Fox
Hear that? It's the sound of No One, in Nowheresville, USA, saying something negative about Scream Queens.
Those have seen it? Well, they sound a little bit like: "I am OBSESSED and will not eat, sleep or bathe until I see more." (Note: If you have a friend who's seen it, please check in on them during this difficult time.)
Scream Queens—which premieres TOMORROW!—isn't just the best new show of the season, but the most addictive new show in a very long time. This glossy, glamorous, sophisticated horror-comedy from Ryan Murphy, starring Emma Roberts as the worst human being/sorority girl ever to exist—with stars like Jamie Lee Curtis, Lea Michele, Nick Jonas, Ariana Grande, Niecy Nash—is equal parts delicious and hilarious, and you will laugh harder than you have in a long time.
It also has a genius concept that will keep fans guessing and obsessing: There's a serial killer on campus targeting the girls of Kappa Kappa Tau (lead by Roberts), and each week someone will get killed off, inching viewers closer to the final answer of who the killer is, who the baby is (a mystery introduced at the very beginning of the pilot), and who will be left alive for season two.
Here, Murphy breaks down some cool insight on what to expect from Scream Queens—and his best advice to anyone trying to make their career dreams come true without sacrificing family...
What do you think will surprise people most about Scream Queens?
I think with some of my shows in the past, it starts off really strong, and then there's a bit of a lag in the season, and then it ends on a bang, hopefully. I don't feel that with this show. There's real momentum and every episode feels stronger to me. The show is designed to be a rollercoaster. It's a ‘Whodunnit?' and almost nobody is what they seem. There are episodes coming up where we reveal hidden plot points and hidden character turns. I think the fun of it for me is that just when you think you've got it figured out, you don't. That's part of the reason why the actors were all so interested in doing it.
How are you dealing with the pacing of the reveals? You need to give answers, but leave them wanting more.
This show is inspired by is my love of this Agatha Christie story, Ten Little Indians, where one by one people are kicked off. That was one of the things when we were writing them that we were always aware of. I also feel the day we live in; you need to give people a reason to show up every week for something that's different or new or water cooler-y. So that is a fun aspect of the show. Who's going to live? Who's going to die? And also, who's doing this and why? That is a mystery from the very first episode on, we parcel out. And every week, without fail, one of our beloved cast members gets the heave-ho. Believe me, calling those people and saying, ‘I'm sorry, but you've got to go this week' has been incredibly upsetting because they all signed on for a year's show. That's the great thing. They all signed on for this idea like, ‘OK, anybody can go at any time.' That's part of the show. There's really no career stability on this show. But everybody loved that, because it was a year gig and that's what people wanted to do.
When will we find out the killer?
We have made a pact that we will not reveal who the killer is until the last night—to the cast or anyone. I believe we're going to do a two-hour blowout. It will get rolled out at the very end.
Are you going to shoot fake endings?
Oh, yeah. We'll shoot probably a couple because of the way the world is now. Someone always blows the plots out of the water.
You have a lot going on. Three very different shows, with Scream Queens, American Horror Story and American Crime Story. How do you make it work? Do you have a favorite right now?
I feel like these three shows are so very different, but they are all at peace in a weird way. My favorite thing about it is all the casts of the three shows have gotten very close and very cheerleader for each other, which is thrilling to see. It's so fun to see John Travolta in full Robert Shapiro prosthetic makeup walk off the set and come to watch Lady Gaga do a scene, and meet her for the first time. That has been super cool. The great thing that I've been able to do is have the confidence of Dana Walden and Peter Rice and Gary Newman and John Landgraf, so a lot of these things have not been pilot orders where you're waiting to see, but straight to series orders. So in the case of Scream Queens, we've been working on the script for a year and by the time we started shooting, we had more than half of them done and the rest obviously plotted out. We had a longer writing period, which is always helpful, the same thing with Horror Story. I also have two little children, two-years-old and 11 months, so I thought by the time I got to this point I'd be on fumes. But I actually feel invigorated by the work. The talent I'm working with is incredible. When you go from directing a scene with Lady Gaga to shooting something very intense with Cuba Gooding Jr. and John Travolta and Courtney B. Vance and Sarah Paulson.
From one working parent to another…How are you doing it? How can you possibly be running three shows AND have time to see your children?
I made a pact to pick up my 2-year-old from preschool every day and tuck them into bed every night. It's hard, sometimes I'm up until 1 am catching up, but you know, it's worth it. People always ask me about that. They ask me how can it all be done? Young people ask, ‘What's the key?' And I think it's just…You have to want it. You just have to want it. You don't want it? Don't do it. But if it's important to you, you'll find the time to do it. If I'm in a position in my career and my life where I can say to my bosses, ‘I have this dream of something,' and they say, ‘Here's $50 million. Go after you dream,' who wouldn't want to do that?
It's such a joy and a privilege to feel anything but excited and joyous about it would be wrong for me. It's fun. I also feel like I have two little boys and I want them to see a father that they're proud of, and hopefully can get something from in terms of work ethic and things like that. So that's also in the water for me now, which is very different and thrilling, to be quite honest. I'm just so excited about it. I feel like the casts are so excited about it and the work is so good. I'm working with incredible collaborators. I'm not writing American Crime Story, rather that has a completely different writing staff and that's something I signed on to as a fan because I read these first two scripts and I'm like, ‘Why aren't these getting made?' These are the two best scripts I've ever read. I was able to push them through; so that's been different for me. That's something I want to keep doing. I have Brad [Falchuk] and Ian [Brennan] and Tim Minear and James Wong, just an incredible group of collaborators all of whom have really stepped up and who are excited about it. That's what's so fun. How can you not be grateful?
Gratitude will definitely abound when you see how well Scream Queens turned out. Just so much FUN.
Tune in Tuesday at 8 pm on FOX for the premiere—and join us for our live tweeting party by following @kristindsantos and @eonlineTV!
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