designer Jack Mossa has his own version of a nightmare.
It recurs every time the boss, Ryan Murphy, comes to inspect his work on American Horror Story: Cult, debuting tonight on FX. The show takes place largely in a couple鈥檚 carnivore-friendly restaurant and the upscale home where their young son鈥檚 comic books, featuring vicious clowns, might be coming to life.
Will Murphy warm to the copper-accented stove in the kitchen? Savour the slabs of meat hanging in the cooler? Throw cold water on the antique bathtub?
鈥淲hen Ryan walks on the set, I鈥檓 prepared for two things,鈥� said Mossa while manoeuvring between tables in the bistro last month. 鈥淥ne, a deep sigh of relief and everyone鈥檚 patting me on the back except Ryan. And two, me packing up my office and going home.鈥�
Murphy might be heralded these days for resurrecting the careers of veteran actors such as Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates, but the stars wouldn鈥檛 shine if he didn鈥檛 pay just as much attention to the settings, whether it鈥檚 Joan Crawford鈥檚 tufted, plastic-covered furniture in Feud: Bette and Joan or the walkway leading up to the Brentwood mansion in American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson.
For American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, set to premi猫re in early 2018, Murphy insisted that his crack research team chase down the most trivial of factoids: the backpack and shoelaces favoured by killer Andrew Cunanan, the ashtray where Versace stashed his keys, the orchid plant on his dining room table.
鈥淒etail is everything,鈥� said producer Alexis Martin Woodall, who has worked with Murphy for a decade. 鈥淚f you have to stop in the midst of a great moment because you鈥檙e looking at the artifice, then we鈥檙e not doing our job. Every bit of polish has to be there so the minute you hit 鈥榩lay鈥� or turn on the TV, you鈥檙e in it. We鈥檙e all obsessive about that.鈥�
With at least three series in production at any moment, Murphy doesn鈥檛 have time to personally sweat over every prop and colour scheme.
He鈥檒l meet with department heads months before the cameras roll, offer general notes and then have his team report back with miniature models and storyboards a few weeks later. Even after the sets are up, Murphy still must give his stamp of approval 鈥� and a thumbs down can come at any time.
Mossa, for example, had to pull a driftwood sculpture in the Cult living room because Murphy decided it didn鈥檛 fit.
鈥淗e makes decisions very quickly, which I find great,鈥� said set designer Judy Becker, who is overseeing the look of Versace and whose work on Feud is up for an Emmy. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 take things personally. If he doesn鈥檛 like something, I鈥檒l say: 鈥楩ine,鈥� and find something else. It鈥檚 the people who are indecisive that are hard to work with.鈥�
For Versace, the film crew shot scenes at the designer鈥檚 home in Miami Beach, capturing his lavish swimming pool (now part of a hotel). Becker made sure that the decorated picture frames in his hallway mimicked Versace鈥檚 taste.
Film crews won鈥檛 actually shoot in Minnesota, where Cunanan鈥檚 killing spree began, but they scouted areas of Los Angeles that could double for downtown Minneapolis and screenwriter Tom Rob Smith pored over 400 pages from Twin Cities police reports to help shape the interior scenes featured in two of the 10 episodes.
Being detail-oriented doesn鈥檛 always mean historically accurate, however. Becker and Murphy took liberties in reproducing Versace鈥檚 Milan workplace.
鈥淗e and [his sister] Donatella worked in a bare white space. We felt we had to improve upon reality to make it interesting to a TV audience,鈥� said Becker as she showed off the Italy-based set, which is so swank it could double as a nightclub. 鈥淚n Feud, Hedda Hopper really lived in a ranch house. That wouldn鈥檛 have looked good on-screen. I like to know what reality is and then we can decide whether to go with it or not.鈥�
That philosophy may not win Murphy and company any hurrahs from historians, but it鈥檚 made his shows catnip to viewers. In addition to 鈥淐ult鈥� and 鈥淰ersace,鈥� he鈥檚 developing miniseries about Hurricane Katrina and Princess Diana鈥檚 divorce.
Expect the details to be dazzling.
鈥淭hat, to me, is one of the joys of the work,鈥� Murphy said.
听
