With some of television’s most interesting characters, the popular TV series American Horror Story brings our deepest, darkest nightmares to life. Pepper’s tale is possibly one of the most memorable from the show’s first season, which aired in 2011.

To turn into the small-headed Pepper, a fan-favorite character that first debuted in season two’s Asylum, Naomi Grossman had to go through a significant transformation.

Naomi is unrecognisable from her FX counterpart sans the prosthetics, thick make-up, fat costume, and artificial teeth.

Pepper has a distinct look, with a quirky smile and a single tuft of hair neatly wrapped in a bow.

Grossman transforms into the memorable mental patient-turned-circus performer after three hours in the makeup chair, replete with buck teeth, a shaved head, and artificial ears. And that’s only the beginning.

“People tell me, ‘Oh, I could never [sit so long for of the makeup],’” Grossman tells Us Weekly. “To which I say, ‘Really, you couldn’t go to your job, and lay back and close your eyes for three hours?’”

“Granted, on a sixth day in a row of shooting, when my skin is super-tender from having glue applied to the same place everyday, I think about how quaint it would be to act with my own face,” Grossman continues. “I wouldn’t be Pepper without all those prosthetics. She’s been so good to me, and she’s such a joy to play,” the stage actress acknowledges.

Not that the procedure is without its flaws. “The one contact lens. It blinds me in that eye, so I’ve been known to take a tumble!” Grossman says. “Those intense, close-up scenes when I have to look into someone else’s eyes and really communicate? Forget about my eyeline—that’s all over the place.”

Naomi was determined to become Pepper in the Emmy Award-winning show despite her personal ego.

“I’ve never been told I was so pretty until I played the ugliest person on TV. But now I have a twin!” The actress recently revealed.

Naomi’s Pepper costume requires her to shave her head, a dramatic hairstyle she has grown to love.

‘I wasn’t anxious to have my head shaved, by any means, but now that I’ve done it, it’s not really a big deal… It’s an empowering feeling,’ she told People Magazine.

In fact, Naomi was taken aback when she discovered that her new style had piqued the interest of the opposite sex.

‘I definitely never thought I’d have male attention again but that’s certainly not the case. Probably quite the opposite… Confidence is attractive to anyone, and there’s nothing like walking around with a bald head – a woman, that is – exuding confidence,’ she added to the website.

Pepper originally debuted in Ryan Murphy’s successful sitcom in the second season before returning for the fourth.

“I think she’s a team player and she goes along with the group,” Naomi said of the misunderstood and at times aggressive character. “If anything, if she gets involved in something that might be referred to as aggressive, it’s probably because she’s being steamrolled by the others. I’d call her playful. Playful and innocent.”

Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST, watch American Horror Story: Freak Show on FX.