Anecdotes

During high school he was president of a Meryl Streep fan club.

He's famous for getting in touch directly with the actors he admires and wants to cast, proposing characters and assuring he would tailor them if needed.

His favorite movies of all time are Ma femme est une sorcière (1942), Pink Flamingos (1972), Female Trouble (1974) and Network - Main basse sur la TV (1976).

In June 2017, he, his production company Ryan Murphy Productions as well as FX, were sued by Olivia de Havilland due to what she felt was an unauthorized and inaccurate portrayal of her in the show Feud: Bette and Joan (2017)'s first season "Bette and Joan". A statement from her lawyers read: "Miss de Havilland was not asked by FX for permission to use her name and identity and was not compensated for such use." "Further, the FX series puts words in the mouth of Miss de Havilland which are inaccurate and contrary to the reputation she has built over an 80-year professional life, specifically refusing to engage in gossip mongering about other actors in order to generate media attention for herself.".

Worked as a freelance journalist before transitioning to show business. The television series Nip/Tuck (2003) was in fact inspired by an unpublished expose written by Murphy. The series' famous recurring line came directly from the plastic surgeon he met for a consultation: "Mr. Murphy, tell me what you don't like about yourself?".

While a guest on her radio program "Fresh Air with Terry Gross", Murphy told interviewer Terry Gross that he got his start in Hollywood while still a journalist when he sold a script called "Why Can't I Be Audrey Hepburn?" to Steven Spielberg during the 1990s. Murphy said that Spielberg was interested in the script in part because he had directed Hepburn in her last film, Pour toujours (1989). As of the time of the "Fresh Air" interview (May 2009), the script has never been produced.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6533 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on December 4, 2018.

Is a huge fan filmmaker John Waters. His favorite living filmmaker is David Fincher.

His maternal grandfather was born in Ålborg, Denmark. His other ancestry is Irish, as well as English, and smaller amounts of Welsh and German.