Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Billie Lourd, Gabourey Sidibe and Leslie Grossman reunited Thursday night in New York City for an hourlong PaleyFest panel devoted to American Horror Story, the FX anthology series from Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. Co-executive producer Lou Eyrich accepted the show's inaugural PaleyFest Award on the franchise's behalf before joining the cast onstage, all of whom appeared dressed in black, for a discussion of the show's legacy and its currently airing all-star crossover thirteenth season centered on the Coven witches.
Lange's Four-Character Deal
Lange had not been a series regular since season four's Freak Show, though she returned as a guest star for season eight's Apocalypse. When Murphy called about season 13, she said she would only come back if she could reprise all four of her original characters — Constance Langdon from Murder House, Sister Jude from Asylum, Fiona Goode from Coven and Elsa Mars from Freak Show. "I might consider if I can do all four characters that I had originated, and also work with all the rest of the actors. Because we were a repertory company, … and I loved that part of it, really, really loved that part," she said. Lange also revealed she pitched the Freak Show concept to Murphy herself, sending him a Taschen book of circuses, and that the idea to shoot in New Orleans was hers as well — an idea Paulson said later gave rise to Coven. "New Orleans is a good place to shoot … let's just say, we had a good time," Lange quipped. She named Elsa as her favorite character and Freak Show her favorite season to film, praising the outdoor set and the chance to sing despite, in her words, not being able to.
Paulson's Juggling Act
Paulson said she was already considering a return before Murphy called, and committed once she learned Lange was on board. She named Asylum her favorite season but admitted she never got to play Lana Winters because co-star Evan Peters balked at reprising an accent. In season 13, Paulson took on five roles — Cordelia Goode (Coven), Hypodermic Sally (Hotel), Ms. Wilhemina Venable (Apocalypse), Mamie Eisenhower (Double Feature) and Tuberculosis Karen (Double Feature) — her first run as a series regular since season 10, describing constant trips to the makeup trailer for "hair hats and a Sally wig."
The panel also surfaced a divide over season six's Roanoke, with Paulson repeatedly giving it a thumbs-down while Sidibe defended it as "an onion — it is a show inside of a show inside of a show!" A running joke emerged when Billie Lourd named Montana from 1984, her favorite season, as the character she'd most want to revisit, only for the room to recall that Lange has never seen 1984 — or any AHS season at all, including her own episodes.
What's Next for Coven
Sidibe said the Coven story isn't finished despite season 13's conclusion, recalling she told colleagues after filming wrapped that they'd "be back in six months." Grossman, who joined the Coven storyline later in Apocalypse rather than the original season three, agreed, saying the narrative "could go eight thousand different ways" and pointing to the sisterhood among the cast. Eyrich nodded in agreement that the Coven story isn't over, and Paulson teased that "the Coven becomes more central from now on" in the season. Lange, however, questioned whether this closes the entire series, noting Murphy had originally pitched season 13 as the franchise's last — though he has since changed his mind. Paulson reminded the room that Lange has claimed this before, with Lange adding, "We're not going to keep bringing these old bitches back. We've had enough!"
Photo: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en, via Wikimedia Commons
