Ryan Murphy is back at it again with a campy sci-fi body horror series where Ashton Kutcher plays an insufferable tech billionaire peddling an STD that promises physical perfection.
FX released the official trailer on Monday, January 5, where Kutcher’s The Corporation is introduced on his character’s personal yacht.
“I’m the world’s greatest advertisement for the hottest new super drug that makes you effortlessly beautiful,” he says about the “beauty shot,” which paves the way to beauty with “one simple injection.”
The Corporation is deeply disliked by those around him — including Isabella Rossellini‘s Franny Forst. “Every night, I pray for your death,” she tells Kutcher’s character, who just asks her to play some “yacht rock” for him.
Elsewhere in the sneak peek, Anthony Ramos appears as The Assassin in a role seemingly inspired by The Matrix.
“This is the closest to the fountain of youth that anyone will ever get, which of course comes with problems,” The Assassin explains about the drug.
Unsurprisingly, the shot turns deadly, and beautiful people — including a character played by Bella Hadid — are seen going through a concerning transformation after receiving it.
Cooper Madsen (Evan Peters) and Jordan Bennett (Rebecca Hall) arrive on the scene once the drug “has gone from international virus to murder.” The authorities are determined to “find a cure,” but The Corporation just wants his invention to make it to market.
“The beauty has been mutating out in the wild,” Cooper and Jordan mention while The Corporation is seen praising The Beauty as “an STD that people will actually want.”
Kutcher’s character becomes more and more unhinged as chaos ensues. “Do not kill my vibe,” he screams in a separate scene.
The first look also teases star-studded cameos from Meghan Trainor, Ben Platt and more. Amelia Gray Hamlin, Billy Eichner and Nicola Peltz Beckham are also expected to appear on the show.
The Beauty is based on the Image Comics series of the same name by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley. According to the official synopsis, “In The Beauty, the world of high fashion turns dark when international supermodels begin dying in gruesome and mysterious ways. FBI Agents Cooper Madsen and Jordan Bennett are sent to Paris to uncover the truth. As they delve deeper into the case, they uncover a sexually transmitted virus that transforms ordinary people into visions of physical perfection, but with terrifying consequences. Their path leads them directly into the crosshairs of The Corporation, a shadowy tech billionaire who has secretly engineered a miracle drug dubbed The Beauty, who will do anything to protect his trillion-dollar empire — including unleashing his lethal enforcer, The Assassin.”
The description continues: “As the epidemic spreads, Jeremy (Jeremy Pope), a desperate outsider, is caught in the chaos, searching for purpose as the agents race across Paris, Venice, Rome, and New York to stop a threat that could alter the future of humanity. The Beauty is a global thriller that asks: What would you sacrifice for perfection?”
The Beauty marks Kutcher’s first substantial TV role in five years. He previously starred on Netflix’s The Ranch from 2016 to 2020 before stepping away from the small screen. He made an appearance as himself on The Bachelorette in 2017 and on The Boys in 2022. Kutcher, 47, also reprised his role as Kelso for one episode of That ’90s Show, the sequel series of That ’70s Show.
The new series also reunites Murphy, 60, with Peters, 38, who had his breakout role on season 1 of American Horror Story. Peters went on to appear on eight more seasons of the show before starring on season 1 of Murphy’s FX series Pose. He later earned a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy nomination for his role in Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
After filming Monster, Peters opened up about stepping up from Murphy’s darker productions to prioritize his mental health.
“I’m going to take a little break from darker roles and explore the light,” Peters told Variety in December 2022. “It would be interesting to me to play something that is a little closer to home, a little more mundane and to explore the details of those kinds of experiences.”
One month prior, Peters recalled the challenges that came with playing the infamous serial killer.
“Doing the role, I wanted to give it 120 percent the whole way through, so I brought in a lot of darkness and negativity,” he explained on a panel. “It was just having that end goal in sight, knowing when we were going to wrap and finally being able to breathe and let it go and say, ‘OK, now it’s time to bring in the joy and the lightness and watch comedies and romances and go back to St. Louis and see my family and friends and watch Step Brothers.’”
The Beauty premieres on FX and Hulu Wednesday, January 21, at 9 p.m. ET.
