‘HORROR’ RETURNS, EDGE
`Horror Story' gets drawn to new personalities
Even after a visit to the show's set at 20th Century Fox Studios in Los Angeles, details of “American Horror Story: Cult” were murky in the immediate aftermath.
And that was precisely to be expected, because one of the FX franchise's great appeals for mentor Ryan Murphy is in trying to keep specific plot points as unexpected as possible. In fact, during the set tour for the seventh “Story” — which starts its run Tuesday — production designer Jeff Mossa made clear there was a lot he wouldn't say, to make sure he didn't breach Murphy's desire for secrecy.
This is now known, though: This season of the anthology is about what Murphy terms the “cult of personality,” as exemplified by such individuals as Charles Manson, Jim Jones and David Koresh. They're all played by “American Horror Story” veteran Evan Peters, who also portrays a present-day politician on the rise. Series staple Sarah Paulson (an Emmy winner last year as Marcia Clark in Murphy's “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”) and “American Horror Story” newcomer Alison Pill (“The Newsroom”) also are pivotal as personal and professional partners who operate a restaurant.
“Election Night” is the title of the first “Cult” episode, but executive producer and longtime Murphy associate Alexis Martin Woodall cautions that rather than the story being exclusively about politics, “I think it's more about what's going on in our world around us. And we talk about the streak of paranoia. I think that there's a lot of idea that launches from that point. It's not necessarily what you think it is, and I'm not trying to be cagey. It's just that I think that, as with all good horror and suspense, knowing less is actually so much more because it's going to unfold for you.”
Indeed, even “American Horror Story” co-star Paulson knows to keep her expectations for the series loose. “There have been times I have been told exactly what it's going to be moment to moment to moment,” she notes, “and then I get the script and it's like, `This is not what you said it was going to be at all.' I think it's because what happens is they get in that room together, all of the writers, and they start pitching things out. And things either work and take on a life of their own, or the (producers) start watching what people are doing and (change things accordingly).”
Leslie Grossman, who first acted for Murphy almost 20 years ago on “Popular,” reunites with him on “Cult.” Billie Lourd, daughter of the late Carrie Fisher, continues her work with Murphy following “Scream Queens,” with Lena Dunham (“Girls”), Chaz Bono and Billy Eichner (“Billy on the Street”) also major cast additions. Emma Roberts (also coming off “Scream Queens”), Frances Conroy, Adina Porter, Mare Winningham and Cheyenne Jackson stay in the “American Horror Story” family with the new round.
Whatever “Cult” ultimately turns out to be, Woodall reasons that it's “true to our brand — which is, you are going to be in a whole new world all over again and fall in love with these really special characters, and hate yourself for watching it right before you go to bed. And love yourself in the morning because (you'll be) like, `Oh, my God. I made it through the night.' ”