Since it erupted onto television screens in 2011, Golden Globe winning actress Sarah Paulson has been a core part of the American Horror Story anthology series. In a starring cast of 27, across seven very different seasons, only Paulson and Evan Peters have the distinction of having featured in each one. It came as little surprise, then, to learn a few months back that the actress will be involved in the upcoming eighth season.
Now, in more news that isn’t terribly surprising, we’re learning that both Peters and Kathy Bates will be back for more as well, and together with Paulson, they’ll be the three leads of season 8. At least, that’s according to creator Ryan Murphy, who told EW the following:
“Kathy and Sarah Paulson have a lot of great stuff to get to do. So, with Evan Peters, the three of them are the leads this year.”
No word on who they’re all playing, but Murphy also touched on those recent rumors which pointed to a post-apocalyptic setting for the new run.
“I heard about that rumor,” he told EW. “Well, that’s based on a fact that we’ve cleared a lot of titles for that show. It’s an interesting idea. I can neither confirm nor deny.”
As is often the case, plot details and the like are going to be kept under tight lock and key until much closer to the premiere of season 8, which won’t be until later this year. That being said, we certainly hope there’s some truth to this.
After all, American Horror Story certainly isn’t known for playing it safe and has never been afraid to get very, very weird and twisted. So, we can only imagine what Ryan Murphy will do given a post-apocalyptic world to play around in. Perhaps things will kick off after a nuclear holocaust has destroyed much of the planet? And maybe we’ll even get to see zombies or aliens?
Chalk that all up as speculation for now, but as we inch closer and closer to American Horror Story‘s premiere, we’ll be sure to keep you posted.