The Shards star says not meeting Bret Easton Ellis actually helped his performance

The Shards has finally made its way to our screens with Igby Rigney stepping into his first leading television role as Bret. This is a fictionalized version of author Bret Easton Ellis, adapted by Ryan Murphy from Ellis' 2023 novel of the same name.

As for the story, the FX series follows a teenage Bret during the 1980s in Los Angeles. He is busy balancing high school friendships, his hidden s*xuality, and the growing fear surrounding a serial killer targeting students.

While the plot is rooted in Ellis' work and draws from his own experiences, Rigney revealed that he never actually met the author while preparing for the role. Yes, you are the right one. Instead of seeing this as a setback, the actor revealed that it worked in his favor.

He explained in an interview that distance from the author allowed him to stay focused on Ryan Murphy's version. This also made sure that he's not just mirroring Ellis himself, so that the story fits into the television style and the makers' vision as well.

More details below!

Why The Shards star believes not meeting Bret Easton Ellis helped him

In one of his latest interviews, Igby Rigney was asked whether he had the chance to meet Bret Easton Ellis while preparing to play a fictionalized version of the author in The Shards. The main cast member revealed that he never met Ellis:

"No. I mean, he’s been involved with the crafting of the character, but he’s been working with Ryan primarily. I’ve never gotten to meet him."

While Bret Easton Ellis was involved in making this FX series, he primarily worked with Ryan Murphy. And this actually worked for the actor, as not meeting the author gave him a clearer path into the role. Rigney added:

"... . I didn’t have access to Bret, and I don’t have access to whatever information I could have potentially learned from that, so I could just let that piece go and really focus on what Ryan was giving us on the day."

Without direct conversations with Ellis, Igby Rigney wasn't trying to absorb personal stories or details that existed beyond the scripts. He also didn't feel the pressure to recreate the author based on private interactions or firsthand memories for The Shards.

How Igby Rigney prepared to play Bret in The Shards

Even though Igby Rigney never met the author of The Shards, he put considerable effort into understanding the person behind the character. He opened up about his audition process and said that Murphy asked if he had read the book.

Rigney said he hasn't read the book, and the series creator then encouraged him to read the novel before returning for the next round. Murphy said:

"Great, that was awesome. I’d love to see you again, but go read the book. You must read the book before I see you next."

Following that advice, Rigney turned to the audiobook, which is narrated by Ellis himself. Listening to the author became one of the ways he familiarized himself with Bret's voice in The Shards, but he didn't stop there. The actor also tracked down an interview Ellis gave in his early twenties.

He paid attention to every detail, like the way Ellis spoke and more. Igby then worked closely with Murphy to ensure that the series turned out the way the makers had planned it.

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