The Run-Through with Vogue

Episode: Rebecca Hall Talks The Beauty, Entering Her Villain Era, and Bette Davis
Release Date: January 8, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode of "The Run-Through with Vogue" is a vibrant conversation with acclaimed actress Rebecca Hall. Hall joins Vogue's Marlie Marius and Hannah Jackson for a deep dive into her latest project, the Ryan Murphy series "The Beauty," her experiences entering her so-called "villain era" with Murphy's upcoming "Monsters" project, her artistic influences (especially Bette Davis), personal style philosophies, life as a creative multi-hyphenate, and reflections on family and pop culture obsessions. Hall is candid, witty, and full of thoughtful insights — this episode is a lively back-and-forth filled with warmth and wisdom.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Rebecca Hall on "The Beauty" and Body Horror

Segment: 15:07 – 20:47

• Hall discusses her role as FBI agent Jordan Bennett in Ryan Murphy’s new show "The Beauty," which centers around a virus that turns ordinary people into supermodels, with disastrous body horror side effects.
  • Hall confesses she’s surprisingly squeamish for someone who’s done a lot of horror films.
  • On the Cronenbergian inspiration: "I’ve always really admired Cronenberg, who’s arguably the godfather of body horror… I sort of like it when it feels like the world is created almost like an other. It's almost fantastical…" (Rebecca Hall, 17:59)
  • She describes Ryan Murphy’s pitch as “pretty thrilling” — a whirlwind meeting at Buvette, where he outlined the bizarre premise and promised fabulous fashion and international shoots:
    "He just said, it's about a STD that makes you really hot, and then you literally explode from being too hot… but you'll look fabulous. It’ll be all The Row… and we'll shoot in Paris and New York and Rome and Venice." (Rebecca Hall, 20:47)

2. Working with Ryan Murphy and Evan Peters

Segment: 21:23 – 26:24

• Hall reflects on joining a close-knit Murphy ensemble, and how jumping into an intense love scene with Evan Peters on Day 1 was a creative ice-breaker.
  • On Murphy's approach: Hall praises the collaborative, improvisational environment:
    "The kind of, like, one of the joys for me of this job was that not many people ask me to just be myself for a character. And Ryan was like, she's this sort of cheeky British FBI agent… he wanted me to just do me." (Rebecca Hall, 24:18)
• She teases her next Murphy project: playing Abby Borden in "Monsters: The Lizzie Borden Story," opposite Ella Beatty.
  • "Ryan got in touch with me pretty soon after The Beauty and was like, so we've written you this part… she's just the most wildly demonic character you've ever met. That was just a joy for me to enter my villain era." (Rebecca Hall, 26:48)
• Hall’s inspiration for the villain role:
  • "I found it to be slightly like a hybrid of Vivienne Pickles in Harold and Maude… and Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest." (Rebecca Hall, 27:30)

3. Bette Davis Obsession

Segment: 28:15 – 30:17

• Hall has a lifelong fascination with Bette Davis:
  • "There's so much. I'm not old enough to play it, but it would be Bette Davis in Feud… I've had a long-standing obsession with Bette Davis since I was a child." (Rebecca Hall, 28:16)
  • She dreams of doing a series about the making of "All About Eve" and even has a tattoo inspired by a key "Now, Voyager" moment.
  • "I literally have a line drawing of a shot from Now, Voyager tattooed onto my side… it's the bit where she's gone from being a bit sort of, like, wearing clothes she's not comfortable in, to wearing a really iconic hat… and she's fully in her power. Yeah, that's my tattoo." (Rebecca Hall, 29:47)

4. Family, Music, and Artistic Influences

Segment: 34:48 – 37:02

• Hall, daughter of theatre director Peter Hall and opera singer Maria Ewing, shares her relationship with theater, opera, and music.
  • She recalls her parents’ preference for jazz over opera at home and now finds herself merging musically with her parents’ tastes.
  • On opera:
    "When it's done well, it can be the most purely accessible art form… but when it doesn't work, it does feel, like, elitist and strange." (Rebecca Hall, 35:39)
• Witty discussion on the tragedy of losing digital playlists due to international bank glitches:
  • "You just wake up and it's all gone and there's no way to bring it back." (Rebecca Hall, 37:59)

5. On Style: Red Carpet, Authenticity, and Personal Expression

Segment: 44:39 – 51:32

• Rebecca Hall discusses her approach to fashion, both on and off the red carpet:
  • She shares a stylist, Bailey Moon, with her husband (actor Morgan Spector), but avoids matching looks: "Bailey knows us well enough to know that would be roundly rejected." (Rebecca Hall, 44:59)
  • On her Thom Browne trompe l’oeil look: "It looked very scandalous, but it actually wasn’t at all… people thought I’d painted my body." (Rebecca Hall, 47:34)
  • On personal style:
    "The thing that you don’t get to do on the red carpet… is actually put together outfits... I really love doing that on a daily basis, even if no one is looking. So I will wear some fairly strange combinations of things." (Rebecca Hall, 50:01)
  • Hall celebrates dressing for mood over consistency:
    "For a while I thought that was terrible… but actually, I’ve just sat into the reality that I like to play, and every day is different." (Rebecca Hall, 50:35)

6. Creativity: Painting, Directing, and Beyond

Segment: 52:39 – 56:16

• Hall reveals painting, drawing, and other visual arts keep her creatively balanced.
  • On displaying her paintings:
    "Of course [it] felt massively vulnerable. But it also felt like a huge relief… This is the fullest expression of myself: to do the things." (Rebecca Hall, 53:44 & 55:57)
  • Hall credits her artistic plurality with making her a better actor and filmmaker.

7. Pop Culture & Reality TV Guilty Pleasures

Segment: 42:26 – 44:35

• Hall is a devoted "Real Housewives" fan, particularly "Salt Lake City":
  • "I'd love to base a character on Meredith Marks once in my life at some point." (Rebecca Hall, 44:01)
  • She describes her husband, Morgan Spector, as a little resistant but ultimately a secret fan.

8. Literary and Audiobook Recommendations

Segment: 40:11 – 42:00

• Hall recommends "The Ex-Wife" by Ursula Parrott:
  "I read this excellent book called The Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott… written in 1929, a very open, uncensored account of being an ex-wife in like flapper New York... My jaw was kind of on the floor reading it." (Rebecca Hall, 41:11)
  • Discusses enjoying audiobooks—she recorded "Howards End" while pregnant.

9. Film, Musicals, and Bob Fosse Admiration

Segment: 57:15 – 59:57

• Hall would love to direct a musical, is obsessed with Bob Fosse’s filmmaking and choreography, and revisits his work for inspiration.
  • "Sometimes I've always been quite obsessed with Bob Fosse as a filmmaker. 'All That Jazz,' I think is a masterpiece… And also his film of 'Cabaret' is incredible." (Rebecca Hall, 57:20)
  • Hall reminisces about watching Fosse’s “slide across the floor” in “Kiss Me Kate” on VHS growing up.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On entering her villain era:
  "She's just the most wildly demonic character you've ever met… just a joy for me to enter my villain era." — Rebecca Hall (26:48)

• On collaborating with Ryan Murphy:
  "Ryan's a very collaborative sort of maker, actually...he's still very open...the joys for me on this job was that not many people ask me to just be myself for a character." — Rebecca Hall (23:05–24:18)

• On personal style and play:
  "I really love doing that on a daily basis, even if no one is looking...for a while, I thought that was terrible...but actually, I've just sat into the reality that I like to play, and every day is different." — Rebecca Hall (50:01–50:35)

• On Bette Davis inspiration:
  "I literally have a line drawing of a shot from Now Voyager tattooed onto my side...she's fully in her power. Yeah, that's my tattoo." — Rebecca Hall (29:47)

• On the losses of digital life:
  "You just wake up and it's all gone and there's no way to bring it back." — Rebecca Hall (37:59, re: losing her playlists)

Key Timestamps

• [15:07–20:47]: Hall on "The Beauty," genre and horror’s appeal, and landing the role after a quintessential Ryan Murphy pitch.
• [21:23–26:24]: Navigating Murphy’s creative process, jump-starting with intense scenes, and the "villain era."
• [28:16–30:17]: Hall’s Bette Davis obsession and related tattoo.
• [34:48–37:02]: Music, theater, and family influences.
• [42:26–44:35]: Reality TV, Real Housewives fandom.
• [44:39–51:32]: Hall’s candid insights into personal style, red carpet dressing, and creative self-expression.
• [52:39–56:16]: Painting, vulnerability, and creative interconnection.
• [57:15–59:57]: Hall’s desire to direct a musical and her Bob Fosse fixation.

Additional Fun Moments

• Hall’s story about losing her iTunes playlists due to an international move (37:35)
• Her daughter’s K-pop jacket designs and family “crazy outfits” (51:44–52:13)
• Lighthearted banter on living with tattoo regret:
  "It is an exercise in living with regret, having a tattoo, I think. I think that's a healthy thing." — Rebecca Hall (31:12)

Tone and Language

The episode is conversational, witty, and open, marked by Hall’s dry humor and warmth. She is candid about insecurities, joyful in her creativity, and unpretentious about personal challenges and pop culture joys.

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