Last Wednesday’s American Horror Story: Asylum took a crazy turn with Dr. Arden and Shelley. He attempted to sexually assault her, then when she rejected him, he took the extreme measure of amputating her legs. Shelley’s horrors have only just begun. Chloe Sevigny spoke with reporters about her time on the show and what’s coming up for Shelley.
What’s Shelley’s attitude going to be be now that she’s had both of her legs amputated?
I think she’s pretty pissed off. I think she feels pretty helpless and in the beginning you kind of like not … rooting for her. You think she’s this bad girl and then see her helping Evan’s character trying to escape and you realize that she’s pretty selfless in that regard. I think after she gets in the clutches of the evil doctor, you’re then kind of more rooting for her and hoping that she can escape or find a way out. So I think the character goes through a lot. The audience goes through a lot with the character.
Shelley’s billed as a nympho, but there’s a question of whether she’s addicted to it, or if she just likes it more than other people. What’s your take on that?
I don’t know if people truly are addicted to that. There’s so much talk about it as of late. I think that she was a little wild and her husband had it within his power to commit her … and once she’s in there, she kind of goes with it to come to who she is and how she identifies herself. So I think that she probably really likes sex. All the reaction, I don’t know if she’s quite a real nymphomaniac.
What challenges did you have acting with half legs?
Well, the prosthetic pieces that they put on made it impossible to straighten my legs, so I had to keep my legs bent all day and I had to be wheeled around in a wheelchair and I was feeling quite helpless. It was a strange feeling to have to need assistance to do lots of different things. And that was probably the most challenging part, feeling kind of helpless in that way.
What’s next ahead for her given the new disadvantage she has?
… her disadvantage has only increased. She becomes more and more helpless. It’s very tragic, actually.
You’ve had such an amazing career and had some really original and interesting roles in the past. How would you say this compares to them?
Compared to them, I’ve never done anything like this before, so I don’t know if it really compares. When you see what happens the next few weeks, it’s like it becomes a whole other thing. It was pretty new for me and that’s what made it so exciting and fun to do. I always want to try new things and … pretty cool.
What do you feel is it that attracts viewers to the series?
I think in general people like to be spooked out. I think horror movies have always done really well at the box office and it’s kind of a new thing on television. I think since Hitchcock and whatnot, there haven’t been that many scary shows, but like The Walking Dead was huge and now American Horror Story, I think just people are tapping into that.
Spoiler Alert: Sevigny talks specifically about what’s coming up for Shelley in the following two answers.
You mentioned that it’s going to get worse for Shelley, what else can you say about that?
I guess it’s kind of under wraps, but he transforms her into something else.
Is Shelley going to become one of these creatures?
She might be going in that direction.
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American Horror Story: Asylum airs on Wednesdays at 10pm ET on FX. Add it to your watch list for show reminders and more with the BuddyTV Guide App for iOS.
(Image courtesy of FX.)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Contributing Editor and Writer for Collider, BuddyTV, TV Fanatic, CliqueClack, and other publications. TV criticism, reviews, interviews with actors and producers, and other related content. Founder of TV Diehard.
