PHOTOS: Teenage 'Dexter' Devon Graye Steps Up In 'American Horror Story'

by UInterviewOctober 12, 2012, 12:00 amNews >

If you're into following the up-and-comers of Hollywood, here's one you shouldn't miss: Devon Graye, 25, has been on the radar since he starred as the teenage Dexter (pictured below) in the eponymously titled thriller series starring Michael C. Hall — and he has since become a familiar face of the small screen thanks to stints in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Alphas and Body of Proof. Now, you'll be seeing a lot more of Graye in the coming year thanks to his upcoming role in Ryan Murphy's Asylum, the second installment of the FX Emmy-nominated miniseries American Horror Story. "This season is just so different from last season. It's so much grittier," Graye tells Indiewire. "And the fact that it's set in the '60s, it deals with a lot of psychological stuff — that religion vs. science kind of way of thinking. I think it's cool to bring horror to that sort of idea."

He's played everything from gangly high schooler-turned-wrestler to braniac fifth wheel in the throwback horror film Husk, so who's Graye taking on in his latest (and creepiest) role? "I play a character named Jed Potter. I come to the institution that Jessica Lange's character runs. I have been afflicted — I think I can say this — I'm deemed possessed. I'm a young 17-year-old tomboy, whose parents helplessly deliver to this place. But it sort of takes off from there in a big way," Graye said, although he hesitated to reveal further. "I'm allowed to say that I'm doing more than one [episode]. They're so secretive. It's the craziest thing over there. I've never been involved in something that is so vastly secretive. I didn't even get the full script for my first episode. I sort of know where the show's going, but I really only knew what I was doing on the show."

Graye explained that the greatest allure of any project is always the script, although in American Horror Story he was also drawn to the venerable cast and crew. "Ryan Murphy is so huge in the industry right now. Every actor would just kill to work with him," Graye said of the creator. "It was just some of the most amazing writing. Just saying the things I spout out at Jessica Lange's character was so thrilling. Every moment of those scenes I felt like, 'I can't believe I'm here. I can't believe I'm doing this.' It was kind of the best gift you could ask for."

The Mountain View, Calif.-born Graye, who spent his high school years in the U.K. and whose peculiar looks have earned him comparisons to a young Richard Thomas, is also breaking out on the silver screen later this year. With features Exodus Fall (Jesse James, Rosanna Arquette) and Legendary (Danny Glover, John Cena) already under his belt (pictured above), Graye is set to star in thriller Angry Little God featuring Sons Of Anarchy star Ron Pearlman, and alongside Patricia Clarkson and Zachary Booth in next year's family drama Last Weekend, in which he plays' Booth's opera singer boyfriend. "TV, for a long time, that was how I made my bread and butter. But in the last year I've done a lot of films. Right now is kind of a chaotic time because I'm still filming American Horror Story, but I'm here doing this movie for a month-and-a-half, and then I fly to New Orleans for another film. I sort of feel like I'm on a daily basis treading water and trying to figure out which character I am each day. But it's amazing. It's all I could ask for as an actor."

Catch Graye in a supporting role in forthcoming indie comedy The Discoverers, directed by Justin Schwartz and starring Griffin Dunne, which took the Hamptons International Film Festival by storm earlier this month (pictured above) — as well as in the LGBT dystopian short Eden. Watch a preview of The Discoverers, as well as Devon Graye training for 2010's Legendary, below: