If you are planning on watching the FX series “The Beauty,” stop reading this now. There are spoilers ahead that might ruin your enjoyment of the series. That being said, considering it dropped in January, we’re not that concerned about ruining the surprises. But when Rebecca Hall sat down with co-creator Ryan Murphy, she discovered it wasn’t a typical ongoing series role offer. Not at all.
Set in an alternate world where a transmittable virus is transforming people into their ideal physical appearance, “The Beauty” finds Hall portraying FBI Agent Jordan Bennett. When she and her partner Cooper Madsen, portrayed by Murphy regular Evan Peters, are assigned to the case, they discover a global conspiracy that could change the world and their own lives forever. But, again, no spoilers yet, although we will tease that Hall isn’t up for the 2026 Emmy category you think she might be.
During our conversation earlier this month, Hall reflected on Murphy’s pitch and revisited that key scene filmed in an absolutely stunning Italian villa. We also discussed her role in Ira Sachs’ lauded new drama, “The Man I Love,” where she plays the adult sister of the film’s subject, portrayed by Rami Malek. And, of course, we needed to fish for an update on Hall’s next directorial effort. Especially after her feature film helming debut, “Passing,” saw stars Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson earn massive critical acclaim.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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The Playlist: First of all, congratulations on everything. You’ve been super busy!
I know.
In a good way.
Yeah. When everything comes out at the same time, it feels like I’ve been out of the ordinary busy, but it’s felt at a normal pace of things from my perspective, but now it feels like doing press and realizing that everything’s coming out as a huge kind of blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Then it’s like, “Oh, I have been busy.” You’re right. So, thank you for putting that into perspective for me.
I was going to ask about that. How long ago did you shoot “The Beauty”? Was it a while ago, or was it actually just last year, on a traditional television schedule?
I don’t know. Time has become strange. It was a while ago now. It was maybe a year and a half ago now.
Got it. When the show came your way, was there a heads-up in there saying, “FYI, your character dramatically changes after just two episodes”?
Yeah, there was. It was laid out to me in the initial meeting. Ryan Murphy took me for breakfast and told me his scope for his whole vision for the show and what he wanted my character to do and to represent and why he wanted me to do it. And I thought it was such a crazy idea that I just loved it. But yeah, I was fully aware I was going to be literally replaced. It was quite funny, and it’s the sort of fear of being an actor, isn’t it? That you can always be replaced by a sort of younger, better, beautifuler, more whatever. It’s the kind of archetypal fear of being an actor. So, I thought there was something sort of inherently comical about actually agreeing to do it.
Do you remember what Ryan said he wanted you to establish with her as a character?
Yeah, he was very keen that she’d be a very, I guess, likable in a way and not for obvious reasons because he talked about her being a sort of independent force and an intelligent person and a careerist and all of these things. But I remember he said to me, “I’m sort of interested in you just doing you. ” And I was like, “What do you mean?” And he’s like, “That sort of British cheeky thing. Can you do that and can you make more jokes and can you just bring a lot of that to the character?” Which nobody ever asks me to do that. Everyone asked me to do quite serious people going through nervous breakdowns, which I’m thoroughly there for that as well. But there was something so refreshing about the idea of getting to bring that side of my own personality actually to a character. And he was very interested in making her someone that you wanted to be with and would be disappointed when she left or got changed rather.
Since it was intended as a new ongoing series, was there any sense of freedom knowing, “I’m going in, I’m doing this, I’m establishing this, but then I get to go. The pressure’s off once I leave”?
Yeah, I wouldn’t say the pressure’s completely off. It’s still a job and you want to do it well, but there was this sort of secrecy as well of knowing that I was going to do a flashy turn and then disappear, but I had to pretend to everybody that I was going to be in it for the whole thing was fun in a way and it felt like a bit of a ruse that would be enjoyable.
You have this incredible scene at the end of the episode where you’re going through the transformation. Can you talk about if they wanted to keep any consistency? Was there any sort of explicit direction as to how she should act?
Oh, absolutely. By the time I got to my transformation scene, I think they’d shot two of them already, or they’d definitely shot Jeremy [Pope’s] one. I think that there’d been a lot of thought about what it was, what happens to the body when it goes through this transformation, and how you could make it credible. And some things remained constant. Like the temperature thing that you literally get hot and sweaty and you can’t quench your thirst. But then I think it evolved a bit more into this notion of something literally needing to break out of you. And these more physical involuntary movements, I guess, became something that was developed and thought about. But there was an element of it where I remember it being a night shoot and they set up the camera very high for a top shot, and there was an element of like, “O.K., Rebecca, now just be on the floor and improvise something physically. What would you do if you were physically being overtaken by something and you wouldn’t claw into get it off you, but it’s literally your own skin?” Which was a sort of interesting idea to think about and then try and physically perform. I don’t really have any qualms about looking silly on a set, so I’m fully prepared. I’m sure there’s an awful lot on the cutting room floor that’s not exactly pleasant to look at.
Was this a couple of hours of doing this scene?
Yeah, it was a night, actually. We did the whole transformation over the course of a night shoot.
Oh, wow.
It was on a real villa in Venice.
We’ve got to talk about that. I’ve been to Venice. Where are all these stunning villas? Is this common? I think you’ve gone to the Venice Film Festival a couple times…
I have. I’ve been on the jury. I’ve gone maybe three times with a film.
Is the city just full of these beautiful, stunning rooms? Because… [Laughs.]
I guess being in the Ryan Murphy Universe opens up a lot of doors that I didn’t know of. This one location was, I think, incredibly special and rarefied. And I remember everyone saying at the time that it was quite unusual that we got to film there and they had all of that. What’s the name of the glass in Venice? Sorry, my brain today- the famous Murano, what is it called?
Oh, I don’t know. [It’s Venetian glass or Murano]
But there’s the glass that’s made in Venice, and this location was on the waterfront, and well, everything’s on the waterfront, but it was on the Grand Canal waterfront, and it had just maybe 50 chandeliers made of this glass. And when I walked on the set, they’d already put real candles in every single one of them and lit them all by hand. I mean, it was breathtaking. I’ve never seen anything like it, honestly. Oh my gosh. Wild that we got to shoot in that place. I’ve got no idea what the history of it is, though, in retrospect. I think I might’ve known it at the time, but I think it was extremely old, and I don’t think much had filmed there.
Well, now I want to see it in real life. Not sure that’s even possible. Jessica Alexander plays the other version of Jordan. Did you two talk at all about the character’s arc before or during filming?
We did, and we didn’t. We met up and had a cup of tea together, and I remember sitting down and sort of being like, “Well, this is quite a unique situation. How are we going to do this?” The thing was, I think she was cast very, very well. I think we’re quite similar in certain ways. And so we immediately hit it off, and I think our understanding of the character was identical. So, I think we both were a bit like, “We’ve got this. It’s going to be all right.” So, I wasn’t prescriptive about anything if that’s what you mean.
No, it’s all good.
It was brilliant. I wanted her to do exactly what she needed to do after I was gone.
It’s unclear if it’s been renewed for a second season, but that was initially the plan. Did Ryan ever tease he might need you to return for a flashback or more?
No, I don’t know. It hasn’t been discussed as yet. As yet. Yeah. Lots of secrets. You never know.
I just came from Cannes…
I missed the end of it because of scheduling.
I got to see and review Ira Sachs’ “The Man I Love,” which you star in. It’s such a great movie with incredible performances. And I’m so happy for you all. How did Ira approach you about it?
He told me about it before I read the script. Ira has become a very close friend of mine, and he’s also just incredibly supportive of filmmakers. I remember after we finished “Peter Hujar’s Day,” it was obvious that we’d become friends, but he would also just call me up in this guise of like, “I’m a filmmaker in New York trying to get things made and you’re a filmmaker in New York trying to get things made and we should be in community and talk to each other about that.” I’m like, “How’s it going, and do you need help with anything?” So, we already had a relationship that had gone beyond that of the work, I suppose. And so he was talking to me about what he was doing next anyway and it was clear that there was a part that he wanted me to do and I’d already said to him or even read it, I was like, “I just want to be in your worlds, whatever they are and I want to facilitate things and help you make movies in any way that I can, so I’ll be there for it.” Unfortunately or fortunately, Ryan Murphy also called me back at the same time and said, “Come and be on the next season of ‘Monster.'” So, I ended up shooting them concurrently for a while, which was a little crazy because one was in LA and one was in New York, and they were diametrically opposed characterizations. And I can’t even begin to explain how different these two characters were. So, that was definitely a schizophrenic month for me, but that’s how that happened basically.
The film was inspired by this period of experimental theater in the 80s, but your character is the sister of Rami’s character, a performer known as Jimmy George. She feels like one of the few characters in the film that could mean something personal to the screenwriters. Did Ira ever say if there was a specific inspiration for her?
There are a lot of inspirations for it. I mean, I think she’s an amalgamation of many different people in Ira’s life and also in film history representing these sorts of characters that are there. And I think for Ira, she represents family and what that means. You have all these aspects of Jimmy George’s life: old love, the new love, the art, the friends, the creative, whatevers. And then you have this sort of representation of family, I think, and that’s what Brenda is and what it means. And someone in his predicament, the relationship, what that is.
By the way, I know you weren’t able to come to Cannes because you were shooting a film, right?
I was shooting a film. I couldn’t get out. I was shooting a real-time, incredibly subjective movie that I am in every single frame of, and there was no way that they could shut down production for two days to let me out, which is very disappointing because I would’ve loved it. It’s not very often you have two films that premiere at Cannes, but I couldn’t go.
Glenn Close couldn’t go either. She hadn’t been in 24 years and was supposed to go. In any event, have you seen “Man I Love” on a big screen yet?
No, I have not seen it on a screen yet. I’m very excited to see it properly.
Should I assume the movie you were booked with was “Headfull of Ghosts”?
No.
You’re busier than I thought you were.
“Headfull of Ghosts” finished a while back for me. And then it’s a movie called “Zero Protocol.” That title may change actually, so I should probably keep my mouth shut about that. But it’s a real-time highly subjective action thriller about … Well, I don’t even know that I can say at this point, actually.
It’s O.K.
But it’s great. It was a really great experience. Debs Patterson directed it. Incredible bunch of people. Marcia Gay Harden played my mother. It was great. We just wrapped on Friday, so I’m a little delirious.
So you now have a nice break.
In theory, when I’m not doing things like this, I have a break.
That does tie into my last question because you have been so busy. “Passing” was such an incredible film, and you show so much talent as a director. Anything coming soon in your directing future? Are you trying to get anything off the ground?
Of course I do. Yeah. I’ve had a couple of scripts that I’ve been trying to push up a hill. I don’t know. I don’t pick things that are obviously commercial, so they often yield the most interesting results, but maybe financing is a little gunshy initially, but I’m getting there. One of them, it looks very likely that it’s going to go next year. So, I feel that the tide is changing on that soon, swiftly.
“The Beauty” is available to stream on Hulu.
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