"American Horror Story" Kicks Off PaleyFest 2012

[JamesG]

"American Horror Story" Opens the 2012 PaleyFest
by Alyse Wax
3/5/12


"American Horror Story" opened up the annual Los Angeles Paley Fest this year, and it was a bit awkward. After all, the show ended months ago, virtually all the characters died, and season two will have a new slate of characters in a new setting.

Filming hasn't started yet, and few details about season two have been revealed - so what would creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, along with season one's cast, have to talk about?





Well, season one. Before the panel, they screened 'Birth', the penultimate episode in which Connie Britton's character, Vivien, gave birth to twins. Murphy called this episode his favorite.

When Britton was asked if the birth scene was harrowing. "It was hilarious," she answered, explaining that, yes, it was harrowing, so she broke the tension by "insulting Jessica Lange about giving birth."

Lange concedes that she has had a births like the one Vivien went through. That one scene took three days to shoot. "Poor Matt Ross," laughed Britton about the actor who played the obstetrician. "He had to spend hours and hours and hours and hours at my crotch!"





Murphy said that work on "American Horror Story" began before "Glee". He and Falchuk began the project after "Nip/Tuck" to sate their shared interest in the horror genre. After two years of "happiness" on "Glee", the two were ready to get dark again, and totally reworked the concept.

"An anthology was always the plan," insists Murphy, who admits that it was hard to keep that a secret when internet nerds got wind that the main actors only had one-year deals (most TV shows sign their stars to an initial three-year deal).

"It's hard to maintain horror over multiple seasons," Falchuk adds. "Every year you need new characters to f*ck with."





Landing Jessica Lange on the show was a major coup for Murphy, especially since this was Lange's first regular television role. "I saw her in a production of A Street Car Named Desire. Constance was what I imagined Blanche to be after she was released from the looney bin."

Lange, for her part, saw Murphy's courting of her as a seduction. "I had never had a man promise me that much."

One of the main draws for Lange was the writing. "A lot of the monologues were like poetry; reminiscent of Tennessee Williams."





And of course, questions arose for where the idea of Rubber Man came from.

"In my vast research library, I had a book about sado-masochistic wear from the 1980s. The picture on the cover was exactly what Rubber Man looked like, except that the cover model had a breathing tube. For awhile, Rubber Man had a breathing tube as well."

They decided Rubber Man looked more menacing without it.





All that Murphy would say about season two was that "anyone can pop up at any time" but he is "giving the Harmons a year off."

That said, five actors will return next season: Jessica Lange, Zachary Quinto, Lily Rabe, Even Peters, and Sarah Paulson. All will be playing new characters. Murphy likened it to the way Orson Welles would use the same stable of actors from radio play to radio play, with the actors playing different roles each week.

http://www.fearnet.com/news/b25614_a...pens_2012.html