According to Variety, during the American Horror Story Paleyfest panel at the Dolby Theater stage, showrunner Ryan Murphy revealed who exactly will be returning for the upcoming season of the anthology series.
The returning cast members include Finn Wittrock, Cheyenne Jackson, Wes Bentley, Matt Bomer, Angela Bassett, Denis O’Hare, Kathy Bates, and Sarah Paulson. Joining the cast on stage was Murphy and the show’s other creator Brad Falchuk and executive producer Tim Minear. Lady Gaga who wasn’t on stage also previously announced that she would be returning for season five.
Murphy stated “I will tell you that every darling person up here that wants to come back can come back.” Unfortunately, Murphy did not reveal the title of the new season nor the theme. However, he did say that they have been working on two specific ideas.
Murphy also said that “the show has always felt to me like an opera,” He further explained how “both of the things we’re writing right now will have a certain feel. But, I think I know what the winner is.”
Before the show’s cast and creators went on stage to talk about the upcoming fifth season, the event showed a screening of one of the episodes from American Horror Story: Hotel.
One particular scene that might have seemed a bit off was how Paulson played a second character on the show. Throughout most of the season she played Sally, a heroine-addicted spirit and towards the end of the season she also portrayed a psychic TV star Billie Dean Howard. Regarding this choice Murphy said “The deeper we go into the series we will see that it is a definite universe and all of the worlds are connected.” “I think it’s interesting that we had an episode where Sarah played two of her characters in one,” said Murphy.
Murphy gave credit to his network for believing that the show would be successful. He also indicated how having children has impacted how he creates content and even inspired the anthology series.