Ryan Murphy is acutely aware of aesthetics, as they pertain to places, eras and feeling. You don’t have to have met the man to know this. Just watch any of his shows, hits and misfires alike. Especially the latter.
“Ratched” was a bomb, but the psychiatric hospital where Sarah Paulson’s wicked nurse worked was an interior designer’s Shangri-la. “The Politician” flopped, but Gwyneth Paltrow’s impeccable costumes and framing made a strong argument for studying certain scenes after hitting the mute button.
Say what you will about those shows — they’re not ugly. That is the unifying, unassailable Ryan Murphy signature: an insistent style dating back to “Nip/Tuck,” and probably before that, although I never saw the set of “Popular.” I did, however, accept FX’s invitation to spend a day inside the polished digs of Dr. Sean McNamara and Dr. Christian Troy, Miami-based cosmetic surgeons who were the heart and loins of “Nip/Tuck.” That coincides with the first time I interviewed Murphy, way back in 2006.
Our second one-on-one took place over the phone in early 2020, a couple of weeks into the pandemic lockdowns. It was as surreal of a time as the premise of “Hollywood,” the reason Murphy agreed to speak with me. Eventually I reached the end of my question list, but the conversation continued as we exchanged epiphanies concerning this new world of empty streets haunted by microscopic airborne death.
During the 14-year gap between those interviews, Murphy transformed from a rising star into one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, but the overall tenor of our talks was consistent. He was pleasant, thoughtful and genuinely engaged in listening to another random human’s experience with a global crisis.
Say what you will about Ryan Murphy’s shows — they’re not ugly.
Do not mistake these anecdotes as a defense of a figure who, in recent months, was accused of crossing the picket lines of his own guild after it…
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