When you think of American Horror Story, Jessica Lange is one of many things that come to mind. The seasoned actress played iconic roles: Constance Langdon in Murder House and Apocalypse, Sister Jude Martin in Asylum, Fiona Goode in Coven, and Elsa Mars in Freak Show. Every scene with Lange has left its mark on the anthology horror TV series.
After Apocalypse, Lange admitted she returned to the show for Constance, otherwise, it wouldn’t have happened. “I did this because it was recreating Constance, which was – for me, it was a very important time when I did that first season, Murder House,” explained Lange. “But I don’t think I would want to start from scratch and create a character. And also, I think a lot of the actors that I was working with, people that I really love working with, like Sarah [Paulson] or Frances [Conroy] or Kathy [Bates] – I don’t know who’s in this new season, but I don’t think it would be the same.”
Although Lange won’t be seen in season nine, American Horror Story: 1984, she revisited her favorite AHS scene to shoot where she played Constance.
“To play a part like that, to play a scene like that, I find deliriously fun because it’s total abandon,” said Lange. “There’s no reason, there’s no logic. It’s just about the physical and emotional. So the idea that she is basically OD’ing and having these — are they visions, her children come to see her? It was my favorite scene to shoot, because there is a physical abandon to it that I always like to investigate.”
American Horror Story: 1984, goes back to a time period where camp-slasher movies became the new hit of horror. Emma Roberts, now a veteran AHS scream queen, returns as a new character, Brooke Thompson. Some other familiar faces will be Billie Lourd, John Carroll Lynch, and Leslie Grossman. Newcomers include Zach Villa, Cody Fern, Gus Kenworthy, Matthew Morrison, Angelica Ross, and Deron Horton.
American Horror Story: 1984 will premiere on September 18 at 10 p.m. ET on FX.