From the mind of Ryan Murphy comes a brand new horror fiction series to FX, Grotesquerie, centering around a small-town serial killer that uses religious imagery in his killings. Although the series dropped at the end of September it has caused waves due to the Internet’s latest heartthrob Nicholas Alexander Chavez, fresh off his portrayal of Lyle Menendez in Murphy’s season 2 of Monsters. If that wasn’t enough, he plays a hot priest. There’s really no other way around this fact, it’s the truth.
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If you’re anything like I was going into this series, maybe you were looking for a spooky thrill for the Halloween season or maybe you’re just a fan of Murphy’s extensive filmography (the good and the bad). Then there’s a special subsection that may only be watching to see what the Chavez mania is all about. Let me tell you, if it’s the latter… I salute you.
Grotesquerie is not unlike Murphy’s other projects as it resembles the earlier seasons of American Horror Story in a lot of ways. However the acting here is remarkable; particularly from the buddy cop duo of Detective Lois Tryon (Niecy Nash) and nun journalist Sister Megan (Micaela Diamond) who is a writer for the Catholic Guardian.
Now… as for the “hot priest,” the trope is really nothing new, it’s been around for centuries. Some of the most notable modern performances include Jude Law who starred in HBO’s The Young Pope, Ethan Hawke in First Reformed. And of course who could forget Fleabag’s Andrew Scott? Chavez is just the latest face of celibacy, but as he’ll tell you, he didn’t take inspiration from any “hot priests” per se, instead he chose to create a character wholly his own.
He explained to US Weekly that he looked to deceased cult leader Charles Manson and “Wicked Game” singer Chris Isaak while imagining what he wanted Father Charlie Mayhew to be. “All of these things just culminated into the character that you see on the screen,” he said. “I just pulled from a lot of different places and tried to find my way into an interesting character.”
Father Charlie is a young, progressive priest looking to do away with the past ways of the Catholic church. Prior to his vow to celibacy, he was a personal trainer at a gym. He’s an interesting figure that oozes sex appeal and very clearly uses his power, status, and sexuality as a way to manipulate others. And yet, Chavez’s gripping portrayal of such a toxic character is rather refreshing, especially from a young actor.
Sure, the internet is utterly fixated on other … facets … of his performance, but it does seem that it’s almost the point. For centuries in literature and pop culture the idea – or perhaps, fantasy – of the “hot” priest has clouded the minds of many. The silent lusting over an unattainable figure is such a compelling plot to explore that few have dared to really dig into. With Grotesquerie and particularly Father Charlie, Murphy takes things up a notch.
Chavez previously portrayed Spencer Cassadine for several years in the long-standing soap General Hospital, earning him a Daytime Emmy. While he’s starred in a few indie projects, he opened the flood gates with Monsters which has been out less than a month at the time of this writing. While he and Cooper Koch will almost certainly receive award recognition for their roles as Lyle and Erik Menendez, portraying a real person as opposed to an original character is a lot different.
After this week’s episodes it remains to be seen what the future looks like for Father Charlie, as he’s got himself caught in a messy web of darkness. We won’t have to wait long to see the fate of the figure under the mask, as new episodes of Grotesquerie drop Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. EST on FX while streaming next day on Hulu.
What is Grotesquerie About?
Grotesquerie centers around Detective Lois Tryon who is determined to find out who this serial killer in her small town is before she retires for good. Along the way, her husband falls into long-term hospital care, she meets some very interesting characters like Travis Kelce who plays an orderly and whisks her away in his red sports car and a journalist nun, Sister Megan.
Per the synopsis, “Sister Megan, with her own difficult past, has seen the worst of humanity, yet she still believes in its capacity for good. Lois, on the other hand, fears the world is succumbing to evil. As Lois and Sister Megan string together clues, they find themselves ensnared in a sinister web that only seems to raise more questions than answers.”
The series also stars Emmy Award-winner Courtney B. Vance as Marshall Tryon, Emmy Award-nominee Lesley Manville as Nurse Redd and Raven Goodwin as Merritt Tryon.
