Random Casts Of ‘American Horror Story’ (13 items)

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  (#1) Evan Peters

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  Evan Peters knows himself well. He told GQ in 2018:

  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.

  How did such a laid-back person end up playing some of the most demented characters in the show's history? Evans says he had to take himself quite far out of his comfort zone. "It's just exhausting. It's really mentally draining, and you don't want to go to those places ever in your life," he said.

  He does, however, take measures to ensure the negativity of his work doesn't affect him: "I fight really hard to combat that [darkness] and make sure that I'm watching comedies and [spending time] with my fiancée... and chilling with friends and watching movies."
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  (#2) Sarah Paulson

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  Sarah Paulson has been one of the shining stars of American Horror Story since its inception, and she has appeared in every season thus far, apart from 1984. The show's anthological approach to tackling a new storyline or horror trope each season has kept her on board with every installment.

  She shared in an interview with Collider:

  It’s the beautiful and terrible part of American Horror Story, from an acting standpoint. Every year, you get to try something completely different, and it’s an entirely new story. Artistically speaking, you just never get that lucky.

  Paulson is outspoken about her love for the show, and she even went behind the camera in 2018 when she directed the sixth episode of Apocalypse. She obviously enjoys her work, saying in the same Collider interview, "I’d rather be on American Horror Story than on anything I could think of, ever.  If you’re in the group of actors that Ryan Murphy wants to write for, you count your lucky stars."
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  (#3) Angela Bassett

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  In addition to acting in five seasons of American Horror Story, Angela Bassett has also directed two episodes: Roanoke's sixth installment and Cult's ninth. Bassett, however, isn't the biggest fan of the horror genre, as she confessed to Collider:

  I don’t really like horror shows, horror movies, or any of that. I’m really a lightweight, in terms of that.

  Bassett does, however, look past the gore and terror in the show for inspiration: "What I saw, in addition to the horror, was that the writing was so wonderful and the characters were so realized. It wasn’t just fright night, so I could appreciate that."
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  (#4) Lily Rabe

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  Actress Lily Rabe brings an exquisite vulnerability to all the characters she plays on American Horror Story, and she thrives on the challenges brought to her by the show's demanding scripts. "It’s all over the spectrum in terms of information, so you just have to be ready to roll with the punches and be on your toes. You have to be pretty game," she said to Rolling Stone.

  Rabe feels a great sense of camaraderie with the cast and crew, also revealing to the magazine:

  It’s a massively appealing thing; a television show. You have a steady job for five or six months and you have this feeling of family. And yet you get this incredible luxury of playing someone new every year.
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  (#5) Kathy Bates

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  American Horror Story fans were delighted when horror icon Kathy Bates signed on to play Madame Delphine LaLaurie on Coven. In a press interview for Coven's debut, she told a journalist, "I’m just hoping they don’t ask me to do something really horrific." As indicated by subsequent seasons, however, Bates seemingly adapted to the type of gruesome horror the show is known for.

  Later in the interview, she pointed to the series's exploration of female identity in culture as one of the reasons she initially signed on, saying:

  It throws that patriarchal view of women in your face. That idea of woman as witch, and woman as mysterious and powerful, is one of the underlying messages of the show.
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  (#6) Taissa Farmiga

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  Taissa Farmiga was very young and relatively inexperienced when she was cast in the first season of American Horror Story. She learned much about the industry during filming, as she confided to Rogue magazine:

  I love people-watching, and when I’m on set, that’s the best place to do it because I’m working with actors who have been doing this for years and years, and they have so much history and experience, even in how they walk into a room and the way they present themselves and hold themselves. One of the first times I worked with Jessica Lange, I remember just staring.

  Farmiga seemed to fit right in, and she returned for two other seasons: Coven and Roanoke. She appreciates the show's skill in mixing camp and terror, claiming, "I hate being scared. I hate watching dark things. If I’m picking a movie or TV show to watch, I go comedy all the way, but I love playing [dark] stuff."
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  (#7) Gabourey Sidibe

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  Gabourey Sidibe didn't take her own acting abilities into consideration when she explained why she was cast in Coven:

  American Horror Story has been my favorite show since it first aired and, somehow, I ended up on it! I can only speculate that I did something nice for someone once and so my prayers were answered.

  She shared in the same Parade interview that she immediately accepted when she saw Ryan Murphy's name attached to the show. "I knew I’d be challenged in a certain way and I knew that I needed to just go for it without knowing what would be asked of me because the reward would be greater than the risk."
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  (#8) Jessica Lange

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  Jessica Lange has strong opinions about how her seasons of American Horror Story compare - she appeared in every season up until Apocalypse. She agreed with Gold Derby's analysis, saying:

  Of the four that I did, I would put them in exactly the order that you just did, Asylum first, Freak Show second, Murder House third, and then Coven, which was the other season that I did, in fourth place.

  Lange, whose acting in the show earned her two Emmys, fed off the frenetic energy on set. "You never had time to prepare," she explained. "You never knew where your character was going. You never knew the next scripts, when you were even going to get it. Sometimes you’d only get it the morning when you would start shooting that episode."
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  (#9) Frances Conroy

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  Frances Conroy has been a mainstay throughout the ensemble series, and her poise and elegance is visible in each of the seven seasons she appears in. Conroy, a seasoned performer, doesn't act in American Horror Story to appease audiences. In fact, she doesn't consider what viewers think at all, as she explained to HuffPost:

  No, I can’t [look at fans' reactions] because that’s like going into a house of mirrors. I’m not interested in looking in a mirror. I’ve got to create this and I don’t go to the response of what I’m creating. I have to keep creating it. Whatever response comes out, that’s fine, that’s what the audience gets to have.

  According to her, she's far more interested in developing her characters, saying later in the interview, "I just know Ryan wanted me to play a character. I said, ‘Oh cool, that’s great.’ Then we did hair, makeup, and wardrobe tests and he’ll kind of give you an idea and lead and let you play with it."
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  (#10) Emma Roberts

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  Emma Roberts was excited to be a cast member of American Horror Story long before her dream finally came true with Coven. Apparently, she never passed up an opportunity to ask the show's creator, Ryan Murphy, about her chances whenever they crossed paths. As she told Collider:

  Anytime I’d run into him anywhere, 'cause we’re kind of friendly, I’d be like, "When are you gonna put me on American Horror Story?" And he randomly just called me one day. It was so surreal.

  She tried her best to stay professional when she was finally asked to join the show, but this was no small feat for the AHS super fan. She admitted, "I was jumping around my house like, 'Yes! Yes! Yes!'"
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  (#11) Billie Lourd

  Billie Lord is a relatively recent addition to the show, appearing in every season since 2017's Cult. She's overjoyed to have been brought into what she calls "the coven," working with the actors she's admired for so many years. "I feel so lucky, I pinch myself every day. It's so fun," she told Entertainment Tonight. She opened up from there, going so far as to say that the show saved her life:

  [Being on the show has] been really healing and cathartic in an amazing way, and getting to be around all the incredible people on set, they've become like a family to me, and I cannot thank Ryan enough. Honestly, it kind of saved my life.
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  (#12) Lady Gaga

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  Pop star Lady Gaga got to play a vampire queen and an ancient witch in Hotel and Roanoke, respectively. With her reputation as a fierce musical icon, many fans expected that she would be able to portray these intense characters with ease. This wasn't so simple for her, however, as she confessed to Variety:

  The truth is that it’s actually very challenging to be sincere when you have all of that [makeup] on. It’s not comfortable. It’s never been comfortable for me.

  She also doesn't want her acting to be perceived as her branching out from music. "I don’t give a f*ck about that. It is completely unfulfilling to me," she said. "It does nothing for my soul. What I did want was to be taken seriously as an actress."
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  (#13) Cheyenne Jackson

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  Cheyenne Jackson made his American Horror Story debut in Hotel, and he's been a regular cast member ever since, with the exception of 1984. The actor, whose background is in comedy, never knows what to expect on set when he's filming the anthology series. He told Vanity Fair:

  There definitely are days where we’re like, "Oh my god." You know, special effects, and somebody walks by and they’re covered in goo. It's just another day at the office.

  Jackson is on board for the uncertainty of the plot as each season progresses, saying, “They kind of keep us in the dark - which I love."

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