Sarah Paulson, Angela Bassett and Ryan Murphy at the 'American Horror Story: 13' premiere on Sept. 23 in New York. Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images Logo text Don’t take American Horror Story season 13 for granted. According to Ryan Murphy, another season that brings together so many of the horror anthology’s returning stars likely won’t happen again.
At the New York premiere of AHS: 13, a day before the season first released, the co-creator, writer and director was asked whether he could envision doing another installment in the same vein as the show’s mega, all-star 13th season, which he has previously described as an “Avengers”-like effort.
“Never! Never, no, no,” Murphy told The Hollywood Reporter. “I don’t think it would ever happen again.
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“I don’t think I would ever want to do it again,” he added, while clarifying that he still hopes to work with the actors and bring back some of their characters. “I mean, I would like to work with all those actors and have some of the characters come back.”
Murphy and Brad Falchuk created AHS, which premiered on FX in 2011, with each season telling a different story. But despite the anthology format, Murphy has repeatedly brought back the same actors to play new characters — and, in some cases, reprise their past roles. AHS: 13 takes that concept further than ever, with stars including Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett and more returning to their iconic franchise roles.
Murphy said getting Lange back was a major draw for the season. The actress, who starred in the first four seasons of AHS before departing in 2015, had made public comments over the years indicating that she wouldn’t return to the series, for which she won two Emmy Awards.
“To get Jessica Lange to play four characters was, actually, it wasn’t hard,” Murphy said, before recalling how much her stance on returning had changed.
“I’ll never forget when I saw that moment on the red carpet, and she was like, ‘Christ, no,'” he said of Lange’s response when asked whether she’d ever return to the show. “And then I had dinner with her a year later, and she’s like, ‘All right.'”
Murphy also offered another reason he doesn’t want to repeat the all-star format: He’s happy with where the season leaves its returning characters.
“I like how it ends with a lot of the characters,” he said. “Some of them live, some of them die.” “So I think it would be different with other seasons,” he added.
That doesn’t mean Murphy plans to end American Horror Story anytime soon. In fact, he said he wants to continue making the series “forever” and is already writing for the next season, which he hopes will take the franchise international.
“I love doing it,” Murphy said of continuing to grow AHS. “I really want this show to go international. I’m interested in: what is an international version of Horror Story? That’s something I’m writing right now, maybe, but I don’t know — I just like branching out.”
Another Murphy series, The Beauty, also filmed internationally and premiered in January.
Murphy’s desire to keep expanding the franchise comes as AHS: 13 has delivered a strong start with audiences. The season debuted with the best streaming performance of any season premiere in the show’s history and has been in Nielsen’s Top 10 most-watched streaming programs each week since its release. It also marks Murphy’s biggest launch on Hulu and Disney+.
Still, while Murphy may not want to repeat the all-star format, the actors themselves aren’t necessarily closing the door on another reunion.
Paulson told THR, “I’ve always said you’re gonna have to drag me out of this universe kicking and screaming. I took season 11 and 12 off, so my appetite is churning again, and now I want more because I’m greedy that way. So if he wants me back, I’ll probably be back.”
Bassett is similarly optimistic about the possibility of reuniting with the AHS cast.
“The fans are a big part of what made this happen this time, so it is entirely possible,” she told THR. “Nothing like American Horror Story fans!”
Leslie Grossman added, “I think anything can happen at any time in the world of Ryan Murphy. This is a very special season, but who knows what will happen. If I’m invited to the party, I will go.”
Thursday night’s two new episodes will mark the midway point of season 13, following last week’s cliffhanger involving Cordelia, Paulson’s character from season three’s Coven, who also appeared in season eight’s Apocalypse. Cordelia seemingly died in the episode, although, as Murphy’s anthology has demonstrated many times before, anything can happen in the AHS universe.
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New episodes of AHS: 13 premiere Thursdays at 9 pm ET/PT on FX and 9 pm PT on Hulu, until the finale on Thursday, Oct. 29. Read all of THR’s season coverage here, including an explainer on how all the seasons connect.
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