American Horror Story: 10 Projects Cast Members Worked On Together Outside The Show
From Oscar-winners Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates to Sarah Paulson and Angela Bassett, find out which American Horror Story actors share past projects.
Season 10 of FX's hit TV series American Horror Story is set to make its premiere on August 25, 2021. The newest entry of the anthology series is subtitled Double Feature, which means two terrifying stories will be told in one season. As always, several actors return for the 10th season, including series mainstays Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Frances Conroy, Lily Rabe, Finn Wittrock, and Denis O'Hare. New additions also include Macaulay Culkin, Chad Michaels, Angelica Ross, and more.
Given the gigantic ensemble cast of AHS dating back a decade, there have been several unrelated crossover projects that multiple cast members have collaborated on in the past.
10 Adult World (2013) - Emma Roberts & Evan Peters
One-time power couple Emma Roberts and Evan Peters co-starred in the indie dramedy Adult World in 2013, two years after appearing on AHS for the first time. Roberts appeared in five seasons of AHS, while Peters starred in every season but one (AHS: 1984).
As for Adult World, the film tracks Amy (Roberts), a college student and aspiring poet who unhappily accepts a job in a sex shop called Adult World. While hounding famed author Rat Billings for inspiration, Amy ends up falling for Alex (Peters) a painter who also works in the shop. In addition to earning strong reviews, Roberts and Peters began dating during filming.
9 The Goldfinch (2019) - Sarah Paulson & Denis O'Hare
Series MVP Sarah Paulson has played different characters during nine seasons of AHS, while character actor Denis O'Hare has been in five. Both are poised to star in Season 10. The two also starred in the 2019 drama The Goldfinch, based on the bestselling Donna Tartt novel.
The Goldfinch stars Ansel Elgort as Theo Decker, a young man who is adopted into a wealthy family after his mother dies in a museum bombing. When he grows older, Theo steals the priceless Goldfinch painting from the museum and begins a life of crime. Paulson gives a solid turn as Theo's adoptive mother Xandra Barbour, while O'Hare plays Reeve, a wily art dealer who spots a forged painting that Theo sells him.
8 Bonneville (2006) - Jessica Lange & Kathy Bates
The great Jessica Lange starred in the first four seasons of AHS before returning for Apocalypse (Season 8). Kathy Bates starred in AHS Seasons 3-6 before also returning in Apocalypse. Both Oscar-winners costar in the delightful 2006 road movie Bonneville.
Also starring Joan Allen, Bonneville follows three best friends on a road trip from Idaho to Santa Barbara to give the ashes of Arvilla's (Lange) deceased husband to his disgruntled daughter Francine (Christine Baranski). Bates plays Arvilla's single, free-spirited best friend Margene, who keeps her morale up. Bates and Lange showcase crackling chemistry as two of the finest actors of their generation.
7 Ratched (2020) - Sarah Paulson & Finn Wittrock
The most recent project to feature AHS alums is Ratched, also produced by Ryan Murphy. The series stars Sarah Paulson as the titular nurse from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, with Finn Wittrock playing Edmund Tolleson, Ratched's foster brother, and convicted serial killer. Wittrock has also starred in five seasons of AHS since joining in Season 5.
Ratched earned acclaim for its two towering turns by Paulson and Wittrock, although many critics believed the story was beneath the legacy of Nurse Ratched.
6 Mission: Impossible (2018) - Fallout - Angela Bassett & Wes Bentley
Angela Bassett, who starred in AHS Seasons 3-6 and 8, plays powerful CIA Director Erika Sloane in Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Wes Bentley, who starred in AHS Season 4-6, plays Erik in Fallout, a doctor who is married to Ethan's (Tom Cruise) ex-wife.
Plot-wise, Fallout involves a trio of terrorists known as The Apostles who are out to steal priceless plutonium cores to make nuclear weapons. Under the direction of Sloane, Ethan tracks the mysterious leader named John Lark, who turns out to be a CIA mole. While Bassett and Bentley do not share scenes in the film, they appeared several times together on AHS.
5 Broken Flowers (2005) - Jessica Lange, Chloe Sevigny & Frances Conroy
Six years before AHS was created, series alums Jessica Lange, Chloe Sevigny, and Frances Conroy co-starred in Jim Jarmusch's oddball romantic road movie Broken Flowers. Bill Murray stars as Don Johnston, an aging lothario who visits all of his past girlfriends after receiving a mystery note informing him he is a first-time father.
One such woman includes Carmen (Lange), a veterinarian whose assistant is played by Sevigny. Conroy plays Dora, another one of Don's former flames. All three actors would go on to play vital roles on AHS, with Conroy set for a Season 10 return.
4 American Crime Story (2016) - Sarah Paulson, Cuba Gooding Jr. & Connie Britton
AHS franchise spinoff American Crime Story: The People v. OJ Simpson featured stellar performances by Sarah Paulson as prosecutor Marcia Clark, for which she won a Primetime Emmy, as well as Cuba Gooding Jr. as Simpson. Paulson's tenure on AHS is well established, while Gooding Jr. also played dual roles in AHS 6: Roanoke.
The stunning prosecutorial crossfire between Clark and Simpson on ACS is second to none, elevating TV acting to the highest cinematic caliber possible. Paulson is poised to play Linda Tripp in ACS Season 3, Impeachment.
3 Vice (2018) - Alison Pill & Lily Rabe
Lily Rabe has appeared in every AHS season except seven, Cult, which happens to be the only season that Alison Pill starred in. However, both actors starred together in Vice, the comedic biopic about former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney (Christian Bale).
In Vice, Rabe plays Liz Cheney, Dick's contentious daughter who would go on to run for political office. Pill plays Mary Cheney, Liz's sister who fights with her over the legality of same-sex marriage. Both give tremendous, face-to-face performances that enhance the overall movie.
2 Selma (2014) - Cuba Gooding Jr. & Andre Holland
Perhaps the most important collaboration between AHS alums, Selma stars Cuba Gooding Jr. and Andre Holland as integral historical figures Fred Gray and Andrew Young, respectively. The story tells of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s leading march from Selma to Montgomery to ensure voting rights for the underrepresented.
Two years after Gooding Jr. and Holland starred in Selma, they shared the screen in AHS: Roanoke. The two exude an effortless, natural working relationship that is easy to see why they've been paired together on more than one occasion.
1 Zodiac - Dermot Mulroney, John Caroll Lynch & Chloe Sevigny
AHS actors Dermot Mulroney (Seasons 1 & 10), John Carroll Lynch (Seasons 4, 5, 7, & 9), and Chloe Sevigny (Seasons 2 & 5) all appeared in David Lynch's masterful crime film Zodiac. Set in 1970s San Francisco, the film tracks the killing spree of the notorious Zodiac Killer.
Sevigny plays Melanie, Robert Graysmith's wife who is forced to leave him when the case consumes too much of his life. Mulroney plays police Captain Marty Lee, while Lynch steals the show as Arthur Leigh Allen, a prime suspect who Graysmith works tirelessly to prove as the Zodiac killer. Given the caliber of acting and grisly nature of the story, it's no wonder these actors were cast on American Horror Story.