Evan Peters is no stranger to challenging roles, but his latest physical transformation in Ryan Murphy’s new series pushed him to a breaking point he didn’t expect. The actor, known for playing serial killers and disturbed characters, finally got to be the good guy in “The Beauty.” But being the hero came with a price: excruciating physical pain that was 100 percent authentic.
The FX sci-fi horror series, which dropped all 11 episodes on Hulu January 21, 2026, features Peters as FBI agent Cooper Madsen. He investigates a sexually transmitted virus that makes people physically perfect—before killing them in horrifying ways. When his character makes the risky decision to infect himself, Peters had to film some of the most physically demanding scenes of his career .
And the agony viewers see on screen? It was real.
“That pain is really, really real,” Peters told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published March 4, the same day the season finale aired . “There’s a take where I did bend and actually, I think I pulled my back. I was screaming like, ‘That’s real!’”
The Physical Toll of Becoming ‘Perfect’
The transformation sequences in “The Beauty” are not your standard TV moments. Peters worked extensively with stunt coordinators Mark Fichera and Jason Mello, who developed detailed movement plans that included wire work and contortionists .
Peters described the process as intense but strangely enjoyable. “It was hard, but interesting,” he said. “I’ve never done anything like that before, and I did not know I could do a backbend. I can’t ever do one again” .
The creative team spent significant time fine-tuning exactly how the transformations would look. Ryan Murphy, the show’s creator, had very specific notes throughout the process. Peters explained that Murphy’s main direction was simple but demanding: “pain, writhing pain, thirst and a fever that is unlike any you’ve ever had before” .
A Twist Nobody Saw Coming
The biggest surprise for Peters came when he learned what his transformation would actually produce. Unlike other characters who transformed into more beautiful adult versions of themselves, Cooper’s infection took a different path—he turned into a 12-year-old boy, played by actor Hudson Barry .
Peters admitted he had no idea this was coming. “I was like, ‘So, what are we gonna do? Who’s gonna play [me]? What’s happening?’” he recalled . When Murphy explained the plan, Peters was shocked but fully on board. “I was open to anything, and the fact that it was that was shocking and exciting” .
The actor found humor in the situation, especially regarding his character’s romantic storyline. “I think it’s funny, especially Jessica [Alexander]’s performance, after the love of her life turns into a little boy. So there’s a lot to play around with in there” .
Why This Role Was Different for Peters
For an actor who built his career playing dark, twisted characters across nine seasons of “American Horror Story” and won a Golden Globe for portraying Jeffrey Dahmer, getting to play a relatively normal person was a welcome change .
“I jumped at the opportunity to play somebody who is more normal. It was very hard,” Peters joked to the New York Post in January . Murphy specifically told Peters he wanted him to bring “Steve McQueen energy” to the role and simply be himself .
The role also gave Peters something he’d never really done before in a Ryan Murphy production: a genuine romantic storyline. “We had some really long action sequences. And then, I have this romantic storyline,” Peters told People magazine . “I’ve never really done that, especially in the Ryan world, so I was pretty thrilled to jump on board with this one” .
His character’s relationship with fellow FBI agent Jordan Bennett (first played by Rebecca Hall, then Jessica Alexander after her character’s transformation) became the emotional core of the series. Peters described Cooper as deeply motivated by love. “He loves her so much and he wants her to not explode,” Peters explained . “I think the love that he feels for her amplified the need to solve that case” .
Behind the Scenes of the Gruesome Effects
The physical demands of “The Beauty” went beyond just Peters’ painful backbend. The entire cast underwent extensive preparation for the show’s demanding action and transformation sequences.
Anthony Ramos, who plays an assassin in the series, revealed that fight scenes were often learned on the same day they were filmed. “We got there. It was the same thing, like we learned the fight that day,” Ramos told Bleeding Cool . The actors had minimal time to rehearse before performing complex physical sequences captured from multiple camera angles simultaneously .
Jeremy Pope, who plays a character who undergoes transformation himself, described how the physical preparation extended beyond just fight choreography. The cast did boxing training before production began . This proved essential because Murphy frequently changes things on set. “When Ryan gets in the room, they change on the day, so you must be ready to make those adjustments,” Pope explained .
For his transformation scene, Pope said Murphy shifted the creative direction completely. Instead of playing the body horror for pure pain, Murphy wanted it to feel more like “ballet”—about someone discovering their new body and what perfection might actually feel like .
The Finale Cliffhanger That Has Everyone Talking
The season 1 finale of “The Beauty,” which aired March 4, ended on a massive cliffhanger that left even its star curious about what comes next. After Cooper takes an experimental antidote to reverse his transformation into a child, he collapses, convulses, and disappears inside a grotesque cocoon-like sack .
A hand pushes out, but the camera never reveals the face. The horrified expressions of the other characters suggest something went terribly wrong .
Peters called it “a classic cliffhanger” and praised Murphy’s storytelling instincts . “I feel like it’s what Ryan does best. And it sets things up beautifully—forget the pun—for a season 2 to explore a world that has The Beauty unleashed on a larger scale” .
The actor admitted he’s just as eager as fans to see what happens next. “What’s happening next? I don’t know either. I’m curious to see,” he told TheWrap . “The comic book series takes place after The Beauty has been out in the world for a while, so this is kind of an origin story” .
What a Potential Season 2 Could Look Like
While FX and Hulu have not yet renewed “The Beauty” for a second season, Peters has thoughts about where the story could go . He pointed to elements from the original comic book series that haven’t been explored yet.
“There’s a lot of different aspects to it, like an Oprah type talk show host who has ‘The Beauty’ who is an advocate for people with ‘The Beauty’ and all these different things,” Peters told The Hollywood Reporter . “And then there’s this underground sex club where people are actively going down there to get infected with ‘The Beauty’” .
He expressed genuine curiosity about how Murphy would translate those elements to screen. “I’m curious to see how Ryan would develop that and put that on the screen, because it’ll be interesting”.
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A Career of Pushing Physical Boundaries
For Peters, the physical demands of “The Beauty” represent just one chapter in a career defined by transformative performances. From wearing a gimp suit in “American Horror Story” to embodying the mannerisms of real-life killers, he’s built a reputation for complete commitment to his roles .
But even for someone with his experience, the transformation scenes in this series stood out. The combination of wire work, contortionist-inspired movements, and Murphy’s exacting vision created something Peters had never attempted before.
The result, according to early reviews, is something special. Empire called the series “an absolute riot” and praised the “flamboyantly vile prosthetics and make-up effects used throughout” . The review warned viewers to “prepare to be sickened by The Beauty (and yourself, too, for enjoying this stupidly fun show in the first place)” .
Peters himself seems proud of what the team accomplished. Reflecting on the transformation sequences that caused him so much physical pain, he noted the careful craftsmanship behind each moment. “They worked very, very hard and were very specific, and Ryan was very specific and there was a lot of back and forth and fine-tuning of how it ended up being,” Peters told People . “It was a real journey and I think what you see on-screen is a pretty painful, violent transformation sequence” .
All 11 episodes of “The Beauty” season 1 are now streaming on Hulu in the US and on Disney+ in other regions. Fans will have to wait for official word on whether a second season will answer the questions raised by that final, haunting image of a hand emerging from the transformation cocoon.
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