American Psycho's Alice Ripley & Jennifer Damiano on Fervent Fans, Adoring Benjamin Walker & Their Incredible Bond

Among the many reasons to love American Psycho is the show’s inspired casting of Alice Ripley and Jennifer Damiano in featured roles. The actresses forged a deep bond during multiple acclaimed runs as mother and daughter in Next to Normal, and now they’re sharing the stage as serial killer Patrick Bateman’s haughty mom and devoted young assistant. Their characters interact briefly in the haunting duet “Beautiful Child/Nice Thought,” and for the rest of the show, Ripley gamely cavorts through multiple bloody scenes as an ensemble member. During a pre-performance chat the day after Damiano’s 25th birthday, the stars listened intently to each other while reflecting on the gift of working together on Broadway again almost a decade after they met.

Q: You two have known each other since Jenn was 16. How has your relationship changed?

ALICE: We were talking about this the other day. I asked if it’s like a sister thing or a mother/daughter thing, and she said, “No, just friends.” I like it better that way. I’ve watched you grow up, but you still seem like Jenn to me.

JENN: At the time we first met, I thought I was so much older, but I look back now and realize I was so young! We’ve had so many conversations and shared so many moments, and you’ve seen me in so many states of mind.

Q: What do you admire most about each other?

ALICE: Jennifer’s heart sets her apart from everybody. It’s the thing that makes her the most beautiful, and that’s before you look at her face. She is close to her family—she and her two siblings all have birthdays in the same week—and that’s another nuance of her character that is really awesome.

JENN: If I had to choose one thing, it would Alice’s dedication to living a fearless life. I struggle with anxiety and I have a lot of fears, but I’ve never met anyone who is as fearless as you.

ALICE: I’ve been committed to personal growth since I was a teenager, and I’m a believer in the idea that your thought is the only thing that matters. When you get afraid or sad or frustrated, you have the power to take the “I am not enough” tape out of the recorder and put another one in.

Q: What’s it like to play these characters in American Psycho? In real life, Jenn is not a mousy secretary and Alice is certainly not a Park Avenue matron.

JENN: I try to work against her being mousy or quiet, and more toward [portraying] just a grounded human. Benjamin [Walker] makes it easy for the audience to believe someone could be in love with Patrick. It could easily become a strange, masochistic relationship, but he brings a vulnerability in our scenes that’s really helpful for my character.

ALICE: Mrs. Bateman was a tough one because there’s no sex [to the character] at all, and I don’t necessarily know how to play that. She’s from the neck up. But now that I’m in it, I want to stay in Mrs. Bateman’s world all the time because it’s so foreign to me and so fascinating.

Q: Alice, you are very much part of the ensemble in this show. Are you enjoying that?

ALICE: I absolutely love it. Don’t get me wrong: I love having my own song and being the center of attention, but I also love being part of the group and making the show work in a more anonymous way. American Psycho reminds me of my track in Tommy, my first Broadway show. It’s similar conceptually and has that rock ‘n’ roll streak. I think I had nine wigs in Tommy, and in this show I have 11 changes, from a two-tone curly Mohawk to the Nancy Reagan look.

Q: You two experienced the good side of awards season with Next to Normal. How is the American Psycho cast dealing with being overlooked for major Tony nominations?

ALICE: The morale is higher than ever. There’s something about rock 'n’ roll that makes you go…

JENN: …this is what it is. This is what we’re doing!

ALICE: We don’t get upset about people who don’t get the show as long as the people who keep coming do get it. If I was in the audience, I would really dig this, and I would want to come back again to try to figure it out.

JENN: Everyone I meet at the stage door is on the third or fourth time.

ALICE: The [American Psycho] book is fascinating, and the movie was one of my favorites, but the musical tells the most complete version of the emotional story. You really get to know Patrick. I was shocked when Benjamin was left off the Tony list because his performance is spectacular, but we don’t do this for accolades. When you’re not invited [to the Tonys] it doesn’t mean your work isn’t worthy.

Q: Both of you have fervent fans and are active on social media. How do you navigate those relationships?

ALICE: [Turning to Jenn] Do you get tired of my fervency toward you as a fan?

JENN: I was going to say, there’s this one fan in particular named Alice Ripley.

ALICE: Facebook and Twitter and Instagram are excellent ways to keep in touch with the audience and maintain your image an actor. Jennifer is the queen of social media. She puts up a cute Instagram and an hour later 800 people like it.

JENN: It’s an amazing tool. I enjoy communicating that way, and you never know when something you say will make someone’s day.

ALICE: I have fans I’ve known since my first show. Some fans have become real friends of mine. The fans that have been with Emily [Skinner] and me since Side Show watched us grow up, so when we do our [cabaret] show “Unattached,” they are happy to see that we’ve still got it!

JENN: When I got Next to Normal, Natalie became a huge inspiration for young girls dealing with anything emotionally in high school, so a lot of people attached me to the role that helped them through so much. I get fan mail saying, “I don’t dance, and my teacher says I’ll never be on Broadway.” And I say, “Well, I’m writing to you from my dressing room to say that I can’t dance at all and here I am, so you’ll be fine.”