The Shards Producers Reveal Bret Easton Ellis’ Reaction

The Shards is based on Bret Easton Ellis‘ book of the same name, but is the author tuning in to the TV adaptation with the rest of the world.

“He saw some. He had been through a whole rigmarole with HBO [which originally planned to develop The Shards], and when he sold the book to FX and to Ryan [Murphy], he sat down with him and entrusted the characters and said, ‘Go do and go create,’” executive producer Brad Simpson exclusively told Us ahead of the Wednesday, September 9, season 1 finale.

Simpson, 53, noted that Ellis, 62, gave Murphy, 60, “permission” to “interpret his work” for a new medium.

“All I know is he’s watching week to week and occasionally mentioning it on his podcast,” Simpson continued. “You can go on his podcast and hear what he felt about the first couple episodes, and we’ll see if we hear more.”

He added: “Bret is a person who mainly speaks to the world through his podcast and through his writing these days. But I love the idea that he’s watching this unfold week to week in his living room.”

According to the official synopsis, The Shards is set in Los Angeles in 1981 and follows “a 17-year-old version of Ellis during his final year at the elite Buckley prep school.” His world is upended by the arrival of a mysterious new student, Robert Mallory, whose “unsettling presence coincides with the activities of a serial killer known as The Trawler.”

Igby Rigney portrays Ellis in the TV adaptation. The 2023 book was Ellis’ first in 13 years and has a disclaimer stating that all of its major players are fictional — apart from the narrator.

After publishing The Shards, Ellis recalled hearing from a former classmate who had seen themselves in a character. Ellis told Vanity Fair in 2023 that he received a Facebook message that read, “Of all the names you could have chosen, the name I hate the most is Debbie.”

Ellis also reflected on the larger inspiration behind The Shards.

“I’m not motivated to write a novel without feeling it, and that might be why a lot of my novels have that pervasive sense of dread,” he continued. “I think it just stems from where the books come from, and it’s a reflection of that. Conversely, if I’d been a happier guy, would I have been writing books? Would I be using the novel as a way to express this or communicate it? I don’t know. But that could have something to do with why I’ve been attracted to horror and used elements of it in my work.”

In addition to Rigney, 23, The Shards stars Kaia Gerber, Homer Gere, Hayes Warner, Graham Campbell, Evan Rachel Wood and Wes Bentley. Before the show’s August premiere, Rigney reflected on the challenges that came with the role.

“Ryan was really fun in the way that he directed us where he would have us do multiple takes multiple ways,” Rigney exclusively told Us.

The actor did not know which version would make the final cut.

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“We were never clued in on which take he was going to use. And then I’m sure some of those takes got combined to make it extra confusing,” Rigney continued. “But getting to have the narration sometimes was a little challenging on set though.”

He added: “Because everybody around me is having fun, and I’m staring deeply into the middle distance thinking about this big, long paragraph I have, but I’m not saying it out loud.”

The Shards airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on FX.