The fan-favorite AHS star also reveals the famous director he modeled his character on.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for episode 3 ofAmerican Horror Stories.
This time around, he’s taking part in theAHSspin-off seriesAmerican Horror Storiesas deranged film director Larry Bitterman.
John Carroll Lynch as Larry Bitterman on ‘American Horror Stories’.FX
When Bitterman’s previously forbidden filmRabbit Rabbitgets screened once again, it turns people into crazed flesh-eating zombies.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did Ryan Murphy pitch this particular part to you?
And I said, “Okay.”
Did he tell you there would be zombies, or any backstory on the episode?
That’s kind of how he pitched the character.
In your character’s monologue at the end, he does mention several directors, including Kubrick.
Was he the main inspiration, or were there others?
There were others, too.
I mean, it’s interesting.
I don’t know why that is, but apparently, that’s part of it.
[Laughs]
It seemed like you had a blast playing Larry Bitterman.
Be honest, how much fun did you have with this horrible character?
I so enjoyed it.
And he’s doing everything he can to do it.
It just happens to kill people, and that part he doesn’t care about.
Isn’t that like the perfect metaphor for such a narcissist?
He just wants what he wants and doesn’t care what happens.
I agree with you.
I think it’s an interesting problem.
In each circumstance, there’s this kind of adrenaline pump to everything we hear.
And it’s the creation of fear, constant creation of fear.
That’s why I love to watch films where the stakes are so delicate.
I love to do those.
There’s no brake in the car.
You tend to play these iconic villain types in theAHSuniverse.
How did this one compare to the likes of Twisty, John Wayne Gacy, or Benjamin Richter?
I’ve had the good fortune of playing four characters on the show.
I think Twisty and Benjamin Richter were victims.
They did bad things, but their motivations weren’t wrong.
Benjamin Richter was the story of redemption, in my opinion.
And that is not a good motivation.
Note to self: That’s not right.
I don’t care how good of an artist you are.
That’s not right.
He thought he was the hero.
He thought his cause was a righteous one.
I mean, the perfection of art is a righteous cause.
Right, but getting people to eat other people’s faces is not.
[Laughs]
For sure.
Were there other things in this episode that sort of pointed to your past characters that you know of?
Like inCultwhen Twisty appears, and then all of those clowns appear, and me playing John Wayne Gacy.
These are all kind of flow-throughs of one [character] to another to another to another.
But why didn’t he just stay and watch from a distance?
I was like, “No.”
It’s not like we had a bunch of test screenings.
And for Larry Bitterman it’s not like he had a bunch of test screenings.
He had one, of the old version of the movie.
So I think he wants to hear on the news how it goes.
You won’t like the answer."
It was that life-changing streaming money.
When you live in an old trailer in the location that Larry lives in, life-changing is relative.
But it’s a success.
He sold his picture.
That’s the thing that was most important to him, that he sold his picture.
And he sold it to Netflix.
So you know, that’s an exciting day for Larry Bitterman.
And not an exciting day for the rest of the world.
No, no, it’s not gonna go well for everybody else.
Of course, in the end it didn’t go well for Larry either.
I agree with you, and that was quite a surprise to me.
Just step on the gas and see what happens.
And maybe his glorious purpose is to be a martyr for his cause?
Yeah, and I think it would be hard to topRabbit Rabbit.
And I don’t think there’s aRabbit Rabbit 2.
By the way, if there was aRabbit Rabbit 2, I would just call itRabbit Rabbit Rabbit.
What can you tell us about future plans for you in theAHSuniverse?
These shows, they’re fun to do.
I enjoy working with everybody who works on them.
Ryan’s never let me down.
The show’s never let me down.
And it’s pretty cathartic to be stabbing a piece of wood.
I mean, it feels good, I gotta say.
As long as there’s not a real person under there.
It feels pretty good.
That’s really fun.
