SPOILER ALERT: If you have not seen Nov. 14's episode of "American Horror Story" and want to be surprised, read no further.
Zachary Quinto has played the villain before, most famously as Sylar on NBC's "Heroes."
But in FX's "American Horror Story: Asylum," he got a chance to establish his character, Dr. Oliver Thredson, as a good guy -- or, at least, as a sane guy among patients and their abusive keepers in an insane asylum -- before pulling the rug out from under viewers' expectations.
In the Nov. 14 episode, Thredson was revealed to be Bloody Face, a serial killer of women whose crimes authorities attribute to new Briarcliff Manor resident Kit Walker (Evan Peters).
Quinto appeared in the first season of "American Horror Story" as a different character. So did his co-stars, Jessica Lange and Peters. ("AHS" was renewed earlier this month for a third season, but so far Lange is the only actor attached to return as yet another different character.)
Quinto, who is probably best-known for re-creating the role of Spock in J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" reboot -- the sequel, "Star Trek: Into Darkness," will be in theaters May 17 -- said he knew from the beginning about Thredson's true nature.
"It was part of the conversation that I had with (executive producer) Ryan (Murphy) about me coming back to the second installment of the show," Quinto said in a recent teleconference with reporters. "I felt like my responsibility became to create a character that people could trust, or at least trust initially, and have some hope that perhaps he is actually the one voice of reason and sanity within this chaotic world. So it was actually more exciting for me to know from the beginning. It gave me more to play with and more to hold back and more secrets to keep."
Quinto said that opportunity to build up the character in one direction before the reveal set this particular role apart from past villains he's played.
"Any time an actor revisits territory that they've been in before, it can be a source of trepidation, as it was for me," Quinto acknowledged. "But part of the reason that I loved what the opportunity stood for was that I got to know, going in, I got to really build something. With 'Heroes,' that character was built before I was ever attached to it. There were eight episodes of anticipation that were built before you met Gabriel Gray in 'Heroes,' but I had no participation in that.
"For me, it was really exciting to get to go in and having all the information, and actually be that part of the process of creating a character," he said. "That, to me, was a difference. That, to me, was something that I thought, 'Yes, that makes sense,' and it also has a similar structure to the journey that I had on 'Heroes,' at least the introduction or the reveal, as they say, which proved very effective in that scenario, and I felt I could really also serve this story in this particular innovation as well."
Quinto said he liked that his Thredson character is more grounded -- no superpowers -- than Sylar/Gabriel Gray on "Heroes" and that "AHS" offers actors an opportunity to play a role for a limited period of time.
On most TV shows, actors sign multiyear contracts that lock them in. But because "AHS" tells a different story in each 13-episode season, actors just have to commit to a role for a few months of filming.
"It's attractive in a different way for somebody that's used to doing features and used to having more flexibility with their schedules," Quinto said.
A subsequent episode, "The Origins of Monstrosity," delved into the roots of the characters in "Asylum," including Thredson.
"A lot of things will become clearer and probably even more disturbing in the next couple of weeks," Quinto said.
That includes the motive behind Bloody Face's killing spree.
"It all traces back to one source of trauma that then sort of branches out to include all of these unfortunate women," Quinto said. "The storytelling structure of 'Asylum' is really going to pay off in a really big way. All of the questions that people have, and that the episodes that are airing right now are generating, will definitely be answered. That's my instinct, at least, having read up through almost the end now."
jamespinkerton posted at 10:45 am on Sat, Dec 1, 2012.
I was really surprised that Quinto’s character is Bloody Face, but it’s really taken the series to a new level of terror. The fact that he crafted his character with knowledge that he’s the serial killer made it that much shocking for the big revelation. I thought that Thredson was the one glimmer of hoper for Kit and Lana, but I was incredibly mistaken. I just caught up with the past few episodes of AHS this week since they were recorded through my DISH Hopper. Compared to my last DVR, the larger hard drive space I have now lets me save and keep up with more shows without needing to delete others when I work nights at DISH. I can’t wait to see what more learn about Bloody Face as we get closer to the season finale.