‘American Horror Story’s Neal McDonough “Opened His Soul” as President Eisenhower

When Neal McDonough first appeared in American Horror Story: Double Feature‘s four-episode Death Valley as President Eisenhower, it was clear from his appearance alone that he was the ideal actor for the role. But the more time McDonough has spent embodying the 34th President of the United States, the better this casting has become. McDonough’s furrowed looks in the face of impossible alien ultimatums have transformed one of the most powerful figures in American history into an everyman hero.

It’s a fit so snug that it hasn’t been lost on McDonough. In an interview with Decider, McDonough revealed the work that went into capturing this President and why he feels this portrayal is one of the most authentic roles he’s ever embodied.

Decider: When were you approached about joining Death Valley?

Neal McDonough: It’s funny, my wife Ruvé [Robertson] and I and our five kids, we moved to Vancouver six years ago to do Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and all the other shows that are part of The CW. Then we came back to Los Angeles in, I think it was May, for a vacation. The kids were like “Mom, dad, we really miss Los Angeles. We miss the warmth.” All of sudden we get a phone call from Ryan Murphy saying “Do you want to play Eisenhower in American Horror Story?” Everything kind of lined up, so I was like, “Yeah, let’s do it.”

Now, after doing American Horror Story, we’ve moved back to Los Angeles, our kids are going to school here, and we couldn’t be happier. So I have so much to thank Ryan Murphy for: Not just the opportunity, which we’ll get into in a second, to play Eisenhower, but to get us back to the city we’ve loved so much. Now we get to be home. And then to shoot at 20th Century Fox, the historic lot, to be back here in LA, it’s been really fantastic. But still to this day, I haven’t met Ryan. I look forward to meeting with him at some point soon.

I had the greatest time playing Eisenhower. For the first time in many years I got to play a character kind of like Buck Compton in Band of Brothers or Flags of Our Fathers or Tin Man. I got to play a really good guy with his emotions on his sleeve, but the tough-as-nails all-American type of guy that Eisenhower was. It’s much more like me and the people I grew up with. My father, he came over from Ireland and he became an American by joining the army. It’s that all-American take on life that has really permeated into me and everywhere I go and everything I do. To finally play that guy on television on this iconic show as this iconic character was one of the greatest things I’ve ever been a part of.

There haven’t been many depictions of Eisenhower in pop culture. Did that at all affect how you approached the role?

Yeah, 100 percent. When I get to play these historic characters, I’m really a stickler for everything. I listened to his speech patterns so much. The way he walked, his health problems, what he stood for, his religious convictions, it’s everything. He was this tough guy, very intelligent, just so pro-American. He was God first, me second, and that’s the way I am, and that’s the way that our family is. God first, me second. Family first, me second. That’s what Dwight was.

To jump into his skin wasn’t that difficult for me because I knew this guy already. We were very similar in so many ways. Over the years I’ve had a bunch of people say “You should look into playing Eisenhower because you guys are so similar. Not just your looks” — because, obviously, the similarities are there — “but who you are and what you stand for.” They were right, and what you see on screen is as close to Neal McDonough as I’ve seen.

I’m used to watching myself playing these really entertaining villains over the years because, as everyone knows, I won’t do sex scenes. So that kind of limits what you’re doing. I think now that I’m in my fifties, I’ve gotten past having to play those types of characters. Now I finally get to play the good guys with the hearts on their sleeves and the type of all-American guys that are really much more me. To watch myself on screen, it looks a lot more like me than anything that I’ve ever really seen before, and I really quite like that.

Relating so much to President Eisenhower must have influenced the way you portrayed him a bit.

I don’t like to look at myself because I don’t to lean on any crutches thinking “Oh! That’s a cool thing. Let’s do that for my next character, let me steal that.” Look, I never wanted to be a celebrity. That’s never been of any interest to me. What I want to be is a great actor and the greatest actor I can be… God gave me this great talent of being someone who can entertain people, and I love doing it.

So I never like to watch myself, but this was different. Plus, getting to watch myself opposite the amazing Sarah Paulson [who plays Mamie Eisenhower]. To be in the ring with Sarah, we were just having the best time creating these great characters. And then to work opposite Craig Sheffer, who had not been in a lot over the past several years because he was taking care of his family with personal issues. For him to just let loose as Nixon was just awesome. And Karl [Makinen], he played LBJ. If you’re gonna cast LBJ, my gosh Karl was just perfect. And then there’s Cody [Fern] and everyone else and favorite characters that have been on Ryan Murphy shows for 10 seasons. They were all so welcoming to me on set. They all saw that I’m there to knock it out of the ball field on every single take. Same as Sarah, same as all the other great actors on this show. For me, that was the best sandbox I’ve been in.

Your segments of Death Valley have been my favorite so far. It makes me want to watch a show about all the presidents of this era. 

And the eye candy, just the stuff on the set, the props. The set masters and designers are geniuses at figuring out how to be exact to the period. I mean, exactly to the letter.

In the Oval Office, are you kidding me? My scenes in the Oval Office with me and Nixon and JFK, just painstaking detail to everything in the place. I was sitting there doing my scene in the Oval Office, and what books are on the bookshelf, they’re for me. And then when it was JFK’s turn, the books changed. They didn’t just leave it as is. They did everything to say “OK, what did JFK read? What did JFK do? What were Eisenhower’s favorite books? What was Eisenhower’s favorite candy?” It’s incredible! To be on a show where everyone cares so much about the end product was really awesome. It was a blessing upon a blessing.

Death Valley has portrayed the relationship between President Eisenhower and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower to be a very tense one. She even cheats on him in Episode 9 with Cody Fern’s character. What can you tease will happen between Eisenhower and Mamie in Episode 10?

You will have tears in your eyes in the finale. The way I played Eisenhower, what I read
about him was the way that I look at my wife Ruvé. He loved Mamie unconditionally, and till
death do they part. I just love that about Eisenhower, and it makes your choices simple.

In Episode 9, there’s Mamie coming at me in that room, floating to me as an alien, and then it switches to her, and you can see the blood coming out of her eyes. Of course Eisenhower is going to sign that piece of paper because he loves his wife so much, and he can’t do anything. [The aliens] found a weak spot. What’s Eisenhower’s kryptonite? It was Mamie Eisenhower. What’s Neal McDonough’s kryptonite? It’s Ruvé McDonough. For me to play that in that setting was me being as truthful, as simple to your choice as possible, which I try to do. I always try to make my choices very simple and right to the situation and to the point. Eisenhower loved his wife so much, like I love my wife so much, that it was simple. It was Earth-shattering, but there was a choice that had to be made, and the choice itself was pretty simple, as difficult as it was.

I opened up my soul as Eisenhower because I open up my soul as Neal McDonough. I think that’s why the character really jumped off the screen so much. You’re here in these crazy, ridiculous situations, and I played it so straightforward. OK, what did he do on D-Day, what did Eisenhower do on D-Day? What did Eisenhower do when he had all these troops and he knew horrible things were gonna happen? He kept things very simple, and that’s kind of how I keep my stuff in life. Keep it simple, Steve.

Is there any chance you would like to come back for American Horror Story?

Are you kidding me? I still haven’t met Ryan yet, and the first thing I’m gonna say to him is “Please, let me keep playing with you guys.” Like I said, it’s the best damn box I’ve maybe ever played in. With these actors and this crew and the writing… Would I come back? I would come back for Ryan Murphy in a heartbeat. I don’t care what it would be, because he’s making history.

The show’s been out 10 years for a reason. It’s an incredible show, and what they’ve put out there is phenomenal. For actors, it’s really a joy to be part of. I look forward to, whether it’s this, whatever show it is in the future with Ryan. I certainly would love to do it again because it’s one of my favorite things. I get to play Dwight Eisenhower on television. Not many people can say that, and what an honor that was.

New episodes of American Horror Story: Double Feature premiere on FX Wednesdays at 10/9c p.m. New episodes then come to FX on Hulu the following Thursday.

Where to stream American Horror Story: Double Feature