American Horror Story has taken us inside a haunted house, an insane asylum populated by Nazis and aliens and a modern-day coven of witches. But this fall, for its fourth season, the Ryan Murphy-run series may be heading to its wackiest locale yet – a 1950s freak show in Jupiter, Florida. Though American Horror Story: Freak Show will feature a bevy of returning cast members, including Jessica Lange as a German ex-pat and Sarah Paulson as conjoined twins Bette and Dot, it’s also going to include some new additions, such as The Shield alum Michael Chiklis.
At the Critics’ Choice Awards, where he was honored with the Louis XIII Genius Award, Murphy gave TV Line some details about Chiklis’s character. Apparently, the actor is playing “a strong man who’s married to Angela Bassett[‘s character]:”
“He has scenes with Angela and Jessica Lange and [onscreen ex] Kathy Bates. I love the part because it’s really written to be quite vulnerable, which is something I think Michael does so well – the strong man who’s vulnerable. I’m very excited to see [him] tussle with all those great ladies. And he’s really up for it, really excited about it.”
Freak Show has a really strong set of actors, and I’m excited to see what the writers have in store. Lange’s German ex-pat runs the titular carnival attraction out of Jupiter, housing “unusuals” who include returning American Horror Story actors Paulson, Bassett, Kathy Bates, Evan Peters (playing Chiklis’s son, apparently) and Frances Conroy. Denis O’Hare, Gabourey Sidibe, Jamie Brewer and Emma Roberts are also returning to AHS for the fourth season, though they aren’t confirmed to be playing freaks.
Though American Horror Story has divided critics over the years, with many criticizing it for its theatricality and lack of character development, I’m definitely looking forward to Freak Show. If anyone can help it live up to that subtitle with freaky scares, it’s Murphy.
American Horror Story: Freak Show will kick off this fall on FX.