Grossman, now 54, married filmmaker Sascha Penn in July 2025

NEED TO KNOW

• Leslie Grossman, 54, said she never expected to find love again before meeting her husband, Sascha Penn, when she was 50
• The couple eloped in July 2025 before celebrating with an intimate New Year’s Eve dinner planned by Grossman’s longtime friend Ryan Murphy
• Grossman said Murphy persuaded her to celebrate her second marriage, resulting in “one of the best nights of our lives”

Leslie Grossman says she never expected to find love later in life.

The 54-year-old actress — who married her husband, filmmaker Sascha Penn, in 2025 — caught up with PEOPLE exclusively during an American Horror Story: 13 event at PaleyFest NY in New York City.

During the conversation, Grossman revealed that while marriage has been “really great,” she had “no idea” it was in store for her.

“I was married before, and I met my [current] husband at 50 years old. And so it really is a whole new chapter that I get to live,” she tells PEOPLE.

“And I always say, you have no idea. You have no idea what’s around the next corner. I never would have seen this for myself. And to me, the absolute love of my life and the person that I was always supposed to be with in this part of my life has been very, very special,” she adds.

Grossman was previously married to Jon Bronson for 20 years before he filed for divorce in April 2020. The pair share a daughter, Goldie. Penn has three children from a previous relationship.

While speaking to PEOPLE, Grossman spoke about her intimate wedding reception, which took place several months after she and Penn eloped on Martha’s Vineyard in July 2025. The party — which was held over New Year’s — was planned by her longtime friend and creative collaborator, Ryan Murphy.

“Mr. Murphy did plan it,” she says.

The American Horror Story actress added that she initially wasn’t planning on having much of a celebration given that it was her second wedding, but Murphy persuaded her she should.

“When you get married a second time, you’re like, ‘Eh, it’s okay. We eloped,’ ” she recalls. 

“And [Murphy] said, ‘Everybody loves you. We wanna celebrate this. And that’s that.’ And when Mr. Murphy tells you that, you say, ‘Okay, thank you.’ And he threw the most lovely, magical New Year’s Eve dinner for us. Very tiny — just our closest friends and family. And it was wonderful,” she continues.

“And he was right —  of course he was right — and it ends up being like one of the best nights of our lives,” she adds.

Grossman and Murphy first worked together on the teen show Popular, which Murphy co-created and aired on the WB for two seasons from 1999 to 2021. They went on to work together in a number of other projects, including multiple seasons of American Horror Story and Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.

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While previously speaking to PEOPLE about her intimate wedding celebration — which was held at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles — Grossman revealed that the dinner had “a winter wonderland vibe.”

She added that the evening was attended by friends like Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor, who gave “the most lovely speech.”

Murphy’s toast was “incredible” too, Grossman added.

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