What a difference a day makes.
It may have felt like the Emmys red carpet took place in the ninth circle of hell, thanks to record high temperatures Sunday in L.A. But the underworld vibe was undeniable last night, despite the mercury dropping into the balmy 80s — Emma Roberts, Nick Jonas, and other key members of the cast of Fox’s Scream Queens gathered at the Kappa Kappa Tau sorority (technically the Wilshire Ebell Theatre) for the scary-funny show's premiere. To capture the vibe of Ryan Murphy's campy new horror comedy about sorority gals being hunted by a serial killer dressed in devil garb (“bubblegum splashed with blood,” as Murphy puts it), there was ominous red lighting, centerpieces stabbed with bloody kitchen knives, and a collection of men in red devil costumes handing out pink lemonade and posing for selfies with Lea Michelle.
“Yesterday was so hot that everyone thought they were going to pass out or die,” Emmy nominee Niecy Nash told Refinery29 before the screening. (She plays a bumbling security guard in Scream Queens.) “But this group of people goes to work every day and actually has to fear for their fictional lives. Ryan keeps everything so secret, that every episode could be your last. You never know when you might go. That Red Devil over there is coming for everyone.”
The series pays homage to '80s slasher flicks, racking up a high body count in the pilot alone. And, given that the show doesn’t do anything in moderation (15 furs were written into the budget), there is a strong chance that many of the characters won’t be breathing by episode 13. So, we asked if them how they'd like see their alter egos picked off.
Emma Roberts (Chanel Oberlin, HBIC and president of KKT): “Death by stiletto. I want a stiletto to the head.”
Abigail Breslin (Chanel #5, Chanel's minion and KKT member): “This topic actually came up the other day on set. I think it would super chill if my Chanel drowned in a giant bottle of Chanel No. 5.”
Lea Michele (Hester, KKT pledge): “Singing on a stage, of course.”
Niecy Nash (campus security guard Denise): “Making love and drinking champagne. I said that so fast, you’d think I’ve thought about it on several occasions.”
Keke Palmer (Zayday, KKT pledge): “I want to go by knife. But I want a very specific style of stabbing. I want someone to stab me from the front and I want to catch it and try to stop the knife. And maybe it will seem like I am fighting them off, but then you see the blood start to come out of my mouth as I gasp and finally fall back with my hands still on the big knife. That’s dramatic!”
Skyler Samuels (Grace, KKT pledge): “I think I want to go out in a really epic way, something unusual and unseen. I am definitely afraid of heights, which we learned doing one of the episodes. I had to climb a tower, and I was like, ‘If anybody’s taking notes, this really scares Skyler.’ So maybe Grace dies from something height-related. Something dramatic and memorable. On Scream Queens, you go out with a bang, literally and figuratively.”
Billie Lourd (Chanel #3, Chanel's minion, KKT member): “I mean, I love a Death Becomes Her vibe. Anything gruesome. Shoot me, make me explode, cut my head, and let it roll down some pretty stairs. Corinthian marble. And, I've got to be wearing a fur. And I’d love if there were sparkles on the stairs that my head falls down. Like, I leave a trail of blood and glitter. That’s the dream.”
Lucien Laviscount (Earl Grey, golf bro/frat boy): “Straight up, if I was going to get killed, I’d have Chad Radwell [BMOC, played by Glen Powell] sitting in front of me, a belt wrapped around my neck, and my foot in a bucket of ice. The rest I will leave to your imagination.”
Abigail Breslin (Chanel #5, Chanel's minion and KKT member): “This topic actually came up the other day on set. I think it would super chill if my Chanel drowned in a giant bottle of Chanel No. 5.”
Lea Michele (Hester, KKT pledge): “Singing on a stage, of course.”
Niecy Nash (campus security guard Denise): “Making love and drinking champagne. I said that so fast, you’d think I’ve thought about it on several occasions.”
Keke Palmer (Zayday, KKT pledge): “I want to go by knife. But I want a very specific style of stabbing. I want someone to stab me from the front and I want to catch it and try to stop the knife. And maybe it will seem like I am fighting them off, but then you see the blood start to come out of my mouth as I gasp and finally fall back with my hands still on the big knife. That’s dramatic!”
Skyler Samuels (Grace, KKT pledge): “I think I want to go out in a really epic way, something unusual and unseen. I am definitely afraid of heights, which we learned doing one of the episodes. I had to climb a tower, and I was like, ‘If anybody’s taking notes, this really scares Skyler.’ So maybe Grace dies from something height-related. Something dramatic and memorable. On Scream Queens, you go out with a bang, literally and figuratively.”
Billie Lourd (Chanel #3, Chanel's minion, KKT member): “I mean, I love a Death Becomes Her vibe. Anything gruesome. Shoot me, make me explode, cut my head, and let it roll down some pretty stairs. Corinthian marble. And, I've got to be wearing a fur. And I’d love if there were sparkles on the stairs that my head falls down. Like, I leave a trail of blood and glitter. That’s the dream.”
Lucien Laviscount (Earl Grey, golf bro/frat boy): “Straight up, if I was going to get killed, I’d have Chad Radwell [BMOC, played by Glen Powell] sitting in front of me, a belt wrapped around my neck, and my foot in a bucket of ice. The rest I will leave to your imagination.”