NEW YORK, Oct. 30 (UPI) — Paul Anthony Kelly says he was grateful writer-producer Ryan Murphy cast him as Satan in American Horror Story: 13 after giving him the role of John F. Kennedy Jr. in Love Story.
“It was definitely a wild ride, for sure,” Kelly, 38, told UPI in a Zoom interview this week.
“Playing JFK Jr. in Love Story was very much within the box. Playing a historical figure has to be historically accurate and there were a few things that I lent myself to. I definitely took it and tried to make it my own,” he recalled.
“But, then, being cast in Horror Story as Satan, essentially, it couldn’t be more opposite and, then, there is no box to play within. It was very free rain, which I think was a wonderful acting exercise and character-building exercise and I got to work with absolute legends within the craft — Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, John Waters. The list is so long, so I’m very, very grateful and very fortunate to be in that position.”
Kelly plays his handsome devil with a realism that makes him all the more dangerous since people naturally gravitate to him.
“He was written as this charming, charismatic, but devilish individual. So, I really kind of tried to stay in that realm of old Hollywood, old money,” he explained. “Compassion from an evil individual can almost be the scariest thing.”
Spoilers ahead.
This season of the anthology series wrapped up Thursday night with a coven of New Orleans witches, including ones played by Lange and Paulson, defeating Satan and banishing him to spend eternity in Leonardo da Vinci’s painting, “The Last Supper.”
“It really was a fitting end. I think it was very, almost full-circle and certainly the way that humanity sees him. Now he’s imprisoned within ‘The Last Supper’ as Judas the thirteenth — there’s so many thirteens in this show — guest,” Kelly said.
“He’s the traitor, so, it’s kind of ironic, but I think very valid to be imprisoned within that position in the painting, but who knows if he’s imprisoned for long.”
Waters played Mr. Phibes, Satan’s minion whom he beheads in the season finale.
“He’s amazing,” Kelly said of Waters.
“I was so spoiled in this season to work with absolute legends. But, john was just something else. He and I had a lot of fun on set. He’s just such kooky fun.”
As for having to kill Mr. Phibes? Kelly was thrilled.
“It’s cool. I got to kill John Waters. A lot of the stuff I got to do within the show, I was like, ‘Wow, this is incredible that I’m allowed to do this,'” he said. “I took a photo with [the head] before we chopped it off and picked it off the ground. But it’s uncanny, the prosthetics that they used on this show and all of the effects were just top-notch.”
Kelly is already working on his next project — The Housemaid’s Secret — the sequel to 2025’s hit thriller, The Housemaid, which is based on Freida McFadden’s best-selling novel.
“The first one was such a hit and so fun. I mean, the moment that he locks the door, it’s just like, ‘Oh, boy, it’s going down,'” the actor said, noting he is excited to work with director Paul Feig.
“To be a part of the second one, is such an honor and it’s so much fun and my character is not who you think he is. And, then, I get to play with Sydney Sweeney and Kirsten Dunst,” he added.
“Michele Morrone is back. Stephen Kalyn’s in it. Brittany Snow, I work with. She’s phenomenal. It’s really just a great script, great working experience. I think it’s going to be a really fun, fantastic film.”
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