Naomi Grossman (born February 6, 1975) is an American actress.
Biography[]
Naomi wrote, produced, and starred in her second hit solo show, Carnival Knowledge: Love, Lust, and other Human Oddities, which enjoyed a twice-extended, sold-out run and rave reviews (“Recommended” by LA Weekly). It was then reprised at the world-famous fringe theatre festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, where it received more critical praise (4 stars: The Scotsman, Broadway Baby, Fringe Review) and a transfer to London’s West End (Leicester Square Theatre). It later went on to have a successful run Off-Off Broadway.
Naomi's first solo show, Girl in Argentine Landscape, also received critical acclaim (LA Weekly, “Pick of the Week”) and earned her an LA Weekly Theatre Award nomination for best solo performance. Naomi toured with Girl to Chicago's Single File Festival, the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival, the New York International Fringe Festival, and screened a subtitled video-version on the big screen in Argentina.
A former member of the esteemed Groundlings Sunday Company, as well as alumni of Improv Olympic, Naomi has written, produced, and starred in numerous comedic shorts under her “Red Meat Entertainment” banner, which have screened at the LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival, the TriMedia Film Festival, the Connecticut Film Festival, the Dam Short Film Festival, the Faux Film Festival, the Los Angeles Comedy Festival, the Wet Your Pants Comedy Film Festival, the Action On Film International Festival, and the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival. Naomi also made a cameo in the feature film, Table for Three.
A graduate of theatre from Northwestern University, Naomi has acted in several of Chicago’s illustrious, long-running, cult comedies: Cannibal Cheerleaders on Crack and Shannen Doherty Shoots a Porno at the Torso Theatre, as well as Attack of the Killer B’s and White Trash Wedding and a Funeral at the Factory Theatre.
Work on American Horror Story[]
Naomi Grossman portrayed Pepper, a woman afflicted with microcephaly in the second and fourth installments of American Horror Story, titled Asylum and Freak Show, respectively. Grossman later starred in the highly anticipated episode crossover of the eighth season, Apocalypse in the role of Samantha Crowe, a satanist.
In 2021, Naomi Grossman also starred in the American Horror Story spin-off, American Horror Stories as Rabid Ruth in the episode titled "Drive In".
Notes[]
- Naomi Grossman shaved her head for the role and had to undergo three hours of makeup/prosthetics application each day to transform herself into Pepper.
- Naomi Grossman is one of the twenty-five cast members that portrayed the same character in different seasons. She portrayed Pepper in Asylum and Freak Show.
- Pepper also made a small appearance in Cult, the seventh season of the show. She is seen when Ally hands her son, Oz a Twisty: The Clown Chronicles (comic book). We see performers from Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities on the cover, including Jimmy Darling, Meep, and Pepper.
Appearances[]
Story or Series | Character | Episodes |
---|---|---|
Asylum | Pepper | |
Freak Show | Pepper | |
Apocalypse | Samantha Crowe | |
American Horror Stories | Rabid Ruth | Drive In |