Courtney B. Vance Manifested Working with Niecy Nash Again a Month BeforeGrotesquerieCasting: 'We Go Way Back' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Courtney B. Vance and Niecy Nash Betts at the premiere of FX’s Grotesquerie.Photo:John Nacion/Variety via Getty Images

Courtney B. Vance and Niecy Nash Betts at the premiere of FX’s Grotesquerie

John Nacion/Variety via Getty Images

Grotesquerieis far from the first timeCourtney B. VanceandNiecy Nash-Bettshave worked together, but it did come after the actors had a conversation explicitly about getting back onscreen.

Vance, 64, plays Marshall Tryon, Nash-Betts' character Lois Tryon’s husband, in theRyan Murphyseries — and he’s mostly seen in flashbacks as he’s comatose in a hospital bed in the present. The Tony winner tells PEOPLE that the actress' participation in the show is part of what sold him on the part.

Vance had Nash-Betts, 54 on his mind to work with her and again, and he recalls, “A month prior to me getting the call from Ryan, I saw her at an awards event. And I walked up to her and said, ‘We need to do something. It’s been long enough. Come on, let’s do something.'”

“And she said, ‘Okay, what’s wrong with that?’ And then this conversation happened with Ryan about a month or two later,” he says. “So no, I was completely happy. Completely.”

Niecy Nash as Lois Tryon, Courtney B. Vance as Marshall Tryon in ‘Grotesquerie’.Prashant Gupta/FX

Grotesquerie Niecy Nash as Lois Tryon, Courtney B. Vance as Marshall Tryon

Prashant Gupta/FX

Vance adds that Nash-Betts “made the set” as the cast’s leader.

“[She] makes the set nice and relaxed. That’s what she does. That’s what needs to happen,” he says. “You got to have a relaxed set.”

Courtney B. Vance as Marshall Tryon in ‘Grotesquerie’.Prashant Gupta/FX

Grotesquerie Courtney B. Vance as Marshall Tryon

Vance was also full of praise for another one of his costars:Travis Kelce.

“It was a nice choice,” Vance adds. “He was very wonderful. [It was] not a surprise, he was just prepared. He was just good. And if he needed some help, he was open.”

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New episodes ofGrotesquerieair Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX and streams the next day on Hulu.

source: people.com