Last month Ryan Murphy guested on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live and revealed that Golden Globe winner Jessica Lange will return to his FX anthology series American Horror Story. He also let slip that four other actors from the first season of the show will be back in season two. AHS opened the 2012 PaleyFest last night, and in front of critics and fans of the show, Murphy confirmed the returning actors and they are: Zachary Quinto (he played the gay previous murder house owner Chad Warwick), Lily Rabe (she played Nora Montgomery, the baby-obsessed wife of the original murder house owner Dr. Charles Montgomery), Sarah Paulson (the mysterious medium Billie Dean Howard who could speak to the spirits in the house and (we think) rightfully predicted the birth of the demon baby), and (drum roll, please) Evan Peters (the son of Lange’s Constance character Tate Langdon).
Besides announcing the returning lineup, Murphy and co-creator Brad Falchuck remained mum about season two plot details. Here is what the panel got out of them. “We don’t want to talk about it too much, we’re still writing, anybody could pop up at any time,” said Murphy when questioned about the return of Quinto, Rabe, Paulson, and Peters. He added that “everyone is playing the opposite of what they played before.” (As we already know, AHS has been called an anthology series and each season will take place in a new location featuring all new characters.)
A day before the panel, EW reported Lange’s comeback and during that interview Murphy hinted that the next season of the show will revolve around her new character. Chew on this quote: “We have designed the second season of American Horror Story completely around her [Lange’s] character. Last year Jessica came in with Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott. This will really be the Jessica Lange show so I’m very excited about it. We are designing this amazing new opposite of the Constance character for her. She and I have spoken about different things. She has a lot of ideas, and has a lot of input into her character. She told me some things she has always wanted to play as an actress. She’s a great collaborator and a great friend.”
Back at the panel, a few more morsels of intel surrounding season two were dropped: Quinto is set to play one of two male leads; Murphy: “A supernatural element will always be a part of the show. But we’re trying to do something more historically accurate”; Murphy again: “Our only rule is no werewolves, and no vampires”; and in the first season Lange’s Constance alluded to a fourth child she had and Murphy shared that “We have not lost sight of the fourth child. We want to answer that.” So perhaps some things will bleed from season one into proceeding seasons. We shall have to wait and see.
American Horror Story begins production on season two this July with an expected October premiere date.