Surprise (and trust) are key to Ryan Murphy's 'Grotesquerie'

Creator Ryan Murphy came to Vance and admitted the character he wanted him to play in “Grotesquerie” “wasn’t fully formed,” but “I told him, ‘I trust you completely.’”

Now, Murphy’s banking on Vance and others to keep the limited series’ secrets as long as possible. In the new FX drama, Niecy Nash-Betts plays a detective who’s investigating a series of crimes in a small town. Micaela Diamond plays a nun and journalist who helps her; Vance plays Nash-Betts’ husband; Raven Goodwin plays their daughter.

Kelce's place

Also in the cast: Nicholas Alexander Chavez as a priest and Kansas City Chiefs standout Travis Kelce as a mysterious character connected to the story. A murderer, perhaps?

“He did a great job,” Vance says of the football star. “I couldn’t go on the football field and do what he did for us. He was always prepared.”

Murphy’s take: “A star is a star is a star. It doesn’t matter what field you’re a star in, if you have that charisma, you’re going to bring it to whatever you do.”

The Emmy-winning producer had a meeting with Kelce and told him he had a part for him in “Grotesquerie” and he could “write it and tailor it for you.” Kelce seemed eager “and knew everybody’s lines…and was so committed. I would love to continue working with him on this and other things. Everything you think about him is true.”

Still, those involved with the limited series are mum on the role.

Vance’s character, meanwhile, spends time in a coma. “I recommend it for everyone,” he says with a laugh. He and Goodwin had to become family very quickly.

“He just exudes excellence,” Goodwin says.

“Directing is 75, 80 percent casting,” Vance adds. That explains why Murphy has a repertory company of actors who appear in a number of his projects – from “American Horror Story” to “Glee” to “Pose.”

Chavez had worked with Murphy on “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and found, again, trust was key to taking the “Grotesquerie” role.

New challenges

“It’s a different challenge every time,” he says. “In Father Charlie’s instance, he’s truly a character who I could bring my own creativity and inventiveness to. Lyle Menendez is a real person; Father Charlie is open to interpretation.”

That means Chavez could help mold the character. “He’s aware of his own sexuality and he weaponizes it throughout the series.”

Diamond, meanwhile, is convinced there is no role model for nun who’s also a journalist. “This woman is really weird and ambitious and finds bizarre pleasure in the gruesome,” she says. “She believes the truth of killing will actually bring more people to the church…when you’re in the depths of darkness and evil, you end up finding faith.”

Good and evil

While she didn’t have a track record with Murphy, Diamond realized a lot of the acting work was done by the writers. “You’re saying the lines…and it falls into place. There’s trust in the project and what you’re doing.”

While “Grotesquerie” probes the idea of good and evil, it doesn’t side with one or the other. Diamond, who’s Jewish, grappled with the concept. “I went from being conservative in a temple to not believing in God, to now needing some higher power to exist, to move through the hard parts of life. Everybody in the show has a different opinion of that.”

Once viewers get to see the show, Vance says, “you all will be talking about evil and how much we need it.”

Murphy kept “Grotesquerie” “under lock and key” because so many shows have been promoted months in advance “and you know everything. There are twists galore every week,” he says. “And it was important to me to let people experience the story as it unfolds. I’ve not done that a lot in my career, but this is something I wanted to do.”

"Grotesquerie" airs on FX.