‘AHS: Apocalypse’: Adina Porter on How the Donner Family Influenced THAT Shocking Scene

Last night we saw the beginning of the end of the world with the premiere of American Horror Story: Apocalypse. “The End” was just as insane as you would expect a Ryan Murphy crossover season to be. There were bombs, secret government organizations, bunkers, excellent gowns, and cannibalism galore. And standing in the middle of it all was Adina Porter‘s Dinah Stevens. Spoilers ahead for American Horror Story: Apocalypse Episode 1.

Decider had the chance to speak to the Emmy-nominated actress about her many appearances on the iconic anthology season. Porter spilled on what went into filming this season’s gruesome dinner, those amazing gowns, and why this apocalypse is unlike any other we’ve seen before.

In true American Horror Story fashion when Porter was first approached about appearing in Apocalypse show creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuck told her next to nothing about her character, Dinah Stevens. But by now Porter is used to the mystery. “I remember for the fitting for Cult the faces were covered so we didn’t know about the clown masks,” she said. “So you really walk in blind. It’s like that trust exercise where you close your eyes and fall backwards.”

So far it seems as though the trust fall technique has worked. Over American Horror Story‘s eight seasons, Porter has starred in the series four times. But it’s the actress’ role as the brilliantly cutthroat Beverly Hope in Cult that’s likely her most memorable. That role earned Porter an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.

But now that the first episode of Apocalypse has aired, we know a bit more Dinah Stevens, the uber-rich talk show queen Porter plays in Apocalypse. After the world ends, Dinah and her son are transported to Outpost 8, a bunker run by an organization called the Cooperative that only offers spots to the insanely rich and those who are genetically most likely to survive after the apocalypse. If Dinah and her life-affirming cliches remind you of Oprah, that’s intentional. According to Porter, Dinah will spend good amount of time this season with Joan Collins’ equally mega-rich Evie Gallant and Dinah’s son Andre, who is played by Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman.

Initially Dinah’s positivity comes off as comforting. But as the horrors of the bunker start to unfold and things become more and more desperate, her affirmations transform into unintentional jokes about their situation. When it’s revealed that the fresh stew the Outpost 8 occupants are eating is actually a man named Stew, Dinah is hardly phased.

“[Dinah and Andre] had been on the compound maybe a little bit longer than the two young people who had just arrived. And then [there’s] confirmation that the [Outpost] wall is no more,” Porter said about her inspiration for the cannibalism scene. “I took it as face value, being grateful for anything that we had. I think about that famous Donner party. You don’t know what you’re capable of doing until you’re pushed to that end.”

Though Dinah does spit out the stew once she realizes its one of her bunker-mates, she doesn’t chastise Joan Collins’ Evie who continues to eat. She even scolds her son Andre for criticizing the older woman. “If we didn’t want to survive, we could have easily stayed outside the bunker,” she said.

There’s a dark humor to her relentless positivity, something that Porter appreciates about Murphy and Falchuck’s twisted universe. The wardrobe of “The End” really drives home this first episode’s gruesome humor. While humanity as they know it is collapsing and they’ve resorted to eating humans, Dinah and the rest of the upper class occupants of Outpost 8 are wearing elaborate Victorian gowns. According to Porter, it took her roughly 20 minutes to get into this episode’s costume and corset. Her elaborate hairdo, which incorporated her natural hair, took an additional 30 minutes to an hour. All to this to sit down and eat a nutrition cube or, if they’re lucky, a buddy.

These are more than just costumes. They’re status indicators in the bunker. But there’s a chance the upper-class “Purple” and the servant-class “Gray” dichotomy may not last for long. When asked if Dinah would be staying in Outpost 8’s gowns, Porter said, “Well you know, Dinah’s rich. And you got money, anything’s possible. I’ll just say that.”

These costumes are part of what sets AHS: Apocalypse apart from similar stories about the end of the world. Whereas most other narratives frame the apocalypse as an equalizer for humanity, there is still an upper and a lower class divide in AHS Season 8. “When I imagine the apocalypse, I imagine it being equalling the playing ground. All of us humans are now in the same boat,” Porter said. “But I guess I’m ignorant because I didn’t realize that there are people with money who are preparing to survive, that there are bunkers out there.”

“We’re getting to witness how incredibly wealthy people get to survive the apocalypse,” she added. Who knew the end of the world would be so disturbingly fabulous?

New episodes of American Horror Story: Apocalypse premiere on FX Wednesdays at 10/9c.

Watch American Horror Story: Apocalypse on FXNOW and FX+