Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Grotesquerie episode 3.
The Ryan Murphy machine never stops, evidenced by 2024’s horror series Grotesquerie. Releasing shortly after the divisive Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Murphy is pulling all his usual tricks to grab eyeballs, including a Travis Kelce stunt casting.
The NFL player, more widely recognized as Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, appeared in episode 3 as the character Ed Laclan. While having the man of the moment on the show is a boon, Murphy couldn’t resist a Swift easter egg. A “Getaway Car” one, to be specific.
In the Oct. 2 episode, Kelce’s Ed helped Niecy Nash-Betts’ character Lois Tryon escape from the hospital after she crashed while driving drunk. The couple then sped off in a convertible. Murphy, who has wanted to work with Swift for years and created the Ed role for Kelce, told The Hollywood Reporter it was “a little Taylor Swift nod.”
He’s referring to one of the best tracks from Swift’s Reputation album, “Getaway Car.” The song is about making an Irish exit with someone under less-than-virtuous circumstances. Remember guys, nothing good starts in a getaway car.
Murphy has an eye for opportunistic unorthodox casting. Think Lady Gaga in American Horror Story: Hotel, Kim Kardashian in AHS: Delicate, and Real Housewives icon NeNe Leakes in Glee. He doesn’t just put his faith in people who don’t have an acting background, he does it knowing people will tune in out of morbid curiosity.
Kelce certainly fits the bill. He’s one of the prominent faces of U.S. pop culture in 2024. More than that though, it looks like Murphy’s end goal is Swift. “I’ve talked to Taylor’s people about various things through the years, and all I will say is that I think she’s great and if she ever has time to do it, I would do it in a heartbeat,” he said in the same interview. “I think she’s one of the greats.”
While it hasn’t materialized (yet), the award-winning producer said he took the chance to talk to Kelce on set about her. “He’s very sweet about it and respectful,” he said. “They are a pop-culture phenomenon. It’s a very interesting dynamic, the way they’ve captured the imagination of the world.”
Murphy would know. While he’s a unique and divisive figure — household name producers are rare — the man knows his business. Murphy has long been a trendsetter, particularly in niche genres like horror-comedy and satire. AHS held Tumblr’s attention for nearly a decade before a drop in popularity, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who wouldn’t recognize an out-of-context screengrab from an episode of Glee.
In recent years he has done a hard pivot to crime and ahistorical retellings. He is drawn to dramatizations (Feud, American Crime Story, Monster) of real cases and tends to take inspiration from grisly figures to use in his original ideas. For example, the infamous serial killer the Night Stalker is used in AHS: 1984.
With the Menendez show calling Murphy’s judgment and sensitivity into question, it may be safer to stick to Swiftie Easter eggs for now.
Published: Oct 18, 2024 05:34 am