‘The Shards’ Star Igby Rigney on Wooing Ryan Murphy, Never Meeting Bret Easton Ellis and Not Worrying About Sex Scenes: ‘It’s Like Doing a Dance Under a Microscope’
Igby Rigney, the 26-year-old star of Ryan Murphy's new FX drama "The Shards," has spoken about landing the lead role, his approach to the show's explicit content, and why he never met the author of the book it's based on, Bret Easton Ellis. The series adapts Ellis's 2023 autofiction novel, following the writer through his Los Angeles high school years amid teenage social politics, 1980s excess and a closeted sexuality, all set against a serial killer stalking his classmates. The interview matters as an insight into how a relative newcomer was chosen from a reported field of hundreds to headline a high-profile literary adaptation for Murphy.
Rigney described a multi-stage audition process, from an in-person read in Los Angeles to callbacks in New York, where Murphy instructed him to read the source novel — which he did by listening to the audiobook narrated by Ellis himself — before returning for chemistry reads with co-stars Graham Campbell and Hayes Warner. He also touched on never having met Ellis in person despite playing him, and spoke candidly about filming the show's sex scenes, likening the experience to "doing a dance under a microscope." "The Shards" premiered on FX on 5 August 2026, with Rigney marking the occasion at a launch party in Los Angeles after a global press tour taking in Berlin, New York and London.
- Igby Rigney stars as Bret Easton Ellis in FX's "The Shards"
- He auditioned in multiple rounds after around 500 hopefuls were seen
- Rigney never met Ellis but read his audiobook to prepare
New here? Start with this
Igby Rigney, 26, plays a fictionalised version of author Bret Easton Ellis in "The Shards", a new FX television series from prolific producer Ryan Murphy. The show is based on Ellis's 2023 novel of the same name, a work of "autofiction" that blends real and invented events from his teenage years at a Los Angeles high school in the 1980s, mixing coming-of-age drama with a serial killer subplot.
Ryan Murphy is a well-known American television producer behind shows such as "Glee", "American Horror Story" and "American Crime Story", and is known for casting relative unknowns in high-profile roles. Rigney was a lesser-known actor before landing this lead part, reportedly beating out hundreds of others for the role, which involves both intense dramatic material and explicit content.
The interview sits within the wider promotion of the show, which has included a global press tour and premiered on FX on 5 August 2026. It offers a window into the casting process for a major literary adaptation and how an emerging actor prepared to portray a real, living author without ever meeting him.