[VIDEO] Rebecca Hall Really Did That Backbend on ‘The Beauty.’ Is Ryan Murphy the Perfect Director for Her?

The Beauty’s Rebecca Hall says she loved working with Ryan Murphy and getting to play a cheeky Brit closer to herself for a change.

Social media was abuzz when Rebecca Hall’s character Jordan on FX’s The Beauty turned into a younger, hotter version of the actress. Wasn’t Rebecca Hall already beautiful?

Hall says series creator Ryan Murphy had written her character to be beautiful “inside and out.”

“You’re looking at what the standard of the beauty is as something that doesn’t necessarily hold universal beauty because that’s actually a nonsensical concept,” says Hall. “It doesn’t exist. Standards of beauty are changing all the time.”

Calling his set “a playground for actors,” Hall loved getting to play in the Murphy universe.

“He has such belief in his actors, but also he has such a wildly diverse style, and you get the tone of everything that he touches somehow remains Ryan Murphy. It’s like entering an old school studio system or something. And I’m so grateful to him because he offered me this part, which was something that I’d never really got to do before on some level, (which is quite surprising, which is like basically play me. And I remember him saying to me, ‘That sort of like cheeky British thing that you do, can you do that? Can you make jokes? Can you just embellish it? And can you like improv and all that?’ And I was like, yes, absolutely. That sounds so fun. I will happily do that.”

In addition to getting to be her cheeky, British self, Hall also got to get physical with this role. When the characters transform into their younger versions, they unhinge their bodies, releasing into unique poses and stretches.

“There was an actual contortionist, who did three or four actual contortionist shots. But I did one of those backbends. For sure. And I did nearly everything else. And I loved it because I’m a crazy person who really enjoys that kind of physical challenge. But that was the most physical stuff I had to do. I think Evan [Peters] had to do a lot more running and fighting than I did.”

I had a great conversation with Hall about her work on the series, her upcoming films at Cannes, and her film Christine celebrating its 10-year anniversary this year. Watch or listen below!