{"id":611495,"date":"2026-09-10T06:44:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T06:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/611495\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T06:44:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T06:44:18","slug":"the-shards-finale-kaia-gerber-on-killer-theories-shelley-duvall-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/611495\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shards Finale: Kaia Gerber on Killer Theories, Shelley Duvall Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t[This story contains MAJOR spoilers from The Shards<\/a> finale, \u201cStairway to Heaven.\u201d]<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Shards just pointed its finger at everyone.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter nine episodes of a serial killer dubbed \u201cThe Trawler\u201d terrorizing Los Angeles in 1981, the FX adaptation<\/a> of Bret Easton Ellis<\/a>\u2018 classic novel of the same name, from Ryan Murphy<\/a>, ended its first season by putting its main characters in a room to be questioned by police, who deem them all suspects.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the room are obvious options Bret (Igby Rigney)<\/a> and Robert (Homer Gere<\/a>), as well as Debbie (Hayes Warner)<\/a> and her mother (Evan Rachel Wood), Steven (Jordan Roth), Thom (Graham Campbell)<\/a>, Ryan (Daniel Dale), and even Susan, played by Kaia Gerber<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tGerber admits that queen-bee high schooler Susan possibly being the serial killer \u2014 and\/or the person who threw Debbie\u2019s dad, Terry (Wes Bentley), off a balcony to his death, also in the finale \u2014 is surprising. But she admits that it is a possibility.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe know it\u2019s one of us,\u201d she tells The Hollywood Reporter of the ending. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe book The Shards<\/a> never explicitly revealed the identity of The Trawler, but Gerber is positive the show will by its end. Murphy previously told THR<\/a> that he and Ellis planned for three or four seasons of the series, and this finale brings the adaptation up to about one-third of the book\u2019s story. With so much room left to cover, everyone is an option in the murder-mystery whodunnit element of the series, even Susan. \u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to empathize with Susan in certain moments \u2014 the relentless winning is infuriating. I like that everyone is very complicated and layered in their own ways,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\n\tBelow, Gerber dives into the cliffhanger ending \u2014 including her \u201cShelley Duvall moment\u201d in the finale and who she thinks attacked her \u2014 and shares her theories on the killer and what she hopes to explore if The Shards is indeed renewed for a second season. The possibilities open up, as Murphy\u2019s take has the potential to veer even more from the book: \u201cThe book is 100 percent from Bret\u2019s POV. As one of the characters who isn\u2019t Bret, I appreciate that we\u2019re getting to know Susan outside of Bret\u2019s idea of who she is in relation to him,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\tI spoke with Ryan Murphy at the beginning of The Shards<\/a>. You two, of course, knew each other coming into this, and he said that he and Bret Easton Ellis immediately thought of you for the role of Susan. How did you get the call?<\/p>\n

\n\tI worked with Ryan before \u2014 he gave me my first professional acting job [on American Horror Story<\/a> season 10]. I\u2019ve always felt, in such a large way, that he started my career and gave me an opportunity before anyone else did. I always wanted to work with him again. I\u2019m such a fan.<\/p>\n

\n\tThen I met Bret [Easton Ellis] right around the time The Shards [book] was coming out \u2014 being a massive fan of his, I was like, \u201cI just want to tell you, I\u2019ve read everything you\u2019ve ever written, and I\u2019m reading The Shards right now. I think the amount of love you have for these characters, and particularly the female characters, you can see it and feel it in the writing, and I just wanted to say that.\u201d And he was like, \u201cYou are Susan.\u201d I was like, \u201cI\u2019m nothing like Susan.\u201d He was like, \u201cI don\u2019t know what we\u2019re doing with it\u201d \u2014 it wasn\u2019t even in Ryan\u2019s hands yet<\/a>; this was like four years ago.<\/p>\n

\n\tThen Ryan called me last February, and when you get a call from Ryan Murphy, you drop everything \u2014 like, you run. I was in rehearsal for a play, literally rehearsing a scene, and I was like, \u201cGuys, so sorry. I have to step out.\u201d He was like, \u201cHey, I don\u2019t know if you know this book, The Shards, but I\u2019m making it and Bret and I agree you should play Susan.\u201d I was like, \u201cOkay. Literally whatever you want!\u201d I was so honored, but I also was like, \u201cI don\u2019t know what quality of mine you think is right for Susan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSo I spent the next six months trying to figure out why I reminded them of Susan, and what I should bring to set. Then I met the rest of the cast and saw how they all had this inexplicable essence that you can\u2019t really articulate that made them so right for their role \u2014 even people who weren\u2019t like their characters, there was just some quality about everyone. So it took some of the pressure off because I was like, \u201cWell, maybe it is something I can\u2019t really explain and just something about me.\u201d I felt a little less pressure going in after meeting everyone else.<\/p>\n

\n\tNow, after having played Susan, do you see a more of what they saw in you for the role?<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah. The great thing about working with Ryan is that he can see qualities in everyone that we can\u2019t always see in ourselves, and then he writes to amplify that and bring everyone to extremes. So you get to explore places of yourself previously unexplored. As we were filming, I was like, \u201cI don\u2019t know if they\u2019re writing to me or if I\u2019m starting to become more like Susan,\u201d but as the series progressed, and as we got new scripts, I felt closer to Susan. When you spend a long enough time playing someone, you can\u2019t help but love them and feel protective over them and empathize with them. That made it helpful in the later episodes, when things get more intense. It\u2019s hard to love a stranger who does something out of character. But suddenly, you have spent enough time with someone and nothing they could do would make me change my love for them, and I really felt that way about Susan. That helped with the more intense scenes.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tKaia Gerber as Susan Reynolds. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRay Mickshaw\/FX.<\/p>\n

\n\tThese are all characters who push the likability factor, in terms of who we should be rooting for or believing. But Susan seems to be the least likely killer of the group. Do you agree?<\/p>\n

\n\tI agree with you there! But really, we\u2019re like: it could be any of us.<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, you are in the room in the end as a suspect.<\/p>\n

\n\tYes, we know it\u2019s one of us. But I think it really depends. Hayes and I got so close, and Graham and I got so close and. When I was filming scenes with Hayes or Graham where we were fighting, it was really challenging. I was like, \u201cYou know what? This is tough.\u201d It\u2019s hard for me to empathize with Susan in certain moments \u2014 the relentless winning is infuriating. Especially because I care about Debbie and Hayes, so I ike that there everyone is very complicated and layered in their own ways.<\/p>\n

\n\tRyan told me<\/a> that when casting you and your co-star Homer Gere, and knowing each of your famous parents (iconic exes Cindy Crawford and Richerd Gere), that he had conversations with all of you, saying, \u201cPeople are obviously going to point this out.\u201d He told me he would not have moved forward if all of you weren\u2019t on board. Did you have concerns?<\/p>\n

\n\tFrom the beginning, he included me. It felt really nice to be included. I hadn\u2019t met Homer before we started filming. I\u2019d seen him in a short film, and I thought he was really good. But I didn\u2019t know him. As soon as we started filming, I felt, \u201cHomer just happened to be the right person for this role.\u201d Regardless of our history or our parents\u2019 history, the incredible and relieving thing is that as soon as we started filming, Homer was perfect for this role. And it would not have been fair or right if it went to somebody else just to avoid all the other stuff that goes with it, which really is just noise and not as significant, I think, as the work. <\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s in our best interest to make Ryan\u2019s version of the show and make the version of the show in his mind. If we ever felt strange about something, Ryan was always an open door, so Homer and I felt really comfortable going to Ryan with any questions or concerns. He\u2019s also dealt with being perceived at a very large scale for so long and he has a really good relationship to that and great advice, and he\u2019s very generous about that advice. He\u2019s been such a guiding force for me and so helpful. I call him all the time. I called him an hour before the premiere in New York to be like, \u201cWhat do I wear? I\u2019m panicking and I\u2019m scared.\u201d Things big and small, he\u2019s always there, which is so helpful.<\/p>\n

\n\tDid your Vogue<\/a> interview feel like a therapy session? You and Homer were each open and honest about everything from your own personal relationship with Hollywood, your body and with the press, to you and Homer talking about some of your fears going into this.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was so sweet because I told Homer what I talked about a little, but after reading it, I was like, \u201cI think that Rob [Haskell, writer] had the same effect on both of us.\u201d He\u2019s very disarming, and he\u2019s also a psychiatrist. So very quickly, I forgot that I was doing the interview, which could be a very scary thing, and probably scary to hear for a publicist. (Laughs.) But it was clear to me that he\u2019s a very kind person who doesn\u2019t take vulnerability for granted. I trusted that he would handle it with care, and I really think he did. Both Homer and I were like, \u201cHe has a way of getting you to open up.\u201d I was grateful that he treated that with respect and kindness. It didn\u2019t feel too exposing, which I was grateful for.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tKaia Gerber and Homer Gere in The Shards\u2018 \u201cDance Off!\u201d episode.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFX<\/p>\n

\n\tI enjoyed reading about how different Susan\u2019s high school experiences were in The Shards from yours. She\u2019s the prom queen who, like you said, constantly wins. What have you enjoyed living out through Susan that you never got to experience yourself?<\/p>\n

\n\tAll of it. I wanted to be class president very badly, and I lost the election tragically. So it was really fun to film those scenes where I was giving speeches or addressing the student body \u2014 and you\u2019re fully aware that the background [actors] are being paid. They were doing their job well because there were moments where I genuinely believed they were clapping for me, and not for the sake of the scene, which I realize they were. (Laughs.) I think I would never want to go back to high school, but it was fun to exist in that time, and be that age with the freedom and carelessness that especially opens the season. We had so much fun filming those first few episodes, because it was a lot about young teenage freedom and excess and access.<\/p>\n

\n\tRyan and Bret hope to do three or four seasons. Based on where season one ends, that seems to be the plan, because the show gets through about one third of the book.<\/p>\n

\n\tYes, as a fan of a book, there\u2019s so much in the book that that we didn\u2019t get to cover in season one. So I\u2019m really hoping we\u2019ll get to film [more]. One of the most iconic scenes from the novel is the balcony fight between Bret and Robert. Then there\u2019s Palm Springs\u2026 There\u2019s so much in the book we didn\u2019t get to cover, so hopefully the plan is to get to go back and do more.<\/p>\n

\n\tBecause of that expansion, Ryan has added in new storylines, characters and entire episodes (\u201cDance Off!\u201d<\/a>) not from the book. Theoretically, the entire ending could go differently?<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s the exciting part. I read the book so many times before we were even making the thing, and then when I knew we were making it, I read it even more, and highlighted it. I will say that the first two episodes, which were co-written by Bret, are very true to the adaptation. The book is 100 percent from Bret\u2019s POV. You don\u2019t see anything Bret hasn\u2019t himself witnessed or imagined happened. Whereas in our show, we\u2019re following all these different characters, even when Bret is not present. Suddenly, there are these whole new worlds. I appreciated as one of the characters who isn\u2019t Bret that we\u2019re getting to know Susan outside of Bret\u2019s idea of who she is in relation to him.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDance Off!\u201d was completely a Ryan brainchild, which was so fun to film, along with \u201cReally Rhonda\u201d and getting all of these other things to explore to expand on the world that Bret so genius-ly created.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe attack that Susan experiences in the finale is also different, because in the book, Thom (Campbell) and her are attacked together by the possible killer.<\/p>\n

\n\tYes. That was a challenge for me because I was really trying to figure out: Is it Thom? Or is it not Thom?<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat do you think now?<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen we filmed it, I was so certain it wasn\u2019t Thom. Mainly because Graham wasn\u2019t there. We filmed my whole attack with the incredible stunt guy, Troy Brown, who I actually have known since I was 12 years old, so it was very nice to have a familiar face \u2014 who is trying to stab me to death. If you\u2019re going to be in that situation, it\u2019s lovely when it\u2019s someone that you know. I want to shout out to Troy for really selling that kick, because I don\u2019t think I would have been able to fight someone off in that way.<\/p>\n

\n\tWe filmed it, and I screamed in the bathroom for a lot longer. We would reset from there, and then Graham got there later in the day to barge in. So I think because I screamed for a long time, I was like, \u201cThere really is time for Thom to have come in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut then when I watched the finale, I was like, \u201cI think it might be Thom, actually!\u201d And when we walk out and look for the body and don\u2019t see it, then I was like, \u201cI think maybe it is Thom.\u201d So, the jury is still out, but I convinced myself that it was Thom for the sake of Susan then accusing Thom.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGerber as Susan Reynolds with Graham Campbell as Thom Wright. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFX<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m thinking back to your American Horror Story and American Horror Stories seasons, but this feels like your most scream-queen moment?<\/p>\n

\n\tThis was a true horror moment. Even in the script, it said, \u201cHer Shelley Duvall moment.\u201d It really was a direct reference to The Shining, which is funny, because I have on my wall [flipping the camera to show her wall] a signed Shelley Duvall [poster from The Shining]. It\u2019s one of my favorite performances and one of my favorite films, so when that was very clear that we were referencing that, I was really excited and also terrified. I was like, \u201cI\u2019ll never reach what Shelley did, but at least I know what we\u2019re aiming for and the level of terror.\u201d So this was probably the most scream queens moment I\u2019ve gotten to have.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow many times did you do the scream?<\/p>\n

\n\tWe did the scene around 20 to 30 times. We would do it from the very beginning until Graham would come in and I\u2019d end screaming in the bathroom, hyperventilating. Then we\u2019d reset, which is where I\u2019m fully asleep and get woken up by the phone. So getting your heart rate back down in the span of 20 seconds while they reset, and getting the tears out of my eyes to then be in a very peaceful, cozy sleep mode was the most challenging part. Just calming my nervous system as we were resetting from that screaming, hyperventilating in the bathroom moment.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe finale ends with Terry\u2019s (Wes Bentley\u2019s) murder, as well as everyone being a suspect for The Trawler. Were you surprised that Susan is a suspect in both scenarios, and have you landed on one guess for who The Trawler serial killer is?<\/p>\n

\n\tI don\u2019t know who did it, but I have my suspicion, for sure. And it\u2019s not an obvious one. For the opening to episode nine, which I think is one of the greatest finale openings ever, I went first in pushing Terry off the balcony. Wes [Bentley] is such a great guy; such a kind, incredible person, which is ironic that he always plays these villainous characters when there\u2019s nothing villainous about him. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a mean bone in his body.<\/p>\n

\n\tI hadn\u2019t really interacted with Terry that much in the show. We hadn\u2019t really done scenes together. So it was really challenging for me to feel genuine rage while looking at sweet Wes\u2019 face, but he was so supportive and really can lock in when he has to. Right when they were rolling, he\u2019d go into creepy Terry, which made it easier to scream at him and push him. Then as soon as the take was done, he\u2019d be like, \u201cSweetie, that was great!\u201d He made it so much easier, but it was challenging to try and come up with reason enough to push sweet Wes off a balcony.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe book never explicitly reveals who The Trawler killer is.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere are so many theories, too \u2014 I\u2019ve read all the Reddit threads. I get a new conspiracy theory every time.<\/p>\n

\n\tRyan has spoken about how the AIDS epidemic was the looming killer of the time, and how The Trawler is a metaphor for that. Do you feel like the show will actually identify one of you as the killer by the end?<\/p>\n

\n\tI think so, yes. One-hundred percent. That\u2019s why you do a mystery and a thriller. But the wonderful thing about all of Ryan\u2019s shows is they\u2019re massively entertaining on a wide scale, and you don\u2019t have to look deeper into them if you don\u2019t want to and can still enjoy them massively. But Ryan always, always has a deeper meaning to everything. It\u2019s always a metaphor for something, something very poignant and serious and real. You can take it at face value and enjoy it for what it is, or you can look deeper and there will always be a deeper reason for it.<\/p>\n

\n\tHearing Ryan talk about particularly the metaphor for AIDS and what AIDS meant to him, and that AIDS was quite literally a thing killing beautiful young people in the \u201880s; people who felt untouchable and invincible. That doesn\u2019t have to be at the forefront of your mind while watching it, but I do think it\u2019s really interesting to think about how that is a thing that it could be a metaphor for.<\/p>\n

\n\tWe were also sad to see that Palm Royale<\/a> was canceled<\/a>. Were you surprised?<\/p>\n

\n\tI was really sad, but also, it was my longest job I ever did up until that point and to be surrounded by literally every acting comedy hero I\u2019ve ever had? It was four years. It was like going to university. It was the most sad thinking, \u201cWait, am I not going to get to hang out with these people who have become my family?\u201d But I\u2019ve been comforted by how we\u2019ve all stayed really close. I went up and visited Carol [Burnett] two months ago and had dinner with her. We\u2019ve all stayed very close, so I think that\u2019s been helpful. But we do miss it.<\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Shards is now streaming its finale and all of season one on Hulu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[This story contains MAJOR spoilers from The Shards finale, \u201cStairway to Heaven.\u201d] The Shards just pointed its finger…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[70595,70026,146,70025,85,46,59076,158889,47113,177429],"class_list":["post-611495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-american-horror-story","tag-bret-easton-ellis","tag-entertainment","tag-homer-gere","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-kaia-gerber","tag-palm-royale","tag-ryan-murphy","tag-the-shards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}