Interview: Angela Bassett Spills about Life at the FREAK SHOW

Angela Bassett. If that name doesn't mean anything to you, shame! The Academy Award nominee has appeared in everything from HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK, to MEET THE ROBINSONS, and most recently, AMERICAN HORROR STORY: FREAK SHOW. Bassett appeared last season in COVEN as Marie Laveau, the voodoo queen, and returns this season as Desiree Dupree, the hermaphrodite. Recently, I got the opportunity to participate in a question and answer session with Angela Bassett, and she answered all of our burning questions about Desiree and the process behind making AMERICAN HORROR STORY.

Let's start with the elephant in the room: the third breast. It's Desiree's most physically defining characteristic, and it's clearly something that separates her from the pack, even though the pack is full of other so-called freaks. It's important that the makeup department get this right. So what was that process like? Step one: the mold. "I think it was three women and three men that took to cast a mold of my chest area and then attempt to get the color right," Bassett explains. Step two: application. That's pretty self-explanatory. Step three: the finishing touches. Bassett says that this is the trickiest part. "The tone is very difficult and it still takes about thirty, forty minutes to paint once it's applied."

And voila, Bassett's physical transformation into Desiree Dupree is complete! But what's it like walking around with a prosthetic on your chest while filming all day? "I was glad it wasn't on my face!" jokes Bassett. "The initial appliance was extremely heavy. It started out fine, but after about hour number twelve it became hot and heavy. I believe it started sagging...what is the point of having three sagging breasts?" Don't worry, the make-up artists and prosthetics department fixed that problem, changing the material from silicone to foam. All is well in Jupiter.

There. Now that that's out of the way, let's move on to chat about Desiree herself, shall we? In last week's episode, we learned a lot about Desiree's background, and she underwent a huge transformation: she learned that she is, in fact, not a hermaphrodite. Does this in any way impact how Desiree acts? After all, her entire identity, both as a freak and as a human being in general, was shaped around her physical characteristics. Bassett doesn't think it'll change much in the way of Desiree's actions, though. "I think she's comfortable with who she is, by and large. I think she's just had to find a way to work and survive in a world where she's always been reaching for what she calls normalcy. I don't think it's going to change and make her more feminine or whatever it might be."

If Desiree's physical identity isn't what influences her decisions and actions, then what is? "I think what influences that is how she's treated by others," explains Bassett. That makes sense, and we've seen that with other characters on FREAK SHOW as well. I'm thinking specifically about Twisty (rest in peace, big guy). The only reason he attempted suicide was because of the other carnival workers treated - or rather, mistreated - him. He was happy with who he was as a person, but he couldn't take the bullying.

Desiree, too, gets abused by her boyfriend, Dell. "I think there has come a point in last week's episode where he crossed the line of no return," says Bassett. Desiree loved him, but now she's beginning to realize that he's not the man she thought he was. "She thought she knew who he was, but she found out she was living with the enemy. There's something about him that was dishonest and disloyal. I think he crossed the line. Sometimes that happens and you can't go back."

Perhaps part of the reason Desiree takes the news of her full-fledged femininity so well, despite the fact that it will inevitably change her relationship with Dell even more, is due to the fact that she had a friend by her side in Ethel. Can we expect a deeper friendship to grow between them as the season goes on? "That's the thing: we don't really know what's coming in the subsequent episodes and the subsequent script," reveals Bassett. "That's the aspect of this that makes it a little bit frustrating and difficult for us. I'd like to be friends with Ethel. We were such arch-enemies last year - for all eternity, as it turned out!"

In case you were living under a rock and missed last season's AMERICAN HORROR STORY, Bassett is referring to her character's relationship with Kathy Bates' character in COVEN. Dauphine LaLaurie and Marie Laveau were the farthest thing from friends. That's one of the unique, and honestly really awesome, elements of AMERICAN HORROR STORY: the recurring ensemble cast. Although not a perfect element of the series as a whole (that's another opinion for another day), the ensemble cast is comprised of truly incredible actors and adds layers of depth to the series. "That was one of the prevailing reasons for me joining the cast," says Bassett. "I couldn't believe I'd get an opportunity to work with Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates in a lifetime, especially at the same time." I guess, in a way, you can say that the recurring cast is a bit like the traveling troupe of freak show performers. "This year I feel more part of the family," Bassett agrees. "I feel like I've been around the block at least once with them. I feel more comfortable. I was excited."

Desiree Dupree is much different, though, than Marie Laveau. Both characters are strong-willed and charismatic, but one's evil, and one's not. Is it a challenge to adjust to a new character after previously playing on the show in the past? "As an actor, you're used to putting on characters, taking them off, becoming someone else, doing your research," Bassett explains. "What I found most challenging about television and shedding one character and having to come up with another is that there's this lag time before I get to actually see what the characters are looking like, or sounding like, or how they're coming across." That makes sense. The frustration comes not from playing a new character, but from not having the luxury of knowing immediately how people are going to respond.

Speaking of not knowing things, want to hear an interesting little fact? When Angela Bassett signed on to FREAK SHOW, she didn't know what character she would be playing. "I didn't have a clue whatsoever what the part might be, what it might encompass when I signed on. I just knew that I had a great time the previous year, and if that was any indication, it was going to be a wild ride." And a wild ride it is.

But what was it like when she found out who exactly Desiree Dupree is? Bassett tells us: "I sat down to read it to see and I remember wondering, 'Now, how am I going to know who I am?' Then you read the stage direction: 'African-American woman in her 40s, hermaphrodite, three breasts, and a ding-a-ling.' You're like, 'Oh my gosh!' You immediately close the pages, and have to walk around, and process that for a minute."

In the end, Bassett figured out a way to own that role. Desiree has arguably the most confidence out of any of the freaks. She knows who she is, and she owns that. Sure, Desiree has her insecurities, but Bassett makes sure that everybody knows that deep down, Desiree is a strong woman who loves who she is.

What do you think about Bassett's take on Desiree Dupree? Who do you like better: Marie Laveau or Desiree? Tell us in the comments below or rack my brain on Twitter @CourtHenley!

Photo credit: FX/American Horror Story

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