‘American Horror Story’: Ryan Murphy Admits He Was ‘Worried’ About This 1 Scene Between Evan Peters and Emma Roberts
Evan Peters is one of the only American Horror Story stars who has appeared in nearly every season of the anthology TV series, and he often filmed with his ex-girlfriend, Emma Roberts. Show creator Ryan Murphy revealed he was “worried” about shooting one scene between Roberts and Peters in season 3, frequently referred to by the show’s fandom as Coven. Here’s the scene and what Murphy and Peters said about it.
Evan Peters and Emma Roberts were in a relationship while filming ‘American Horror Story’
Evan Peters and Emma Roberts dated for several years, including while filming several seasons of American Horror Story together. The former couple actually met while working on the 2013 movie Adult World. But they didn’t start dating until filming had ended, despite admitting to having crushes on each other.
Roberts and Peters’ relationship started in 2012, and they got engaged in 2013. In 2013, Roberts was arrested for a domestic violence incident in Canada. Someone called the police to report a fight in the couple’s hotel room. When the police arrived, they observed that Peters had a bloody nose and a bite mark. Roberts had no visible injuries and was arrested. She was released a few hours later because Peters did not want to press charges (per TMZ).
The couple broke off their engagement in 2015, only to reconcile a few months later in 2016. But by March 2019, the two actors called it quits for good.
Both stars have appeared in other Ryan Murphy productions besides American Horror Story. Peters played Jeffrey Dahmer in Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and Stan Bowes in Pose, while Roberts starred as Chanel Oberlin in Scream Queens.
Ryan Murphy said he was ‘worried’ about this one ‘American Horror Story’ scene between Evan Peters and Emma Roberts
In season 3 of American Horror Story, Evan Peters portrayed a frat boy Frankenstein and Emma Roberts played a powerful, self-centered witch. The real-life couple had to film a few uncomfortable scenes for the show, including a threesome with co-star Taissa Farmiga and a murder scene in which Peters strangled Roberts to death.
In January 2014, American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy said he was “worried” about shooting the strangling scene because Peters and Roberts were “madly in love.”
“I was worried about Evan having to strangle Emma, because they’re deeply, madly in love and dating [in real life], but they went for it and had a great time doing it,” Murphy told Entertainment Weekly. “I was thinking that must have been so weird for him to kill his fiancée at work.”
But Murphy said the two actors handled the scene like pros. “I think they both approached it in a very respectful way from the point of view of the characters. I like that whole Frankenstein ending.”
The ‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ star said the strangling scene was ‘kinda fun’
In February 2014, Evan Peters opened up to Vulture about filming the strangling scene with his then-girlfriend Emma Roberts.
“It was like me and Emma were in an acting class, doing a scene,” he explained. “We were both so gung-ho about it and ready to get into it.”
He added, “It was almost kinda fun; we were feeding off each other. On my close-up, she’s like, ‘Ow, too hard, too hard. You’re getting too into it.’ I was like, ‘Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to.’”
How to get help: In the U.S., call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788.
