By RICKY J. DUARTE
Naomi Grossman is no stranger to storytelling. Her breakout role as Pepper on American Horror Story: Asylum and Freak Show garnered acclaim from audiences and critics alike. Grossman’s captivating, heart-wrenching portrayal of the microcephalic Pepper earned her instant status as an icon of the series. Her return in AHS: Apocalypse as Samantha Crowe couldn’t have been a further departure from the sweet-natured, maternal Pepper. This exquisite range earned Naomi an Emmy nomination in 2018 for her portrayal of Lorna on Ctrl Alt Delete. To call Grossman a hard-working talent is an understatement.
Now, Naomi Grossman tells stories of just how hard she’s worked in her new one-woman show, cheekily titled AMERICAN WHORE STORY. Written by Grossman and directed by Richard Israel, the show “reveals her history of hustling – from the odd jobs she’s held to her even odder love life, Naomi gives it to us straight (with a slight gay detour), taking us on a transformative trip to Burning Man, an acid trip to a ’60s Rat Pack-rager and along her own triumphant trip from Red Bull Girl/Spanish teacher to No. 1 on IMDb.”
The show was awarded Best Solo Production by Broadway World and the Maverick Award from the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival. It’s recently finished its triumphant LA run and is on tour, beginning with a limited Off-Broadway engagement at NYC’s AMT Theater.
RUE MORGUE caught up with Naomi to discuss AMERICAN WHORE STORY, reflect on her experiences on American Horror Story, observe the superficiality of celebrity and share thoughts on the hustle it takes to make it in show business.
What’s the biggest lesson you learned from your experience playing Pepper?
I learned so much from Pepper as an actor and as a human. I mean, as an actor, it was obvious: I had a daily master class from the masters. Just being able to breathe the same air as Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett, you know, I was being seriously stimulated on a daily basis.
As a human, with Freak Show, in particular, I was thrust into this crazy sort of melting pot of people. I’ll never forget, for example, when Rose Siggins, who played Legless Suzi, was in the hospital at one point, I went to go visit her, and I opened the door, and there was Jessica Lang and Sarah Paulson and Rose Siggins… and now me! All four of us in a room, and I was like, “What universe would this happen in?” I mean, you’ve got this multi-Oscar winner – soon to be multi-Emmy winner – and a former auto mechanic, who until six months ago had been wheeling around on a little skateboard fixing cars in blue-collar Pueblo, Colorado, until all of a sudden, Ryan Murphy called her on the phone. (She, of course, thought it was a prank, because who wouldn’t?) And all of a sudden now she’s starring on a TV show with the likes of these ladies and me, too, for that matter. It was just sort of this amazing synergy of people, you know. Oftentimes, on a set, there’s a hierarchy – the A-listers aren’t really mingling with the auto mechanics from Pueblo, Colorado, but in this case, they were, and it was a really special place in time, and that doesn’t happen all the time. I just felt really blessed to be a part of it.
I do feel like I grew as a person because I was suddenly associated with this group of actors [with disabilities]. All of a sudden, I was able to kind of see the world through their eyes. I remember flying back to Los Angeles for the premiere from New Orleans, where we were shooting and seeing how people reacted to Rose, for example, on her skateboard, and thinking, man, do they even realize she’s a TV star? Respect, people! Or Jyoti Amge, who played Ma Petite, and how people really do treat her like a baby or even a dog – but she’s a human, people!
For that matter, not only was I able to see how others reacted to them, but I was even able to experience how people reacted to me. I remember on Asylum, very few people got to see me as me. I would show up to set, go straight to hair, makeup, and wardrobe, and then, I was unrecognizable from that point on. So, when I showed up on set – and granted, there is something about that hair and makeup that kind of just makes you become that person – I would just sort of became [Pepper] with the help of the hair and makeup. And so, people reacted to me as such. I would find grown men joking with me off-set, you know, “Oh, pull my finger!” because that was my character; That was my vibe. And I couldn’t help but wonder, do they do that to Jessica? Something tells me, no. And sure enough, when Pepper was abducted by the aliens and came back [and was] all of a sudden smart, I wasn’t that fun, playful Pepper that I’d been previously. And again, the crew behaved differently as a result. They were like, “Ooh, you changed. You’re not as fun as you were.” And of course, I was like, “Well, I’m not really here for your enjoyment.” [Laughs] But it was interesting to see how people react to you based on your looks, based on your being. It’s messed up, is what it is. But it is interesting how we treat each other differently, based on just the way we look.
Speaking of, there was a moment when the internet discovered what you actually looked like – that the actress playing Pepper is this gorgeous woman – and the internet had a reaction. What was that moment like for you?
Well, it’s funny. I’ve never needed or wanted to be pretty, per se. I mean … I’m not mad at it, but that was not what I set out to do. I’m not one of those actors who’s like, you know, plumping up for this and that. I just want to tell stories. And as far as I’m concerned, we all have a story… the beautiful ones just like the ugly.
I was acutely aware of how superficial we are and how all of a sudden, I was getting all of this attention for being “so attractive,” and guess what? I’ve looked like this my whole life, and no one ever made a big deal of it. So, it was strange to me, but in a way, I thought, “Well, how very clever, you know, I get all of this attention for being pretty, and all I had to do was be ugly.” Ironic, right?
Tell me about AMERICAN WHORE STORY and how it came to be.
It came to be from the pandemic, really. You know what they say about writing: It’s like opening your veins. It’s the hardest thing in the world to do. After I’d organized my junk drawer and Marie Kondo’d my everything, I was like, “Okay, what’s left?” I’m not baking bread! I refuse to get into this puzzle craze. So, I knew I had another solo show in me. I’d done two prior. So that’s when I really got to work on this. I figured I really had no other excuses. There was literally nothing else to do. It really sort of saved me. You know, they say that bad times make for good art, and I really believe that’s what this is. Having something creative to do – just anything to do, but especially creative – was really a godsend and it got me through, and I’m super proud of it.
It’s my history of hustling. So the “whore” is not a promiscuous one, although I’ve been that as well. The whore is a hustler. So, she’s one who whores out to do what she’s got to do to get what she wants. And I’ve always been a whore, from all the way back in Miss Higgins’ first-grade class, and I actually take you there, I’ve been whoring out like that.
It takes you through the odd jobs I’ve held, to my even odder love life, you know, the many, many, many compromises I’ve made to get where I want to be. I mean, I did dozens of wacky side jobs, actor ding-dong jobs, from driving the Red Bull car until I crashed it into a shopping mall – that was the end of that – dancing for money at bar mitzvahs, spinning signs dressed as Lady Liberty. I mean, you name it, I’ve done it all. It’s what we do, right, as actors. And so, I take you through my journey to becoming Pepper.
You remarked that when I first kind of emerged, people thought, “Whoa, where did this hottie come from?” and the fact is, I’ve been here! I’d been here for 22 years. I got my SAG card on my 15th birthday, and it wasn’t until I was thirty-seven that I was able to actually use SAG insurance. That’s a long time!
So, it’s really kind of a love letter to AHS fans, you know, all those folks who Googled and got me to be number one on IMDb. It’s going to answer all those questions. They’ll get to know me. I’m extremely vulnerable, really wide open and out there in this show. I have very few secrets (and, apparently, neither do my ex-boyfriends because they’re all in it, too… much to their chagrin.)
Your show is being described as both hilarious and very honest. What’s your approach to finding humor in real-life situations?
I think truth is stranger than fiction, and I don’t know that I have a trick to finding humor. It just sort of finds me. I mean, a lot of these stories, you can’t make up. And that’s why I think it’s always interesting when they’re like, “Really? It’s all true?”
What can American Horror Story fans expect from your show?
Let’s say they met me as Pepper, grunting a few monosyllabic grunts over the course of several seasons. They’re going to find out I’m very verbal. If there’s anything I am, I’m a mile a minute. You’ve got to stay with me. So that’ll be fun. And let’s face it, celebrity is very much glorified in our society. And yet, I definitely share the perils and pitfalls of getting to where I got, and I’m not done! I’m not fully cooked. I’m still on this journey, and they go on it with me.
So, the beauty of it, I think, is that you don’t have to be an American Horror Story fan to enjoy it. There are a lot of people who aren’t even familiar with the show who still thank me and wipe away tears and change their Depends and whatever they have to do after the show. [Laughs] But for the AHS fans, it is a special treat because there are special Easter eggs that only they’re going to get. What the non-American Horror Story fans don’t know won’t hurt them, but it’s especially fun for those who do.
What advice do you have for actors – or artists of any craft – who are still working toward their big break?
Hmm. Come to the show! [Laughs] Again, it does not glorify this journey at all. And I think, if there’s anything you get from it, it’s the tenacity that one has to have and passion. Let’s face it. There was nothing else for me [to do] and that probably would be the answer to the question: You have to love it. And by “it,” I don’t mean being on the sides of buses. I say that and yet someday, I swear I’m going to be hit by a bus, and I’m going to be on the side of said bus.
What a way to go!
You have to be very careful what you put out into the universe! [Laughs]
I think people are very seduced by blue check marks and stuff that doesn’t matter. None of that matters! Like, literally, you can go on X and buy one right now if you really want it.
You have to love the work because that’s what you’re going to be spending all your time doing. You know what I mean? Like walking the red carpets? That might happen. And even then, it’s quick. You’re on and off. You can’t dedicate your life to this thing that might last 30 seconds, right? So, I think that, for me, the takeaway is that you have to just love what you’re doing [as well as] the hard part of it.
Do you experience stage fright? How do you deal with it?
Oh, my goodness. Yes! I do. And it is so weird because I’m like, “Wait, didn’t I just say I love this? How can I love this and hate this at the same time? Why did I do this to myself? I did this to myself! No one else put me up to it!”
I think it all just comes down to our own self-confidence/self-loathing. I have to remind myself that I’m actually really good at this “This” being storytelling – taking an audience on a journey. Let’s face it, I doubt even myself sometimes. But when I can just stop and go, “They love you. Like, they’re laughing, they’re crying, they’re clapping. They wouldn’t do that if you sucked!”
I think a part of it is just psyching myself up and reminding myself that I belong here. I’m here for a reason. That was even something I had to do for myself on set in AHS because it’s very easy when you’re acting with the likes of Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulson and these huge names to have this sort of imposter syndrome. And yet, I had to remember I was cast the same as they were. Might be getting paid less, but, you know, their agent got a phone call just like mine did. They got a call time just like I did. Their names are printed on the call sheet just like mine is. So, I have to remind myself I actually belong here. I belong on this set. I belong on this stage. And thankfully, I’m validated afterward with rave reviews and extended runs, thank God. But it’s a mind game. So much of what we do as actors is just being in the right headspace. It’s crazy!
What is next for AMERICAN WHORE STORY? And what’s next for Naomi Grossman?
That is a great question. Obviously, we have this run in New York … hoping to get the right people in who want to send it on its way so that I can stop paying for it and let others. [Laughs] I do fantasize about going back to Edinburgh, which is, of course, the home of the largest theatre festival in the world – maybe taking it there. I think it would kill there.
While I love the process of theater and stage work, I’m a sucker – I’m a “whore,” shall I say? – for a TV audience. Why touch [however many] seats there are [in a theater] when you can get the [however many] millions of subscribers there are on Netflix? So that is the dream, I’ll be honest. Not just taking it on tour, but also having my own Netflix special. Honestly, I don’t see why not! I watch these Netflix specials, and they’re great! And I think, again, I belong!
I’m open to it all! It’s been a journey so far, and yet, it’s really just the beginning. I’m anxious to see where it goes, myself! This is my truth, and I’m telling it. I don’t know what I’d be doing otherwise. In fact, now that the seal has been ripped off, I feel like I’ve got other shows I’ve got to write.
I think I’m my own muse. And sometimes, I say that, and I listen to it and I’m like, “Ew, gross!” But at the same time, I’m definitely one of those people who finds myself in situations where I’m like, “Okay, I could turn left and live happily ever after, or I could turn right, lie to the cop, get out of this ticket, fake an identity and see where that goes.” And that’s the way I’m always gonna go. Between the two – living happily ever after or having an awesome story at cocktail parties – I will always turn right. And so, you know, this show is comprised of a lot of serious, hard, right-hand turns.
RUE MORGUE’s Ricky J. Duarte and actress Naomi Grossman
