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"I come from an improvisational background, so I'm used to playing. I'm used to not knowing what exactly is going to come out." Naomi Grossman is an American actress from Denver, Colorado. Throughout her performing career, she has appeared in over fifty different projects. Despite being a stable fixture in Hollywood, Grossman is probably mostly tied to her recent work on the American Horror Story series. Grossman has portrayed multiple characters during her time on AHS en route to earning a substantial following.

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While Grossman is mostly known for her work on television, she has also spent a considerable amount of time behind the camera, as well. Grossman is a prolific writer and producer with 25 total credits shared between the two professions. As a Primetime Emmy-nominated actress with a number of different talents to her name, it appears that we are only starting to see what Grossman has to offer.

Early Life in Colorado

Naomi Grossman was born on February 6, 1975, in Denver, Colorado. While Grossman resided in Colorado for a number of years, the bulk of her life has existed outside of its borders. Grossman and her family would move to Argentina where she would spend attend high school. Grossman did not grow up with any siblings, and her parents are still together, to this day.

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While Grossman had shown signs of interest in the theater, she wouldn't start performing until long after she left Colorado and Argentina behind. Eventually, Grossman would end up at Northwestern University where she majored in theater. Northwestern University was one of the few universities that responded to her application, so she went and attended until her graduation. After graduating from Northwestern University, Grossman would set her sights on Los Angeles. 

After moving to Los Angeles, Grossman would end up joining the famous sketch comedy improv group, The Groundlings. Grossman would perform with The Groundlings for a while with the hope of eventually landing a job on Saturday Night Live. Unfortunately, The Groundlings would cut ties with Grossman, and she would temporary shelve her dreams of becoming a performer. Rather than mope about her career change, Grossman began to teach Spanish while setting her sights on other aspirations. As you'll soon find out, Grossman didn't spend too long away from the industry

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Late Career Success

As a professional actress, Grossman didn't make her television debut until 1990 as an extra in the series, Father Dowling Mysteries. Her next role wouldn't happen for another eight years when Grossman again played an uncredited extra on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1998). It was clear from early on that Grossman was going to have to fight in order to make her way in the industry. While some people never make that next step, Grossman merely had to be patient.

Grossman finally landed her first credited role in the short film, Marisa, Where Art Thou? (2000). Grossman would appear in almost a dozen shorts from 2000 to 2008 before landing her first feature film role. In 2009, Grossman performed in the film Table for Three alongside Jesse Bradford, Brandon Routh, and Sophia Bush.  It finally appeared to be that Grossman's career was on the up-and-up. Grossman would appear in another half dozen short films before sending in a mysterious audition tape in 2012. At the time, Grossman did not know what she was auditioning for as the producers were close-to-the-vest with that information. That project would end up being the first season of American Horror Story.

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From 2012 to 2018, Grossman appeared in 19 episodes of American Horror Story as Pepper and Samantha Crowe. She has been heavily featured in the series thanks to her willingness to shave off her hair, coupled with her own semi-short stature. Grossman was the first actor on the entire show to play two different characters. In the show, Grossman plays a microcephalic character, though she herself is simply short as there is a major difference.

After the success of American Horror Story, work came by significantly easier for Grossman. She would go on to appear as Reagan on the television series, Alley Way (2016) for nine episodes. From there, Grossman would appear in the series ctrl alt delete (2017) as Lorna. This role ended up being Grossman's most celebrated performance as she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy. Of course, Grossman has also made headway as a theatrical actress with feature film projects such as Short Straw (2018), Bite Me (2019), and 1BR (2019). Right now, Grossman is slated to appear in five feature films that are in development, including The Lurker (2019), The Ones, Sky Sharks, Murder RX, and The Initiation.