But it also marks the directorial debut of actor Matt Bomer.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did this happen?
Did you mention this to Ryan?MATT BOMER:Id worked with Ryan obviously multiple times before.
Credit: Michael Tullberg/Getty; Ray Mickshaw/FX
He knew I always came in with excessive reams of research and homework and overly fastidious preparation.
I think he knew I needed to be creatively re-inspired and reinvigorated.
He called me in December and said, Hey, I want you to direct!
I was thinking maybe it will beAmerican Horror Story: Cult.
It was really the best thing thats happened to me in a long time.
It was like a four-and-a-half-month process for me.
I read over 3,000 pages of books on directing.
I did an intensive at the DGA.
I met with editors.
Im grateful I got the episode I did.
Its such a psychological episode, and we wanted to do it in a Sidney Lumet-esque style.
And this great central question of what makes one person a creator and one person a killer?
The answer being hard work.
You played Darren Criss brother onGlee.
This guy has tapped into something that is electric and spontaneous.
I would look at his face and it was like he had been possessed by this soul.
It was really creepy to see and amazing to watch and inspiring.
Its not a traditional narrative structure.
I was lucky to get this episode because its almost a standalone.
Heres the master bedroom.
He basically had this family hostage emotionally, physically, sexually.
That was kind of our inspiration for that.
But because of that moment he turned inward, it later gets expressed outward for other people.
Were all responsible for the choices we make and the actions we take, but Andrew was a victim.
We wanted the people to say, Can I on some level sympathize with a monster?
Jon Jon Briones as Modesto Cunanan is incredible.
Did you have input in casting him?Yes, its owed to a lot of people.
I wanted the whole experience.
I wanted to be in every casting session I could.
I wanted to be on location scouts, design meetings.
He gave a kick-ass audition.
Ryan is willing to take risks on people to make it serve the story.
Hes done it for me in the past.
This was that moment.
In lesser hands, that performance would be broad and not so gray.
But its so shaded.I saw him as Willy Loman.
This is somebody who comes from the rural Philippines and has to pull himself up by the bootstraps.
He really had to make his own way.
Its that middle-class thing of you work and work to make to that higher class.
What do you sacrifice in the process in terms of your morals and your ethics?
Its a very American, human, relatable story.
Where did Darrens dance come from at the high school party?
Was that improvised?It was largely improvised.
They also had a dance instructor there.
We were so excited about that moment and that reveal.
Darren just had a ball with it.
We shot three different endings to this episode, and one of them was the two of them.
Like I said, were responsible for the choices we make and the actions we take.
Will we see more Directed by Matt Bomer credits?I would love that!
I had such a great time doing it.
But I just loved it.
It was a huge episode.
The first cut was 90 minutes long.
I think half the battle is just knowing, oh my gosh, I can do this.
I can be given this massive script and do it on time and get it done.
Hopefully there will be more stuff, but its got to be something that moves me.
Tell me about doingThe Boys in the Bandon Broadway!We start rehearsals on Good Friday.
So much of my understanding of our history starts with Larry Kramer andTorch Song Trilogy.
The stakes are so high!
Society has told them that they are other, less than, and shameful.
