‘Pose’: The Reason ‘American Horror Story’ Star Evan Peters Got Cut From the Show Is Revealed
When Pose premiered in 2018, it introduced us to a lot of new faces, like Mj Rodriguez and Angelica Ross. But one person fans were already familiar with is American Horror Story star Evan Peters. Peters starred on the TV show as Stan Bowes, a married businessman who had an affair with Angel Evangelista (Indya Moore). But he disappeared after the first season. In an interview, Pose co-creator Steven Canals spoke on Peters’ role and why he was cut from the series.
The reason Evan Peters left ‘Pose’, revealed
Remember, Stan was last seen in the season 1 finale when Angel broke up with him. Despite the split, many fans always hoped he would return. But it never happened.
Explaining his exit, Canals told Digital Spy that “the show’s focus shifted as it found its feet.”
“It’s a couple of things. I think one is, with any television show, it’s always finding its way,” he explained. “Very rarely, even with classic television, are those first couple of episodes exactly what the show becomes.”
“In most shows, you see a shift. Once you start writing and filming the show, and especially once it starts airing, you see what works and what doesn’t work. So you make adjustments,” Canals continued.
The show’s producers decided to focus on their most popular characters, particularly Blanca
Once producers realized Blanca Evangelista (Rodriguez) and her children were the core of the show, they decided to cut Stan and the other Wall Street men, including James Van Der Beek’s character.
“What we found as the season went on is that the real beating heart of the show is Blanca, and her relationship to her kids,” Canals went on. “It was all about the House of Evangelista, and how they’re surviving. And that’s the thing that the audience seemed to be super invested in. So it just made sense to us that, moving forward, that is where all the attention should go.”
“Which isn’t to say that we didn’t do really great narrative things that first season, because I actually really love the Angel/Stan storyline,” he added. “That’s a very real experience that I’ve heard from a lot of trans women about, that they’ll date these men, and they’re kept in a corner, or the men are not proud of them. So that storyline was really important.”
Pose began airing its third and final season on Sunday, May 2. This season jumps from the early ’90s to 1994. Canals previously told TV Guide that it’s “much of the same” thematically, but there are “big” changes for certain characters.
One big thing is Blanca finds love. A large part of Blanca’s arc for the season is the push and pull of being both a partner and a mom. How do you balance all these multiple roles? Blanca has always been so devoted and focused on her children…She’s finally focusing on her herself and going for her goals in a way we’re really never seen for her. We’ll be exploring the ripple effects [of that choice]. How does that then impact her children?
Fans can watch Pose on Sundays at 10 p.m. on FX.
