BY DC CUEVA
But the one Olympic athlete with the biggest profile that spring 2017 was none other than Gus Kenworthy. As a freestyle skier who was part of only the third American medal sweep at a Winter Olympics in claiming silver in the men's slopestyle in Russia, Gus became a star figure back home in the U.S. But it was after the afterglow of Sochi 2014 faded that he became the first action sports athlete to come out, and the latest in a long line of Olympians who, in addition to flying their national flag, also boasted the pride flag... symbol of the gay and lesbian community. And he was the subject of an In-Depth post that looked back on his time on Champs vs. Pros which appeared before he competed in the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, where he made it to the gold medal final but didn't make it to the podium.
Last week, while the attention of Challenge fans were fixated on an eventful night on War of the Worlds 2 including that most memorable elimination, the newest season of a cable staple premiered its newest season, one that will see Gus bring his talents to a whole new world and audience in time for Halloween, part of the continuing rise of LGBT representation on mainstream TV.
In 2011, a cable channel that signed on with a mix of classics and originals emulating from a NYC apartment, FX premiered American Horror Story... one of the many fine arts of TV work created by industry super-producer Ryan Murphy, and producing partner (and Gwen Paltrow's husband) Brad Falchuk. Each season of AHS is a self-contained miniseries in itself as it follows characters and settings that change each season, but follows stories with every basic element a novel would provide: a beginning, middle and an end... and sometimes would be inspired by true events.
The first eight seasons of AHS have featured an L.A. family living in a haunted house and guests at a nearby supernatural hotel, a New England hospital with patients and staff who are criminally insane; witches in New Orleans, a freak show in South Florida, and paranormal events at an isolated farm in North Carolina, a cult scaring residents in a Michigan suburb in the wake of our most recent Presidential election. And last year's season saw a first in the witches in NOLA returning for a second time to try and prevent an apocalypse.
The early '80s in L.A. saw the Summer Olympics and the Raiders come to the Southland, the Showtime Lakers headline the Forum, and the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. But as this season of AHS begins, it will be at the start of what would become a most tense time in L.A. history: El Paso native Richard Ramirez began fourteen months of terror in California when he went on a spree of home invasions and crimes that gripped the Southland and later up the way in the San Francisco Bay Area. The media dubbed him the "Night Stalker" as he used many weapons to murder 14 people before Ramirez was captured in August 1985, eventually dying on death row nearly 30 years later.
The story of the Night Stalker will permeate during AHS: 1984, as it take place at the fictional summer escape Camp Redwood on the outskirts of the greater Los Angeles area. Emma Roberts returns to play Brooke Thompson, and joined by on the cast by Sarah Paulson (a reduced role as she also stars in Netflix's Ratched), Glee's Matthew Morrison, Leslie Grossman, Cody Fern, John Carroll Lynch, Angelica Ross, Zach Villa, DeRon Horton, Tara Karsian and Orla Brady. This is also the first season where longtime stalwart (and Emma's ex) Evan Peters is not on a season after he starred in this summer's Marvel film Dark Phoenix.
Gus' character, Chet Clancy, is like the real-life Kenworthy: a former Olympic athlete... but here, Chet's habits with drugs, alcohol and anger issues just cost him a chance to compete for gold on American soil despite a strong physique and commitment. Despite of letting a chance to compete in L.A. slip away, Clancy has a look of being charming and vulnerable around Brooke. And who can forget him wearing all that Jazzercise gear in the promo photos and the premiere?
In an op-ed he coined for ESPN last week, Gus brought up his experience in repertory theater when he was growing up in Telluride, CO, as well as doing acting stints around his training for the Games in Korea, including on The Real O'Neals. But his leading role on AHS: 1984 marks the first time that he is playing a role other than himself let alone in a big time gig like a cable drama series, and it's involving someone who is playing a straight character rather than someone in the LGBT community - unlike his then-boyfriend, actor Matt Wilkas... the guy who Gus kissed in front of the world before he took to the course for his second chance at Olympic gold.
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| IG @GusKenworthy |
Sure, the fandom who tunes in in the middle of their week might not be feeling it just yet as judged by how Twitter reacted to last week's premiere, but Gus is the latest athlete to dip his toes into the acting world: fellow Champs vs. Stars alum and Team USA icon Shawn Johnson made two cameos on The Secret Life of the American Teenager; Shaun White played himself in Friends with Benefits with Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake, and of course, there's Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. As Gus wrote last week, "The biggest thing with acting is you don't want to embarrass yourself, but I am so accustomed from skiing to performing with people watching and having that fear of failure. I know how to put those nerves on the back burner and perform."
And in the lead-up to this new challenge he's embarking on, Gus got to experience the end of summer gathering in the Northern Nevada desert, Burning Man. He wrote on Instagram @GusKenworthy, "My first Burning Man experience was nothing short of pure magic. From start to finish the week offered more than I could've ever imagined or hoped for and delivered everything that I needed. I laughed a lot, cried more than I'd care to admit and truly danced from sundown to sunup. I made new friends, saw old ones and welcomed the catharsis that the playa can provide."
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