Why “The Beauty”'s Lux Pascal Describes Clara's Transformation on the Body Horror Show as a 'Fairytale' Moment (Exclusive)
Why “The Beauty”'s Lux Pascal Describes Clara's Transformation on the Body Horror Show as a 'Fairytale' Moment (Exclusive)
Stacy LambeThu, February 12, 2026 at 3:10 AM UTC
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Lux Pascal on 'The Beauty'
Warning: Spoilers for The Beauty season 1, episode 6, which aired on Wednesday, Feb. 11
Lux Pascal joins The Beauty for episode 6 of co-creator Ryan Murphy's body horror series
The actress talks to PEOPLE about about her character's transformation and explains why it's the FX thriller's one "fairytale" moment
She also opens up about acting on the show and Murphy's response to her performance
Lux Pascal is the latest buzzy guest star to join The Beauty following appearances by the likes of Amelia Gray Hamlin, Bella Hadid and more. She appears in episode 6 as Clara, a scientist working at Byron Frost's (Ashton Kutcher) corporation, where the tech billionaire is developing the body miracle drug he hopes to sell to the masses.
The episode largely serves as a flashback, picking up after Frost's own transformation in episode 5 and showing how the drug eventually spread beyond the secure laboratory it was being housed in and worked on by various technicians.
There, Mike (Eddie Kaye Thomas) and Clara (Rev Yolanda), two other employees with their own body dysmorphia and social anxieties, eventually learn about the product — and Mike becomes determined to get his hands on it so that he can not only transform himself but help Clara with the difficulties surrounding her gender transition.
After taking a dose, Mike goes through his own physical transformation, with a nearly nude Joey Pollari taking over the role from Thomas. Eagle-eyed fans may recognize the actor as someone who was seen roaming around Italy earlier in the show.
Yolanda (left) and Joey Pollari on 'The Beauty'
Mike then convinces Clara to take the drug. But she is hesitant, explaining that she's worried that it might not recognize her true female self and change her into something she's not.
"What if it gets confused? What if it doesn't turn me into what I'm supposed to be?" she frets, before eventually coming around to injecting herself. "I have to believe that if I'm the woman I know I am, that's what I'll become."
Unlike most of the horrific body transformations audiences have seen up until this point — with the person experiencing violent convulsions and then coming out of a cocoon covered in plasma — Clara's change is decidedly less traumatic, with her later waking up in bed (when Pascal takes over the role).
Getting out of bed naked, she approaches a mirror in her room and gasps in euphoria when she sees herself. "It really did work," Clara says before she turns to hug Mike and starts crying.
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Lux Pascal at 'The Beauty' premiere on Jan. 14, 2026
John Nacion/Variety via Getty
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Although Pascal was game for anything, including acting out the more violent transformations that Jordan Bennett (Rebecca Hall and Jessica Alexander) and Jeremy (Jaquel Spivey and Jeremy Pope) went through, she tells PEOPLE that Clara's way was a momentary respite from the more horrific moments on the show.
"It's kind of beautiful that someone gets this gift without the hardship because this person has had a hard enough time in her life," the actress says. "So, for this time, she gets to wake up without experiencing anything sinister or the gnarly goo covering her, you know?"
While Pascal was "enthralled by the story of this virus that makes people beautiful, but it's also lethal," she gets what sets Clara's story apart. "I just understand the level of longing that Clara must have been experiencing," she explains. "Then, to kind of just wake up as this vision that she's dreamed of herself being, I can understand that."
She explains, "It makes sense because, from what I can tell, this is a little bit like a fairytale."
As for stripping down in front of the camera — like many of her costars do post-transformation — Pascal had no qualms about it.
"I used to dance and I remember when I was quite young, I did a full dance piece with a dance company I was working with and we all had to be naked in front of a live audience. So, I think that has made me bulletproof whenever I have to be nude," she says, noting that "the set was so professional and clean and I was so protected."
When it comes to getting cast on The Beauty, Pascal tells PEOPLE it was something she was determined to be a part of. Although she's not new to the screen — previously appearing opposite her brother, Pedro, on Narcos and starring in the 2025 movie Miss Carbón — the actress has been waiting to make her Ryan Murphy debut.
"I've always been captivated by his vision throughout all the things he does. And honestly, I had been auditioning for a lot of his shows and finally this one was the right fit and I was just, like, so, so excited," Pascal says.
Luckily for her, she made an impact on the co-creator. "I hope I'm not overstepping when I say this, but I was just too excited when it happened. He personally messaged me after he had been viewing the show and they were doing the edits to finalize the episode," she recalls of Murphy. "He texted me this beautiful, heartfelt message — and it was so funny because I was having such a hard day that day, and that just turned it completely around. I was like, 'Hey nothing else matters.' "
New episodes of The Beauty air Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on FX and at 9 p.m. ET on Hulu.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
