American Horror Story has now technically branched out as a franchise to include American Horror Stories, and there were some who believed that branching out could actually mean a divergence. However, after American Horror Story season 11 was confirmed to be arriving this fall, a new report claims several familiar faces are coming with it.
American Horror Story having familiar faces return should not be an earth-shattering revelation, considering producer Ryan Murphy appears to like having some of the same actors play different characters from one season to the next. In fact, there have been very few actors who have appeared in the series who haven't appeared in at least a couple of seasons.
Deadline reports that at least three repeat performers are going to perform once again in American Horror Story this season. Zachary Quinto, Billie Lourd, and Patti Lupone have all been said to be appearing this year, according to the website's sources. Isaac Powell, who has also appeared in American Horror Stories is set to make an appearance on the main show as well this fall. Quinto and Lourd both have multiple appearances as multiple characters in the long-running franchise. Lupone has starred in just one other season, all the way back in 2013. There are also some new faces to AHS who have appeared in other Ryan Murphy-produced shows and will be part of season 11.
Sandra Bernhard will join the show this fall after previously headlining in FX's Pose and Joe Mantello, who appeared in Netflix's Hollywood and HBO's The Normal Heart, will take on a role as well. While it's possible that the new list of who is going to be showing up in season 11 isn't entirely complete, there are a couple of names not mentioned that stand out. Dennis O'hare has appeared in more seasons of AHS than almost any other return actor. He's also appeared in an episode of American Horror Stories this summer. So far, he has not been included in the recent list of big names who will show up later this fall.
There's also the very obvious absence of Sara Paulson, who didn't star in the first season of the long-running show but has had at least a small part in almost every season after that. There have been whispers in the industry that she's ready to leave the horror anthology behind, even if she has continued to appear in Murphy projects such as Ratched.
American Horror Story season 11 is due out in fall 2022.
Source: Deadline