AHS: 13 Official Podcast Episode 2: Emma Roberts and Joey Pollari

EMMA ROBERTS: Hi everyone, I'm Emma Roberts, and right now we are on the set of AHS 13, literally. I'm about to go film a scene. But before that, I've got the amazing Joey Pollari here with me to chat and give you all some fun and exciting insight into this season of American Horror Story.

JOEY POLLARI: Happy to see you too. We are about to have our first scene together.

EMMA ROBERTS: We're about to have, like, a whole episode together.

JOEY POLLARI: We're about to have a huge-

EMMA ROBERTS: Yeah, we're about to have- ...

JOEY POLLARI: moment ...

EMMA ROBERTS: a huge moment.

JOEY POLLARI: The biggest.

EMMA ROBERTS: I hope it's huge. Um, no, I, I mean, I, I hope it's fun. Um, but it's ... Honestly, when I read that episode, I was really excited, because we keep passing each other in the hallway.

Our dressing rooms are next to each other.

JOEY POLLARI: Yes.

EMMA ROBERTS: But we've never had a scene together, and I had said to the writers, I said, "I would just like some romance. Like, we, we're killing people. We're doing spells."

JOEY POLLARI: Right.

EMMA ROBERTS: "We need some romance." And be careful what you wish for-

JOEY POLLARI: Yeah ...

EMMA ROBERTS: because Madison gets her romance, all right.

Okay. Here's what ... What do I want, what do I wanna know? How has it been on this for you? And also, was your first foray into Ryan Lizzie Borden, I believe?

JOEY POLLARI: No, it was actually- Or- ... the first, the third season of Monster- Yeah ... when I played Anthony Perkins.

EMMA ROBERTS: Oh my God, that's right.

JOEY POLLARI: Yes. Okay. It was my first in-person audition in four years, and, and then got a call, and there was my phone rang, and it said, "Maybe Ryan Murphy."

So-

EMMA ROBERTS: The iPhone is so fun sometimes.

JOEY POLLARI: Yeah. It was something like that, completely.

EMMA ROBERTS: That's amazing.

JOEY POLLARI: Wait, so how did you get into the Ryan Murphy-verse? What was the first thing? Was it Coven?

EMMA ROBERTS: It was-

JOEY POLLARI: Or you did Scream Queens?

EMMA ROBERTS: Well, it was ... No, it was Coven, actually. Wow. Um, funny enough, Ryan also called me. It was on a landline.

That's how long ago this was. Um, but my landline rang, and it was Ryan, and he was like, "How would you feel about, you know, doing a few episodes on American Horror Story this year? You would play a witch who's an actress." And I was like, "Yes." And I flew down to New Orleans, and then I ended up staying for the whole season, and then Freak Show, and then Scream Queens, so I kind of, I, I never really left.

JOEY POLLARI: I'm actually watching, I'm in the middle of watching Coven right now, and you've just come back to life.

EMMA ROBERTS: Oh, good. Yeah, that was

JOEY POLLARI: like- Iconic. You know what my favorite line is so far?

EMMA ROBERTS: What?

JOEY POLLARI: Um, "I get it, bitch, you're clairvoyant." I think that's a great-

EMMA ROBERTS: That's the

JOEY POLLARI: underrated-

EMMA ROBERTS: You know what? It's, it's very good.

JOEY POLLARI: I use it for everything.

EMMA ROBERTS: It's, it's, it's very good. I'm gonna start saying that.

JOEY POLLARI: What's your favorite line that Madison has said?

EMMA ROBERTS: Well, see, I like the stuff that people don't think of, think is funny, like when the ... In Coven, when she, like, descends to hell one time, and they're like, "What was your hell like?"

And she's like

CLIP: It was horrible. I was stuck on a network musical. It was a live version of The Sound of Music. I wasn't even the lead. I was Liesl.

EMMA ROBERTS: Like, like it was just, it, and like I thought that was- That is hell ... so funny, and literally everyone's like, "Okay, like, can you say your line quicker?" And like, didn't even, didn't even, like no one-

JOEY POLLARI: Get to it.

Get to it ...

EMMA ROBERTS: no one cared. The fans are gonna love what the fans are gonna love, and you kinda just gotta, gotta, gotta rock with it.

JOEY POLLARI: I am looking forward to seeing the fan reaction to all this.

EMMA ROBERTS: I'm excited to see their reaction to you.

JOEY POLLARI: Yeah. I, I'll be curious what, whether they see in, uh, in any, in any which way.

Yeah.

EMMA ROBERTS: Well, there's a l- there's many ways that we're, they were gonna see you this season.

JOEY POLLARI: Yeah, that's true. It's quite a range.

CLIP: Hi. Uh, my name's Ben DeSoto. I'm here to see the Caregiver. Yes. We've been waiting for you. 13th floor. 13th floor. 13th floor. 13th floor. 13th floor

EMMA ROBERTS: So, how did ... You did, um, Monster.

JOEY POLLARI: I did Monster.

EMMA ROBERTS: Twice, right?

JOEY POLLARI: Yeah, I did twice, and I just came off of, uh, Lizzie Borden, the new season.

EMMA ROBERTS: Who did you play in Lizzie Borden?

JOEY POLLARI: I played the, um, psychotic uncle.

EMMA ROBERTS: We love.

JOEY POLLARI: We love that, and then this happened.

EMMA ROBERTS: But how did this come ... Was this just, like, another, a phone call, or was this-

JOEY POLLARI: It was a phone call.

So I'd had a call from my managers, and they said, "Ryan is gonna call you for another job," and I didn't know what it was. And then he didn't say when, and then a day later, 9:30 at night, I was cooking and I got a call from Ryan and I said, "Oh, Ryan, how are you? I was just thinking about you. I was watching a movie, uh, that made me think of you."

And he said, "Oh, what was it? A, a Fellini movie?" And I said, "No, no, no. It was actually this Jean Rollin movie called Fascination, and it had to do with vampires." Yeah. Liberty and vampires.

EMMA ROBERTS: Yeah.

JOEY POLLARI: And the aesthetic of this I thought was perfect for Ryan. I said, "You have to see this movie." He, I didn't let him get a word out edgewise, and said, "You have to see this movie.

It's, like, perfectly calibrated for your aesthetic." He said, "Yeah, that's great. Anyway, I wanted to tell you that I'm gonna ha- put you on the new season of American Horror Story." And I dropped my spatula and I said, "Are you kidding me?" And he said, "All your scenes are with Jessica Lange. You're gonna, it's gonna shoot in New York," and he gave me the breakdown of everything, and I just, I just said, "Are you kidding me?"

EMMA ROBERTS: Dream come true.

JOEY POLLARI: Dream come true. Wait, so I wanna ask about your involvement with season 13. When did you find out about this, um, from Ryan that he wanted to bring Madison back?

EMMA ROBERTS: Well, I mean, there's always been, like, there's been talk over the last year of season 13, you know, 'cause obviously 13, lucky 13, unlucky 13.

Yes. You know, I just ... Like, 13 is a very special number for a show like this. So- Absolutely ... you know, been hearing about it, and then, um, Ryan, you know, said to me, he's like, "The witches are coming back." And he said, "All of them. So, you know, y- will you come back as Madison?" And I was like, "Of course, duh." Um, I was happy to bring back Madison.

I'm like, I, I love- Yeah ... playing this character. I feel like it's always, it's always fun.

JOEY POLLARI: And you are so good at it. Thank you. I, I ... No, truly. Every once in a while I'll come early to set, I've got something later, and they're shooting over at Robichaux's Academy, and I will sit and watch, and I'll watch Emma work and-

EMMA ROBERTS: He was just sitting over there, and I was like, "What are you doing here?"

Yeah. "Why are you sitting here watching us?"

JOEY POLLARI: Taking notes on how these people do it. It's so good. You're, I, I mean, so great on the show. Thank you. Yeah. Very much.

EMMA ROBERTS: You're so sweet.

JOEY POLLARI: And what did it feel like getting back into, like, the wardrobe again?

EMMA ROBERTS: I'm having a lot of good memories here. I mean, it's so fun to be back together with, like, Billie Lourd, um, who's like a sister to me at this point.

Yeah. It's crazy how when we met on Scream Queens we were, like, 20-something years old, and now we both have kids, and we're like, "How did we go from, like-" tromping around New Orleans together in our 20s, and now we, like, are, like, can't get together 'cause we have our kids to right now, and that's- Amazing ... so it's just, it's so fun, and it's so fun to see Sarah.

Yes. I mean, she's my queen, and I absolutely love everything she does, and Jessica obviously is just iconic. Like, I could watch Jessica and Angela just all day. Like, the way they work is just, it- it's, I mean, sometimes I forget my line 'cause I'm just, like, watching them.

JOEY POLLARI: Oh, I had the same experience for the first week that I was working with them.

EMMA ROBERTS: That's what I was just gonna ask, 'cause you have a lot of amazing stuff with Jessica, so tell me, like, what was, what was it like when you first started working together? Are you obsessed?

JOEY POLLARI: Uh-

EMMA ROBERTS: Do you love?

JOEY POLLARI: Yeah, I mean, we're both from Minnesota, and we're both Finnish, so, uh, I thought that she would at least be friendly.

Yes. Minnesota nice, as we, as we say. Uh, and the first scene was the scene in which I meet her in the show. Yeah. So it was perfectly timed. I had never seen her play Constance Langdon. I had never watched any of American Horror Story. So she walked up to me and all of a sudden, this Southern drawl came out.

I said, "Oh, the character is Southern?"

CLIP: Sorry. I'm the nighttime attendant. It's nice to meet you

Are you all right, ma'am?

It, it's just this winter light with that swarthy complexion for an instant You look just like a boy I used to know

JOEY POLLARI: And of course, the, my character Ben doesn't know anything about her either, so, uh, it, it works- Kinda worked ... works well.

EMMA ROBERTS: Great.

JOEY POLLARI: But watching her work is, is incredible. I will go over to Video Village where we have our writers, and I will say, "This is the best day of my life," almost every time.

Because you will see her start doing something, do a line. Like, she has a line in this show in which she says, "Signs and wonders."

CLIP: Signs and wonders.

JOEY POLLARI: And she'll do it normally once, and then on the second take, you'll see her thinking in between a take, and then she'll do it again, and she'll go, "Signs and wonders."

And then third take comes around and she goes bigger. I mean, she really knows how to stretch an impulse-

EMMA ROBERTS: It's really cool ...

JOEY POLLARI: and really see. It's amazing to watch her work.

EMMA ROBERTS: It's incredible.

JOEY POLLARI: Yeah. I just- What's it like working with Sarah? I mean, I've not worked with Sarah, I've not worked with Billy.

EMMA ROBERTS: Really?

JOEY POLLARI: No. It's, it's about to be tonight is the first time that I'm going to Robicheaux.

EMMA ROBERTS: You're, oh, you're working with all of us tonight.

JOEY POLLARI: Yes, for the first time.

EMMA ROBERTS: I forgot.

JOEY POLLARI: Yes.

EMMA ROBERTS: Wow. Buckle up. Today's, today in particular, I feel like everyone's, everyone's really in funny spirits this evening.

JOEY POLLARI: Yes, funny spirits.

EMMA ROBERTS: Um, I mean, working with Sarah's amazing 'cause she, I've never seen someone able to act the way she acts and be so committed and amazing, but then in between takes, be able to converse like a normal person and be your friend. Like, the way she can snap in and out and that I saw her do, you know, 12, 13 years ago when we did Coven the f- the first time, and I really, like, learned that from her.

I feel like it's- Mm-hmm ... like, I, I feel like you can, you can d- you can be good and also still have a sense of humor, and, like, have relationships with your co-stars, which I think, you know, is, is so nice when you can do that. I know. 'Cause it's hard when you get, like, swallowed up by a role and you can't get, you know, have any reprieve from that all day.

JOEY POLLARI: Yeah. I mean, uh, this character's so intense. Ben is always in anxiety and- Yeah ... always fearful, that I was worried about ... 'Cause usually I'm, like, someone who just drops it and wants to hang out with the crew. Um, but it's necessary or else you just kinda, I don't know, it's too, too dark. Um, when you look at, like, AHS and the history of, like, all this and how successful it has been, what do you think it is that makes it so beloved by fans?

EMMA ROBERTS: First of all, when it, when it started, there was nothing like it, and even now there's nothing like it. I think a lot people try to recreate it, um, in certain ways, but, you know, at least for me, like Ryan, like, invented the anthology idea and the idea of, like, casting actors in different roles every season and, like, reinventing a story but within a genre.

Like, I don't, I don't know who else does that the way Ryan does or who else did that before. Um- Yeah ... and it's just, the, the worlds that he builds are insane. I mean, I remember watching the first episode of the first season live on TV, and I was like, "Ugh, I would do anything to be on that show." I'm like, "I love that show."

And I was such a big fan. Wow. And that's when they asked me to be on it and to play a witch, because I've been practicing to be a witch my whole life.

JOEY POLLARI: Really?

EMMA ROBERTS: Yes.

JOEY POLLARI: What are your practices?

EMMA ROBERTS: Well, I just, like, my mom used to say she'd come into my room when I was little, and I'd be like, "Mom, I'm doing a spell.

Get out." But yeah, I just, I, I was always doing, like, the herbs and the oil and then going out- Oh, cool ... and, like, holding it up to the full moon. I used to make a lot of full moon water as a kid.

JOEY POLLARI: Wow.

EMMA ROBERTS: Yeah, yeah. You know what? When we started doing this show, I brought salt, sea salt. I had to salt the set and sage the set.

JOEY POLLARI: No wonder we're all so safe.

EMMA ROBERTS: I mean, well, knock on wood. Ow, my knuckle.

JOEY POLLARI: Knock on wood. Do you have a, a favorite scene from this new season? Is there anything from this new season that you go, "Wow, I just can't wait for fans to see this," or this has been really exciting?

EMMA ROBERTS: Well, I'm very, I'm very excited for our episode.

JOEY POLLARI: Me too.

EMMA ROBERTS: It's just, it's such a fun- like unexpected episode, especially I feel like in context to the rest of the season.

JOEY POLLARI: Oh, yes.

EMMA ROBERTS: Um-

JOEY POLLARI: It really, it takes a swerve and you've got so much great narration.

EMMA ROBERTS: What I love about this show has always been, uh, like this element of humor. Like no matter how dark it gets, there is an element of humor somewhere in the show, and I feel like, um, Madison gets to kind of be that this season a lot and, and that's, that's fun.

CLIP: What? What do you sense?

A harbinger. Of our doom

So much terrifying, vengeful death.

It's probably global warming.

You're always so dramatic.

JOEY POLLARI: This is gonna be really fun.

EMMA ROBERTS: So I heard that you hadn't watched American Horror Story before. Is that true?

JOEY POLLARI: That is true.

EMMA ROBERTS: When did you start watching American Horror Story, what season did you start with, and what did you think?

JOEY POLLARI: I had seen two episodes of Asylum, because a friend

EMMA ROBERTS: of- The scariest one, by the way.

JOEY POLLARI: Yes, it's-

EMMA ROBERTS: It's, it's actually a fright.

JOEY POLLARI: Yes. And I had seen, over the years, I mean, this show is so iconic and so many viral moments, that I've actually would start watching Asylum or watching Coven, and be like, "I've seen this scene." Uh, Jessica's got a great scene in, um, in Asylum where she's talking about the squirrel that she didn't take care of.

I had seen that scene. It was unbelievable to watch in real time. But then I started to watch Coven because w- we have a scene together, and I thought, "I, I gotta, I gotta see something about this show. I think it's not great to be unprepared." So I started watching it, a- and almost immediately, I feel kind of ashamed to say this, but I was like, "Wait, this show's kind of iconic."

"Wait, these characters are great. They're so good." And then it got me really psyched to, um, to work with you and, and have this- Thank you ... this episode together. I just think you're so good as this character, so- Thank you ... I was, yeah, beyond psyched. And then plus, I had been over to the set. They have the full reconstruction of the Robicheaux Academy.

EMMA ROBERTS: It's crazy.

JOEY POLLARI: It's absolutely insane.

EMMA ROBERTS: When I walked in, I was like- Yeah ... I, I was tripping out a little bit, actually, because, I mean, even when we did in Apocalypse, like they didn't recreate it, like- Yes ... they didn't recreate anything really in the way that it's scaled this season. Like this season- Yeah ... is an exact replication, down to like they had like the paintings repainted for the walls.

JOEY POLLARI: Wow. It, it felt- Um ... crazy to watch the show- It's crazy ... and have almost a reverse experience, being like, "Wow, that really is exactly it."

EMMA ROBERTS: It's identical.

JOEY POLLARI: It's right over there.

EMMA ROBERTS: No, it's identical.

JOEY POLLARI: Wow. Amazing. Yeah. Rapid fire, uh, here. Uh, you're an avid reader, and we connect over books. What do you think Madison would be reading?

EMMA ROBERTS: Right now?

JOEY POLLARI: Yeah.

EMMA ROBERTS: Oh, God. Um, es- uh, Stephen King is too on the nose.

JOEY POLLARI: That's great.

EMMA ROBERTS: Um, so I'm gonna say My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler.

JOEY POLLARI: Whoa. Nice. Who is Madison's favorite actress?

EMMA ROBERTS: Um, I would say Winona Ryder, Shelley Duvall- Pff ... and Jennifer Coolidge.

JOEY POLLARI: Great trio.

EMMA ROBERTS: Yep.

JOEY POLLARI: What is Madison's favorite outfit?

EMMA ROBERTS: Um, she loves Herve Leger.

JOEY POLLARI: Pff. Iconic.

EMMA ROBERTS: Yeah.

JOEY POLLARI: Um, and what is one song from Madison's get ready playlist?

EMMA ROBERTS: She doesn't listen to music. I know. Sorry. All right. Well, this has been so fun. I-

JOEY POLLARI: So fun ...

EMMA ROBERTS: I heart you.

JOEY POLLARI: This episode's gonna be full of chemistry.

EMMA ROBERTS: Um, okay. Well, I see a producer actually waving me down, so we are being summoned back to set.

This was so fun. I hope you loved this just totally unhinged chat about this wild season of American Horror Story, and we love you guys.

JOEY POLLARI: We love you.

EMMA ROBERTS: Bye.