Posted in: FX, TV | Tagged: American Horror Story

American Horror Story: Paulson Talks AHS Break, "Longing" For Return

Ahead of her Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony, Sarah Paulson discusses needing a break from American Horror Story and "longing" to return.

While the excitement over learning that Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Ariana Grande, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Gabourey Sidibe, and Leslie Grossman would be starring in Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk's American Horror Story Season 13 may have settled down a bit, a whole lot of that energy has shifted to the fun part in all of this. Yup, that's right: speculation! Who else might be returning? Will the new season be a "Coven" and "Apocalypse" follow-up? Could this be the springboard for the long-rumored "Coven" spinoff? As we await those answers, the entertainment industry is set to give Paulson her flowers in a very big way with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ahead of the big event, Paulson spoke with Variety about her career – including why she needed to take a break from the AHS universe for a while.

"There's this phenomenon I've talked to other actors about that is really hard to describe unless you're running through the woods simulating terror for six months out of the year, every year," Paulson shared, explaining why she needed to step about from AHS. "Your body doesn't know the difference between the real and imagined, at least not the way I work. If I'm terrified, I'm hyperventilating, and I'm running from something, then I'm actually experiencing that." But Paulson is feeling the itch for a return, especially with her killer lineup of co-stars for Season 13. "I missed it, and I'm really looking forward to doing it again. It was like this dovetailing of my longing for it, and the idea that I would be reunited with [all of them] just came together at the right time," she added.

Paulson's AHS run began with 2011's "Murder House" (Billie Dean Howard), and would continue through 2012'a "Asylum" (Lana Winters), 2013's "Coven" ( Cordelia Goode), 2014's "Freak Show" (Bette and Dot Tattler), 2015's "Hotel" (Sally McKenna & Billie Dean Howard), 2016's "Roanoke" (Shelby Miller, Audrey Tindall & Lana Winters), 2017's "Cult" (Ally Mayfair-Richards & Susan Atkins), 2018's "Apocalypse" (Wilhemina Venable, Cordelia Goode & Billie Dean Howard),  and 2021's "Double Feature" (Tuberculosis Karen & Mamie Eisenhower).

"I don't know what to say because we know the same amount. We know a little tiny bit, and I know a little tiny bit, but what I know I can't say," Grande shared with Variety at the red carpet for the 2025 Governors Awards in November about what she knows so far (and what she can share) about AHS 13. "I am coming into the world in a way that I don't know much about yet. I received a text— a very exciting text— that I can't say much about. But I think I'll probably have a very tiny thing to do in it, but I'll be grateful to be a part of it because I love everyone involved."

In the clip below from earlier that month at the red carpet for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) Art + Film Gala 2025, Bassett acknowledged the AHS 13 news while teasing that she didn't know who she might be playing. From there, Bassett shared that she had hoped to return to the series and that they would find a way to make it work with production on ABC's 9-1-1. As for Grande officially joining the AHS Universe, Bassett had nothing but kind words for Grande's work ethic and that she's confident that the "Wicked" star will do just fine as a part of the all-star ensemble cast (with the reporter making the excellent point that Grande now has experience playing a witch, and let's not forget her turn as Piccola Grande, aka The Pickle Queen, in Showtime's Jim Carrey-starring Kidding).

Here's a look back at the announcement teaser that went out from Ryan Murphy Productions (set to the tune of Vera Lynn's cover of "I'll Be Seeing You"), with the new season set for Halloween 2026:

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