Evan Peters Said He Was ‘Shocked’ That He ‘Walked Away Alive’ After Playing Kai Anderson in ‘American Horror Story’
Evan Peters has opened up about playing the challenging role of Kai Anderson on American Horror Story, and he revealed that he was “shocked” to walk away “alive” after filming. Here’s what Peters and show creator Ryan Murphy said about the role and how the actor recovered from portraying the murderous cult leader.
Evan Peters played cult leader Kai Anderson on ‘American Horror Story’ season 7
Season 7 of American Horror Story is known as Cult, and it takes place in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 presidential election. Evan Peters, one of the only actors who has appeared in nearly every season of the anthology TV series, starred as the blue-haired cult leader Kai Anderson.
As the season goes on, Kai’s character gets darker and darker and darker as he ascends to power. He goes from running for city council to running for the Senate, bolstered by a following of fanatics who carried out his every order – including gruesome murders.
Along with Kai Anderson, Peters played several different famous cult leaders throughout the season, including Charles Manson, Jim Jones, and David Koresh. “We examine how those people rise to power and why people followed them, when we can look at what happened and they’re all such idiots,” show creator Ryan Murphy said during a Q&A at the Fox Lot (per Collider). “But for some reason, there was something going on in the culture, at that time, where people were so disenfranchised that they were like, ‘I’m going to follow you, Charles Manson, and I’m going to do whatever you say.’”
Evan Peters said he was ‘shocked’ that he ‘walked away alive’ after playing cult leader Kai Anderson on ‘American Horror Story’
Actor Evan Peters opened up about portraying Kai Anderson on American Horror Story: Cult. He revealed that while the filming experience was “fun,” he was shocked that he got out of it “alive.”
“I had a great time playing Kai Anderson because I got to play six roles in one season,” Peters said (via AP Archive). “Which was incredible and incredibly challenging and daunting, but it was really fun. And I sort of, I was sort of shocked that I walked away alive doing it.”
He added, “So it was a great experience, and it was a big role in the show, and there was a lot on my shoulders… It was definitely a life-changing experience for me.”
Show creator Ryan Murphy revealed it took the actor 2 years to recover from the dark role
In 2019, show creator Ryan Murphy revealed that Cult was his favorite season of American Horror Story, partly because of Evan Peters’ “criminally underrated” performance as Kai Anderson.
“This was my favorite season,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “… I really loved Evan’s performance so much, and so did Sarah [Paulson]. We still talk about it. Like once a week about how good he is? Evan is CRIMINALLY underrated in this role.”
Murphy shared that Peters “really suffered” for the role, and it took him two years to recover from the season. “He really suffered while making it, it took him I don’t know… two years to recover?” he said. “Evan and I and Emma and Sarah and Holland Taylor had Thanksgiving together that year right after filming, and I remember Sarah and I kept feeding Evan food, trying to nourish him and make him feel better.”
He added, “I really admired the dedication and the discipline he delivered… Everyone was on fire this season, electric and tortured and combustible. Just like we all were that year after the 2016 election.”
