American Horror Story: Apocalypse Star Cody Fern Still Hasn’t Let Go of Michael

Last season of the horror anthology series American Horror Story was the end of the world — literally. The aptly-named Apocalypse saw the world destroyed in a nuclear holocaust as put into motion by the Son of Satan himself, the now-grown-looking Michael Langdon from Murder House. As the Antichrist, Michael was equal parts charismatic and terrifying and though he is ultimately defeated by the witches from Coven, the intense character is still talked about fans not quite ready to move on and it turns out that even actor Cody Fern hasn’t yet let go of the devilish character.

In an interview with Gold Derby, Fern revealed that he hasn’t yet let go of his antichrist character, in part because how playing Michael allowed him to explore darkness.

“I haven’t let go of Michael,” Fern said. “I really think that something is happening in society at the moment. People have more an interest in the darker aspects of life. I think it’s very Jungian and I think it’s very much about trying to understand the darkness within ourselves. I think it’s in the King Arthur myth, which is, all of the soldiers, the knights, decide whether they’re gonna enter the forest and all of them decide that they’ll enter the forest at which point is darkest to them, that they perceive to be the darkest.”

“I think it really says something about walking into the heart of darkness and not embracing it in the way that it consumes you but about reining it in, about understanding it, about knowing what it is and searching in the places that you least wanna look. I got to do that with Michael Langdon,” he continued. “I got to go to some really dark places, and it’s fun. Playing out those dark things, that scene with Sarah [Paulson] where it’s long-haired Langdon, who was my favorite Langdon to play, ’cause he was just so lascivious, he’s so in control. To be in a room with Sarah Paulson where she had that deformity on her back and to be playing this power game that ultimately ends in, ‘Take off your dress,’ talk about what was happening in the culture at the time. It’s fun to investigate the other side of the coin and I understand it a little bit more now. I do need to say because it sounds like I am in some way fetishizing it, it’s the easier side of the coin. It’s easier to be dark. It’s easy to be evil. It’s cheap in life, but in acting it’s fun.”

It’s that exploration of darkness is one that Fen was able to achieve by making Michael relatable, a process that the actor previously explained to ET as having a human approach.

“The human angle, that’s exactly what I went for, because how can you play the antichrist?” Fern said. “For me, I can’t play a metaphor or a symbol. I needed to play a human being, and I needed to play a human being who is just like any other, who has longing, who has needs, who is hurt, who loves and needs love, and that’s how I went about going and getting to the core of who he was.”

What do you think about Fern’s thoughts about Michael Langdon? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter @lifeinpolaroid!