Hayes Warner has joined Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel “The Shards” as a series regular, Variety has confirmed. The FX thriller series also stars Kaia Gerber, Igby Rigney, Homer Gere and Graham Campbell.
From 20th Television and Ryan Murphy Productions, “The Shards” is a semi-autobiographical story that follows Ellis as a 17-year-old student at the elite Los Angeles private school Buckley in 1981. Unsupervised by largely absent parents, Ellis’ friend group lives a fast-paced teenage life of drugs, sex and alcohol. But when a mysterious new student, Robert Mallory, penetrates their orbit, they realize his unsettling behavior lines up with the activities of a serial killer known as The Trawler.
Warner will play the role of Debbie. A New York-born actor and singer best known for her songs “Predator,” “Breadcrumbs,” “Shut Up” and “Dead to Me,” Warner’s music blends big pop choruses with a rock sensibility. She graduated from Northwestern University with a musical theater degree and has since racked up millions of streams with her original music. Warner has also written songs for projects including Netflix’s “The Barbie Chronicles” and Disney’s “The Descendants” franchise.
“The Shards” was announced to be in development at FX in May, with Max Winkler tapped as director. Murphy, Ellis and Winkler serve as executive producers alongside Nick Hall, Kathleen McCaffrey and Brian Young. Back in 2023, a different “Shards” adaptation was set up at HBO, with Ellis serving as a writer and executive producer. Luca Guadagnino and Kristoffer Borgli both circled the project before it fell apart and a new adaptation was devised under Murphy.
FX did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment. Deadline broke the news.