Evan Peters is determined to prove that he's not a creep. A regular on Ryan Murphy's FX anthology series American Horror Story, he's played, among other characters on the show, a mentally disturbed ghost, a serial-killing hotelier, a manipulative cult leader, and—oh, yeah—Charles Manson.

Unfortunately, he's very good at being creepy. His latest role—on Murphy's Pose, a passion project for the producer and his last for FX, which explores New York City's ballroom scene of the '80s made famous by Madonna's "Vogue" and Paris Is Burning—is a shade lighter, but only barely. Peters plays Stan, an underling in Donald Trump's real estate business who's cheating on his wife with Angel, a transgender prostitute he meets on Christopher Street Pier. White and straight, Peters is still somehow the resident outsider on the defiantly uplifting Pose, which has a cast that is largely queer and trans, many of them people of color.

While it's rewarding, he'd like to get back to being Evan again. Out of costume, the 31-year-old actor (he looks much younger) sports the Regular Guy uniform: a black T-shirt and loose-fitting jeans, along with leopard-print Golden Goose sneakers that plead, I know how to have fun.

GQ talked to him about the more wearying parts of his job, cock socks, aspiring to romantic comedies, and why his acting idols are Tom Hanks and Robin Williams.

Shirt, $960, T-shirt, $575, and pants, $745, by Visvim / Belt, $165, by Camp Hero / Sunglasses, $666, by Mr. Leight

GQ: You end up in these incredibly intense roles in Ryan Murphy's shows and the new film American Animals.

Yeah, I'm not doing it anymore. I just made a decision. I said to myself, "I can't do it anymore." It's not me. It's not who I am!

You seem like a laid-back dude.

I'm goofy, I'm silly, I like to have fun. I don't like to yell and scream. I actually hate it. I think it's disgusting and really awful, and it's been a challenge for me. Horror Story sort of demanded that of me.

You've played some pretty freaky people.

I know, and it's been all a massive stretch for me and really difficult to do. It's hurting my soul and Evan as a person. There's this massive amount of rage that's been called upon from me, and the emotional stuff that's been called on me for Pose has been heartbreaking, and I'm sick. I don't feel good.