Courtney B. Vance on Turning Down Another Role for ‘Grotesquerie’ and the Horror Series’ Takeaway Going Into the Election

[This story contains major spoilers from the season finale of Grotesquerie.]

Over the course of 10 episodes, Grotesquerie’s Marshall Tryon (Courtney B. Vance) went from a sympathetic, unresponsive coma patient facing the threat of his wife Lois (Niecy Nash-Betts) pulling the plug on him to a lucid self-righteous husband who’s unforgiving of his wife’s marital indiscretions, despite having a yearslong affair of his own (with Lesley Manville’s character). In the season finale, he ends up facing a potential criminal charge of sexual assault, and then finding solace among a men’s rights group known as the Mexicali Men’s Club.

The ending, which beckons a second season of the FX drama, stumped everyone, including Vance, who’s not letting on about any theories he has about who serial killer “Grotesquerie” is or how his own character might manifest in potential future seasons.

“I don’t know where Messy Marshall is going to be,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter after the finale. “Hopefully it won’t be as messy, but knowing the Ryan Murphy world, it’ll be messy, prayerfully, into the second season and onward and upward into, hopefully, more seasons.”

Despite the sexist underpinnings of the men’s support group that is revealed in the season finale, the concept of discussing how to reconcile one’s differences is an important one ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election, says Vance, who spoke to THR earlier this year about the importance of voting while working on AMC’s 61st Street, saying at the time, “We have a choice to make. Either we … continue the mess, or we come in and go, ‘no, we’re going to go back to a time when people right things, or at least try to.’”

Today he feels the same, drawing a parallel between the horror series and the current political climate. “We’ve got to sit down and talk about how we’re going to do this thing called life. That’s what I think we’re in the midst of in [when we vote]. This election is really about our future; which direction people see this country going.”

Below in a chat with THR, Vance talks about nixing another project to join Grotesquerie, whether he thinks his character is a victim or a villain, the conversation he had with Kelce on set, and his hopes for future seasons if Grotesquerie (like Murphy planned) is renewed.

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Have you watched the finale of Grotesquerie and are you satisfied with how things ended?

I have not seen it. I’m not caught up. I’m running around a little crazy right now, but I’m on episode seven and I’m thoroughly in awe of everything that is Grotesquerie; the production values and the design and the acting and casting. I’m just in awe of how Ryan Murphy pulls it all together with all the different shows that he has, and I know how he does it. He does it because he has absolutely great people around him to be able to marshal and shepherd all of these amazing projects. Nothing gets diluted or lost in the sauce. That’s his genius. Even though he can’t be everywhere at all times, he has amazing people that make sure that the production value and the quality level is higher than anything else on television.

How did you come on board to play Marshall?

He called me and said he wanted me to be a part of it and I said, “oh, okay,” because I was about to do something else. So I said, “Let me make a couple phone calls and I’ll get back to you,” and I called the creator/showrunner of the project I was going to do and said, “Mr. Ryan has called me, he’s my guy I’m going to have to respectfully [decline],” and the showrunner deeply appreciated me calling him, not hiding behind my agent, manager, publicist, whatever, to call him. He said, “You know, things go around the circle in this world, I’ll see you on the next one,” and I’m so glad that I knew that I had to call him myself.

When did you first see the scripts for Grotesquerie and what were your initial thoughts?

Ryan told me that my character was not fleshed out, so I wasn’t going to see everything that he wanted me to see in terms of what the character was and what he was about. He said, “Don’t be deterred,” and I said, “I’m not, it’s a faith walk, I got you. I know it’s going to be what it’s going to be, but it’s going to be something that we are going to develop together as we go forward.” So it was a complete faith walk, as most of these are and I’m so glad and happy I did sign on. For my Emmy acceptance for [The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story], the first thing I said was, “Ryan Murphy, Ryan Murphy, Ryan Murphy.” So, there it is.

Since you’ve arrived at episode seven where the big plot twist is revealed, what were your theories on who Grotesquerie was prior to seeing the unveiling?

Oh, I didn’t have a clue. I still don’t have a clue. I think the fact that I’m not trying to figure it out is probably the best thing. I love the fact that he’s going to make us wait. They must do a second season in order for us to find out. What a wonderful thing to do to say, y’all have to wait till the second season. We have to have a second season! I think it’s very cool. I’m excited.

The finale brings up more questions about Marshall and his true character. Do you think he’s a victim? Is he a villain?

I think both. The family unit is definitely in crisis and, unfortunately, we are not helping her [Nash-Betts’ character, Lois] in terms of what she has to do. You would think that hopefully when someone does a stressful job like that that the home life is not stressful. Unfortunately, our home life is completely stressful. So I’m not surprised she has turned to drink. We have driven her to drink. And we’ve all got our issues. I’ve got sexual addictions, Merritt’s [Raven Goodwin] got food addictions. My wife, my baby, has a drink addiction. She’s genius level, but she comes in drunk and telling people what to do and how to work this crime scene. Watching her work is like a microcosm of watching Ryan Murphy work with the 10 shows he’s got on the air at the same time. It’s a beautiful thing.

In the finale, the Mexicali Men’s Club is introduced. What do you make of this overarching theme of men’s rights that gets explored in the episode?

You know, I don’t know. This is a time period where any opportunity for a man to talk about anything is a good thing as far as I am concerned. We need to talk more anyway. I wrote a book called The Invisible Ache about men needing to talk and get it off of them. I’m not surprised that men are feeling victimized in some way. Ultimately, we’ve all got to talk and support each other. Men are feeling that they need to be supported. It’s all about how people get together. None of us are going anywhere. We’ve got to sit down and talk about how we’re going to do this thing called life. That’s what I think we’re in the midst of [when we vote]. This election is really about our future, which direction people see this country going. So I’m excited to hear that men are talking. That’s a good thing. Men need to talk.

What other messages do you think audiences can take from this series?

Get your sugar honey iced tea together. Talk to your spouses, talk to your people. We’ve got to transform this world.  I think that’s what Niecy’s character is trying to do. She’s trying to stop all the madness. We’ve got to figure out how to talk to each other. Nobody’s going anywhere. We’re not going anywhere. They’re not going anywhere. We have got to figure out how to come together and agree to disagree but get some work done. That is what our family has got to do. Stop the hate. Stop hating, as the young folks say, and start celebrating. Try to figure out how to celebrate each other and go to the next level.

Travis Kelce’s character introduces Marshall to the Mexicali Men’s Club and Lesley Manville’s Nurse Redd is a big part of your character’s story. What was your experience like with them on set?

Oh, I love them. I love them for so many different reasons. Lesley did a movie about a young woman who was a housekeeper, [Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris], and I told her I saw that movie on a plane and it transformed me so the opportunity to work with her after seeing her in that movie and being so enamored with her, it was just so wonderful. And then Travis — the Kansas City Chiefs are not my team. Let me just say that out loud. Detroit Lions: Go Detroit, go Detroit. But he’s so humble.

Ryan told the story of how he came into his office and said he wanted to do something different, and Ryan said, “Okay, we’ll keep that in mind,” and he said, “No, no, no, no, Ryan, I want to do it now. I’ve got 30 days.” And Ryan was like, “Oh! Okay, let’s see what we can do here.” But he came in so prepared, coached; he came in just like he approaches his football world. The only thing I think that didn’t really sink into him was that yes, we’ve done your coverage, now we’ve got to turn around and get Courtney, then we’ve got to get Niecy, and we’ve got to get the wide [shot] then we’ve got to turn our attention to the audience and he said, “Oh my goodness, I’ve got to do this how many times?” [I said], “A lot. So just be patient and go get a Twinkie” — well, not a Twinkie, because he’s a football player. But I think that was the hardest thing for him to get under his belt, the process of the work. It’s very grueling and tedious.

Given how things end, what do you see for your character if there is a second season?

Oh, I don’t have a clue. I mean, the man is all over the place. That’s a question I’d love to ask of Ryan, where he sees Marshall going. Ultimately, I’d like Lois and him to figure out their marriage and their daughter. To figure out the family unit. They’re in crisis. How’s that gonna resolve itself? I really, really don’t know what’s going to happen because it’s very messy now. This is a very personal show for him because he often doesn’t write all of his shows, but this one he wrote. He’s very, very passionate about this show. So it’s going to be, with his two other writing partners, very, very interesting to see how they resolve all the characters. But the flip of the comas, that was genius. And the whole idea that while you’re in a coma you can hear, it’s just messy, completely messy. Y’all are messy. So I don’t know where Messy Marshall is going to be. Hopefully it won’t be as messy, but knowing the Ryan Murphy world it’ll be messy, prayerfully, into the second season and onward and upward into, hopefully, more seasons.

Is the idea of doing multiple seasons of Grotesquerie appealing to you?

I’ll work with Mr. Ryan Murphy until the cows come home.

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All episodes of Grotesquerie are now streaming on FX. Read THR‘s interview with Murphy and FX boss John Landgraf on the twist reveal, Lesley Manville on the finale and more.