American Horror Story's Cody Fern Finds Playing A Nice Guy Harder Than A Villain

Though Cody Fern has only been featured in a few seasons of "American Horror Story," he still makes a standout impression with each distinctive role. Throughout his career in the series, he's had the pleasure of playing both protagonist and antagonist, which displays his impressive range as an actor. Of the two polar opposites, Fern has a clear favorite and prefers depicting a complicated villain over playing a hero. 

Fern first appeared on "American Horror Story" during the explosive Season 8 titled "Apocalypse." He brought to life the terrifying Antichrist, Michael Langdon, who fans first saw as a baby in Season 1. Fern instills an alluring nature in the unnerving character who unleashes pure chaos on the entire world. Even in his demise, the intuitive actor fully fleshes out the character to further explore his diabolical existence. 

When answering a fan's question from Twitter with Gamespot Universe, Fern revealed which type of character he found more challenging: "Nice guys." In Season 9's "1989," Fern flips the script by playing a good guy. As the aspiring actor Xavier, Fern challenges our established expectations by portraying a young man with sincerity, albeit he still displays shades of narcissism. This demonstrates his ability to play both compassionate characters and intriguing villains, which makes his insights about his preference more interesting. He continued by elaborating why heroic characters are tougher to portray than dark adversaries. 

In "American Horror Story," Cody Fern flexes both his dramatic and comedic talents with extremely memorable performances. His breakout role as Michael Langdon was layered and complex while exploring the Antichrist's riveting origins from Season 1. This results in a multifaceted character who Fern would absolutely love to play again if given a chance. 

In Gamespot Universes' illuminating interview, Fern explained why he enjoys taking on more sinister roles, "Look, I think that heroes are less complicated than villains, in my experience. You know, a villain, you've got to remember, is not a villain in his world. He's a hero in his own story, but villains are generally more complicated in terms of, they're reacting to things that have happened to them. They're reacting to trauma. They're reacting to things that have not gone in a certain direction in their life. Whereas the hero is fighting for, kind of, the embodied good of everything and everyone." Fern ended by saying, "So it tends to be that you can go deeper with a villain." 

It's no surprise then his favorite character is the ultimate villain Michael, who has a heavy load of emotional baggage. He's able to depict his character's difficult story by empathetically viewing him as not entirely evil, resulting in a more satisfying portrayal. This also underlines the humanity of even the most dastardly characters, which makes for even better villains.