Martin Hearn
While we still know very little about the plot of the upcoming ninth season of American Horror Story we do know that returning main cast members are dropping like flies. After learning that Evan Peters won’t be returning at all, it’s now reported that Sarah Paulson won’t be appearing in any sort of significant role. This doesn’t rule out a brief cameo but no doubt her fans will be upset not to have her make a full appearance.
After it was revealed that Emma Roberts and Gus Kenworthy were the first casting announcements for the season, I did wonder what this meant for Paulson. She is usually the first to be announced and I knew she had taken on a lot of other work this year which could stop her appearing. Aside from working with Ryan Murphy on the Netflix show Ratched, she’s also working on the FX show Mrs. America, as well as two movies: Abominable and The Goldfinch. She’s a busy woman!
Paulson has been the driving force of the show in recent years and has bagged five Emmy nominations for her performances. As much as I love Emma Roberts, I don’t think she’ll be able to replace Paulson as the main female role in the show. She’s an incredible actress but Ryan Murphy always seems to write characters that aren’t very different for her.
It was also announced recently that Billy Eichner wouldn’t be returning either. After appearing as multiple characters in the last two seasons he announced via his Twitter that he wouldn’t be returning this year. His Tweet read, “Thank you! I can’t do AHS this year but boy oh boy I had a blast and I love all those crazy kids a lot.”
The season premiere is just a little over two months away and we still know next to nothing. I’m unsure whether this is good or bad. Usually, we know who to be expecting on our screens at this stage, but this year we just don’t. A lot of the cast are involved with various other projects this year so maybe we’ll be getting a whole new generation of American Horror Story actors?
With Ryan Murphy himself having so many projects on the go I have my worries about the quality and future of the show. The last few seasons haven’t kept up the same amazing standard the show once had, and I always feel it’s because Murphy is invested in his other projects, which just never seem to stop being announced.
Hopefully, we’ll have some great casting news for you soon. American Horror Story: 1984 premieres on FX on September 18th.
