When and where did youracting career get it’s spark?

My parents were alwaysvery good about exposing meto culture. We frequented thetheatre and movies, so from avery young age I knew that’swhat I wanted to do. When Iwas about 11, I got involvedwith a children’s theatre com-pany in Denver. Every Satur-day morning, we sang, danced,and did sketches at a comedyclub downtown. (Amazingly, alot of those kids are still in thebiz— now heavy-hitter come-dians, writers, and producers inHollywood). Soon I/we wereacting in anything and every-thing that came out of Col-orado— “Father DowlingMysteries,” regional commer-cials, etc. Got my SAG cardwhen I was 15... Then went toNorthwestern University as a

theatre major. Four cold,Chicago winters later, I tradedin my wooly coat and wentwest to Hollywood!

How did you find out aboutthe part of Pepper and wereyou intimidated by playingthis outrageous role?

Oh, I’m not intimidated byoutrageous roles. On the con-trary— have you seen myYouTube channel?— that’swhat I excel in! As far as find-ing out about Pepper, it was anaudition like any other. Myagent called with the appoint-ment and sides to prepare,though they were very vague asto what the role actually was.The breakdown read, “4-5 feettall, possibly malformed, child-like.” Which is obviously atricky to prepare for! So I didwhat I could, wore flats and a

baby-doll dress, and just did agood job. That’s all you cando. The other girls auditioningwere actual little people, so Ireally didn’t think I had achance. But the same folks thatcast “AHS” cast “Glee,” “TheMentalist,” etc. so I just treatedit as a chance to meet casting inhopes they’d consider me forsomething in the future.

So no, to answer your ques-tion, even if I were daunted byoutrageous roles, I couldn’tpossibly be intimidated becauseI didn’t even know what I’dgotten! It wasn’t until I wascast, and saw the photos themakeup department had ma-nipulated to show what I’d looklike as Pepper did realize whatthe role even was. And eventhen, with such a star-studdedcast, I never dreamt they’d en-trust such a meaty role to anunknown actor like me. For all

I knew, I was just one of anarmy of pinheads. It wasn’tuntil I was on set for the firsttime that realized I might bethe craziest in the asylum. (Orthe craziest-looking anyway.)

By the time I’d figured it allout, it was too late to be intimi-dated... cameras were rolling,and Sister Jude was in thehouse!

It’s funny to see how lovelyyou are in your pictures ofyou beside the pictures ofyou as Pepper. You obvi-ously look nothing like her.How long did it take to doyour makeup?

About 2 1/2-3 hours, andthat’s with two SPFX guysworking feverishly on me theentire time. The makeup de-partment deserves mad propsfor my transformation.

Beauties, Beasts and All Hallow’s Eve

HORROR STORIESP ROW L E R M AG A Z I N E H A L LOW E E N 2 013

Like the Greeks loved tragedies, the modern American loves a dark tale chock-full of tormented characters, epic beauty,unspeakable events and so often the ironic, twisted ending. We sat down with a few favorite TV and film stars andasked them to reveal in their own words why this love affair with all things grim and grotesque captivates our culture.

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Q & A with Naomi Grossman“Pepper”- American Horror Story

Though I suppose I had a littlesomething to do with it too...At the end of the day, it’s justprosthetics. They sit on thecounter unless you do some-thing with them!

Any inspiration for playingPepper? How did you be-come her?

I can’t take the credit forthat. That’s all Ryan Murphy.He’s a big fan of Tod Brown-ing’s 1933 film, “Freaks,” whichstarred a microcephalic charac-ter named Schlitzie. He’s whoPepper was modeled after. So Iobviously watched that on aloop for a month before shoot-ing. As far as how I “becameher,” the makeup did a lot ofthe work. It’s kinda’ like put-ting on a costume or wig— itinforms the way you move,speak, everything. You do yourinternal work first, then put onthe external layers, and hope-fully it all comes together!

Were you aware at the timeof filming what a huge hitAHS has become?

Not quite. I’d never evenseen it before when I audi-tioned. Then once I was cast, Iwatched the entire first seasonin a week. Didn’t sleep too wellafter that! I was especiallystruck by how excellent the act-ing was, and how high the pro-duction value was. So I knew itwould catch on, if it hadn’t al-ready. But I had no idea howvast the fandom is. That thereare people creating fake Face-book accounts, role playing astheir favorite character... Ani-mating gifs, painting portraits,composing songs, posting“Pepper for President” signsaround town, even tattooingme on their limbs! The sheercreativity that Pepper has in-spired is astonishing. Part ofthat is of course due to theshow’s popularity, but I thinkit’s also the horror genre in

general. My actor-friends onprocedural dramas aren’t en-joying the same freaky fandom!

How do you like the conven-tion circuit? Any odd fansor stories?

I love it! I mean, if in fortyyears I’m still signing picturesof Pepper, I may need an inter-vention. But for now, it’s what’shappening! Besides, I get totravel, see old friends, makenew ones... I mean, it’s not ex-actly what I want to be doingnecessarily— it’s a far cry fromacting— but shoot, a year and ahalf ago nobody wanted mysignature! So it’s a nice change.As far as odd fans and stories, Iwouldn’t know where to begin!

In fact, I was thinking aboutwriting a Christopher Guest-style mockumentary about it.So I’m going to deflect thatquestion, and let you come andsee those stories in the theatreinstead!

What upcoming projects doyou have planned?

The really juicy stuff I ofcourse can’t talk about! But inaddition to a full slate of per-sonal appearances, I’m devel-oping an animated project withone of the stars of “SOA.” Itlooks like I’ll be doing a LuchaLibre, sci-fi film with Mexicanwrestling star, Mil Máscaras.I’m always looking to remountmy solo shows (in case yourreaders are in school, andwould like to have me come betheir campus entertainment!).I’m even looking to adapt oneof my shows into a TV series.So, I’m busy!

American Horror Story has become one of the top shows onTV with legions of addicted fans,has nearly 5 million “Likes” onFacebook and episodes are nowavailable on Netflix. Photo of Naomi-Mike MekashPepper Make-Up/Prosthetics: ChrisNelson and Tinsley Studio

Naomi’s “Pepper” portrait (left):The artist is Chad Harmon (aka the "Anti Warhol"). More info at: https://www.facebook.com/chadharmonisantiwarhol

Our Prowler gals caught up to Mark Torgl—the Toxic Avenger—a cult favorite enjoying a freshround of fandom. The Super-Hero from New Jersey was on-hand for the Mad Monster Party here in Charlotte this past February and posed with fans, signed mops and showed just how to fight off bullies.

Prowler Girls: How did you get in the acting business?I’ve been acting like an idiot since I was a little kid. Seriously, Iwas always in the high school and college plays, but gettingcast in Toxic Avenger was kind of a fluke. I was attending NYUFilm School to be a filmmaker and Troma posted a notice onthe Job Board at NYU to come work on a “real” feature filmfor “The First Turn On” —the film they made the year beforeToxic Avenger. So I met with Lloyd Kaufman and MichaelHerz and they asked what I wanted to do. I said I wanted to bethe Script Supervisor, Lloyd said “OK, you can be the ScriptSupervisor, what else do you want to do?” I said I liked writing,Lloyd said “OK, you can write some additional scenes, whatelse do you want to do?” I should have said that I wanted to direct. So, I didn’t sign on as an actor initially, but typicallyeveryone on the crew ends up in the film somewhere. Whenthe actor who was hired to play Dwayne, a real social misfit,didn’t show up, Lloyd said, “Mark you go in and do the part”.

The rest is history. The next year when they were casting forthe “Toxic Avenger” apparently they auditioned hundreds ofkids for Melvin and didn’t like anyone. Lloyd finally said whatthey were looking for was what I did on “First Turn On”.They called me up and said if I wanted the part it was mine.

Tell us what you have been up to since we saw you last?After I moved to Hollywood I was working regularly in postproduction, which I really enjoy. I’ve also made a bunch ofshort films and I did a cameo in Toxic Avenger 4 as EvilMelvin. Hollywood is doing a big budget Toxic Avenger re-make with Arnold Schwarzenegger. I would love to get acameo possibly asToxi’s dad. Everyone call the producers atLions Gate Entertainment and insist on a part for me. I’m alsoacting in my own film which is currently in production, “ToxicTutu” The almost true story of what became of ToxicAvenger’s Mark Torgl!

Which Toxie movie is your favorite?The original of course, The Toxic Avenger has a life that justwon’t quit. Being part of this cult classic never gets old. �And ofcourse, Toxic Avenger 2 and 3 with Fake Melvin just didn’t cutit. Lloyd says he regrets not giving me the $50 I asked for in 2and 3.

What is your favorite toxic substance? The new film I’m working on “Toxic Tutu” there’s a drinkcalled “The Intoxicator” It’s green and very contagious.

How’s your relationship now with Lloyd Kaufman?Really good, I did an autograph signing with Lloyd and theTroma Team at ComiCon this year and I’m also appearingwith Lloyd at Stan Lee’s ComiKaze in LA Nov 1, 2 and 3.Lloyd also appears as himself in “Toxic Tutu.” �

Any advice to the aspiring janitors out there?Keep your mop handle clean. Everyone always wants to holdmy mop at monster conventions.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve been asked to sign? I’ve signed a real janitors mop, a breast, and a butt. �Breasts

b y T E R E S A B A R A NOW S K I A N D LO R I A N N S COT T

Q & A with Mark Torgl

and butts can be difficult, you have to stretch the skin out sothe signature looks right.

What advice do you have for kids that are being bulliedtoday?A part of “Toxic Tutu” has to do with Bullying. Kids shouldnot let bullies get away with it no matter what—stand yourground and let someone know. I think often if a kid stands upto a bully, the bully often ends up not being so tough.

Tell us about your new Kickstarter project and how can weget involved? It started when I was pursued by the people of The MadMonster Party to be a celebrity at their convention in Char-lotte, North Carolina inMarch. I had neverdone a convention untilthis one, and my bestfriend from NYU and Idecided to document it.We created a fictional-ized story around themonster conventionbackdrop and continuedfilming at “Days of TheDead” Los Angeles andthen at ComiCon SanDiego where Lloyd andthe Troma Crew partici-pated. We are going tobe launching a Kick-starter campaign Octo-ber 18th for 30 days toraise funds to continuefilming and finish themockumentary project. So please everyone go to KickStarter.com and look up

“Toxic Tutu”—we have some great fun incentives for sup-porters. And even if you can’t make a pledge, please spreadthe word to anyone you know who is a Toxic Avenger fan,The world needs “Toxic Tutu”. Also, go to my Facebook fanpage at www.facebook.com/ToxicAvengerMarkTorgl andgive me a “Like”. We will also be updating our progressat www.toxictutu.com.

Q U E E N C I T Y S C R E A M Q U E E N

RYLI MORGAN

HOW DID YOU GET INTO ACTING? IT WAS A

LIFE-LONG DREAM. I ALWAYS WANTED TO

TRY IT BUT IT WAS MY HUSBAND MARK THAT

GAVE ME THE CONFIDENCE TO GO FOR IT.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST MOVIE? IT WAS A

FILM SHORT CALLED "DESPAIR".

WHAT IS YOU FAVORITE CHARACTER THAT

YOU HAVE PLAYED? NICOLE FROM "EXPEND-

ABLE" SHE WAS A VAMPIRE. WHO WOULD-

N'T WANT TO PLAY A SEXY VAMPIRE?

WHO WOULD YOU WANT TO PLAY YOU IN A

MOVIE OF YOUR LIFE? MILLA JOVOVICH.

PEOPLE HAVE SAID WE BARE A RESEM-

BLANCE.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PROJECTS COMING UP?

YES. MY HUSBAND MARK AND I ARE

CURRENTLY WORKING ON A NEW THRILLER,

"BUNDLE OF NERVES". YOU CAN ALWAYS

KEEP UP WITH WHAT’S GOING ON WITH ME

BY VISITING LIFEOFRYLI.COM AND MY

FACEBOOK PAGE facebook.com/ryli.morgan