‘American Horror Story: 13’: An Exclusive First Look at the New Season

In 2015, following the finale of American Horror Story: Freak Show, Jessica Lange—Oscar-winning actress and early AHS stalwart—announced to the press that she would not be returning for the anthology series’ fifth season. “We’ve had a great run. I have absolutely loved doing these four characters, and in all the madness, I loved the writers, actors, Ryan, the whole insanity of it,” she told the press at PaleyFest. But, “to cut to the chase, yes, I’m done.”

So how, more than a decade later, did Ryan Murphy mange to reel Lange back in as a season regular—and playing all of her former characters at once? Well, if there is one thing the veteran producer is known for, it’s delivering the unexpected.

For the better part of the last three decades, Murphy has created some of the most provocative shows on television, with American Horror Story being among his best-known and most enduring. Since debuting in 2011 with Murder House, the series went on to drop a rotating company of actors into totally different worlds every season—albeit with no shortage of crossovers and callbacks, most notably in Season 8, Apocalypse.

Now, the upcoming season—the show’s ominous 13th, arriving three years after Season 12, Delicate—is set to feature a slew of stars playing a medley of their most memorable AHS characters. While Lange will be reprising all four of her former characters, from Constance Langdon to Fiona Goode, Evan Peters will be playing five and Sarah Paulson will somehow step into six.

“I wrote a list of the top 10 characters. I read different polls. I’m always lurking online,” Murphy tells Vogue.

AHS: 13 will bring in some new characters, too—namely one played by Love Story’s Paul Anthony Kelly in a blond wig. Murphy refuses to share any further details about the part, other than that it is “the linchpin of the season.” Other actors joining the cast include the legendary John Waters, Alex Consani, Avantika Vandanapu, and Joey Pollari, whose character Murphy has described as another driver of the season’s storyline.

Below, Ryan Murphy opens up about developing the upcoming season, set to premiere September 24 on FX and Hulu.

Vogue: I read that your first call when conceptualizing this season was Jessica Lange. What about her and the characters that she plays made her indispensable to you?

Ryan Murphy: I think when you have a show like American Horror Story that has become so long-running and popular, you go back to the origin story of it. And Jessica, that first season, won every award on Earth. When I wanted to turn the show into an anthology, which at that time was really unheard of, she was the first to say, “Great.” And then we had Asylum, Coven, Freak Show, and she did a little bit on Apocalypse.

So I just thought the number 13 was infused with so much stuff in the horror genre, and I wanted to do a greatest hits season. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew that I could only do it with Jessica. So we had dinner, and she was telling me about how everywhere she goes, young people just bombard her and ask for autographs because they love that show so much. She said some funny thing about how, “Nobody comes up and wants to talk to [her] about Blue Sky or Tootsie. They just want to talk about American Horror Story.” That was the first time I had heard her talk about it in a very nostalgic, sentimental way. So I told her, “That’s funny. That’s why I wanted to meet you.” And I pitched her, and she said, “Great. I’m in as long as I have a musical number.”

And then from Jessica, I went to Sarah and Evan, and they all said yes instantly.

How have you found writing these “greatest hits” characters along with new characters?

I didn’t want to just do a Coven reboot. Everybody thinks that’s what it is; it’s not. I was very interested in the greatest villains we’ve done. And I felt that they only would come together if we had a new story anchored by a new person. That person is Joey Pollari. And the writing of it was interesting because Brad Falchuk and I fell back into the writing. I had new lieutenants with Ned Martel and Charlie Carver. And [they] grew up loving American Horror Story, so they knew all these characters. We just spent a long time working on it and filming it. It’s 13 episodes. But what I was interested in was bringing back the baddies and the classic characters. That was my goal.

Many of these actors are coming back and playing more than one of their characters. How did you make sure to maintain a clear boundary between those different parts?

The person who I think had the hardest time was Evan, because in one scene he had to play Tate/Rubber Man and Kai. So he had to have a conversation with himself. And I thought it was like, “Oh, this is going to be trouble.” But Evan is such a pro that I think it only took two takes.

The interesting thing is all of the actors looked back and watched all of the seasons. We had a vocal coach. In some cases we had a movement coach. We had many of the wigs and the clothes in storage that I owned, so we were able to bring them out. But it was a process. And sometimes, even in the writing of it, I thought, Oh, God. It’s going to take me a while to fall back into the writing rhythm of Constance. But it did not. I just was right back in it. Jessica said the same thing.

This was your first time directing American Horror Story again since Freak Show. How was that?

I was thrilled to be able to direct Jessica like I had directed her in Season 1. I always act out all the parts. I’m like, “Can I just act this out for you?” And I get to be the character I wrote, which she thinks is absolutely hilarious. Of course, I’m not a good actor, but it’s just to give her a sense of the movement and the rhythm. She’s the only actor I always work that way with.

You’ve called this season the Avengers of American Horror Story and said that everyone’s coming together to defeat this “ultimate evil.” Can you give a bit more background as to what that evil might be?

No, it’s a top secret. I can’t. But let me just put it this way: In many seasons, the [characters] have battled the Antichrist. The only hint I’ll say is, “Let’s go above his pay grade for this.” That’s my clue.

And you’ve also said that this season is a tribute to the first few American Horror Story seasons. Do you have a favorite one?

I do, and whenever I tell Jessica or Sarah or Evan, they’re like, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” My favorite season is Roanoke, which is a lot of people’s least favorite season. I liked the structure and the dramaturgy of it. It was challenging for me.

You’re obviously always working on so much at the same time. The Shards has just come out and the new installment of Monster is out next month. Are you always working on projects in different stages or do you go through developing periods, and then producing and shooting periods?

I’m always just working on things. Sometimes I work on something for months and months and months, and I’m like, it’s not time, and I put it aside. For example, I developed American Horror Story before Glee. I was working on that for four years before I made it. Things bubble up and things go down. But I’m always working, and I’m always trying to be creative and I’m always trying to give people jobs and employ a lot of people. I have loyal crews that I’ve had for 20 years. I think it’s a gift to be able to create. My favorite word in the world is yes.

This conversation has been edited for length.