Posted in: FX, Hulu, TV | Tagged: ryan murphy, The Beauty

The Beauty Cast Discusses Stunt Work, Memorable Moments & More

The cast of FX's The Beauty spoke with us about the series adaptation's rigorous stunt work, memorable moments from filming, and more.

The Beauty boldly asks, "What are you willing to do to achieve physical perfection?" That's a question that The Corporation (Ashton Kutcher) is asking – and it has precisely what you need for your answer. Created by Ryan Murphy and Matt Hodgson, the FX sci-fi body horror series is based on the comic of the same name by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley. The series explores the potential complications that happen as international supermodels begin dying in "gruesome and mysterious ways," and FBI Agents Cooper Madsen (Evan Peters) and Jordan Bennett (Rebecca Hall) are sent to Paris to investigate.

What they discover is far more sinister as they uncover a sexually transmitted virus that transforms ordinary people into their more idealized physical versions of themselves, but with dangerous consequences. To minimize controversy, the Corporation sends a deadly assassin (Anthony Ramos) to neutralize any potential threat that could expose his company and tie up as many loose ends as possible. As part of the series conference, Bleeding Cool asked cast members Peters, Hall, Kutcher, Anthony Ramos, and Jeremy Pope about the stunt work on the series and memorable sequences. The following contains spoilers.

The Beauty Cast on Stunt Work and Memorable Standout Scenes

Can you talk about the stunt work in the series and some of the memorable, intense sequences you all worked through?

Ramos: I mean, Evan and- Evan—

Peters: We had a fun one.
Ramos: We had a fun one, bro.

Peters: We had a fun one.

Ramos: That was intense, man.

Peters: It was great. Super fun.

Ramos: It was…we got there. It was the same thing, like we learned the fight that day.

Peters: Yeah. I mean, it was just we had like one run through a little bit—

Ramos: Yeah.

Peters: To learn the moves. Then on the day, [we] just shot it. They had three different angles that were going at the same time. And—

Ramos: Yeah.

Peters: [We] just shot the hell out of it and prayed.

Ramos: Yeah, pray, super praying hard, praying hard.

Peters: Was that a hit? I don't know. Right.

Ramos: We learned this thing. We probably did once before- one time before we got to set, and then we were relearning it as we went, and shooting it in pieces, but then also being like, "Hey, let's add this extra, this is a cool acting moment. You take the IV, and it almost falls. Then you look at me, and you give me a look right there. We'll get a close-up of that, and just to also capture these character moments at the same time as us doing all this, having this physical fight, throwing a body at him, kicking the body in the back, making sure it falls on him.

Peters: A shoutout to our stunt team.

Ramos: Incredible.

Peters: Mark Fichera and Jason Mello.

Ramos: Right?

Peters: Who choreographed not only all these incredibly long, detailed fight sequences, but also the transformations and, uh—

Ramos: Yeah, Jeremy's transformation.

Peters: Yeah.

Ramos: Yeah.

Pope: You know, we don't really flex, but I know all of us specifically, we were doing boxing training leading up to this show, and I think it was helpful because with this show with Ryan, it was very physical and a lot of things, I say they come with the spirit. When Ryan gets in the room, they change on the day, so you must be ready to make those adjustments. You can't be too locked in physically to what's happening, because it can change, and I remember my day of transforming. We thought it was going to go one way, and he had a different vision, so it required me to use my physical body.

It became more of a "ballet," if you will. It became about expressing this person feeling their body in their skin in this- the muscles, and how instead of playing the body horror of it or the pain of it, but there can be beauty in finding this true perfected self, and what that might feel like, learning how to walk and use this body within one step of the hallway to the bathroom. It was interesting, but I think it definitely lent to us the training before, having the best stunt people come in and interpret what the scene was, what the stakes were, not making it just about the fights, but making it about the narrative and what these characters needed. It is shot incredibly beautifully, and I'm really excited for people to feel and see the work that we put into the show.

Kutcher: Yeah, I can really empathize with you guys in these fighting scenes. I had to shoot a scene where I sat in a jacuzzi, and I ate 27 pieces of pizza in one day.

Pope: And how was that? Talk to me.

Peters: Tough.

Kutcher: And it was— I mean, the fact that I made it through it.

Ramos: Talk about the physicality.

Kutcher: I made it through it.

Pope: And you're- and you're here with us today.

Hall: Right. Brave actor.

Kutcher: And- and then I had— Yeah.

Pope: And he's still standing, y'all.

Ramos: Show him the V, bro. Show him the V.

The Beauty, which also features appearances by Isabella Rossellini, Billy Eichner, Jessica Alexander, John Carroll Lynch, Julie Halston, Lux Pascal, Meghan Trainor, Peter Gallagher, and Vincent D'Onofrio, premieres its first three episodes on January 21st with new episodes on Wednesdays on FX and Hulu on Disney+ through March 4th.

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