Of all the revelations one might expect from American Horror Story's PaleyFest panel this year, the most surprising one was just how funny everyone was. From Dylan McDermott's awkward account of his infamous cryin'-while-masturbatin' scene to Jessica Lange's effortless, Constance-esque one-liners, to famously subdued Ryan Murphy's joking responses, this panel was as upbeat and celebratory as AHS was downbeat and disturbing. But mixed in with the enthusiastic, fan-friendly anecdotes and discussions of the writers' inspirations were a few tantalizing hints about American Horror Story's much-anticipated second season.
There will be more returning cast members (and possible cameos).
Earlier today it was reported that both Zachary Quinto and Jessica Lange will return in Season 2 as major characters, but tonight Murphy confirmed that additional returning cast members will include Evan Peters (Tate), Sarah Paulson (Billie Dean), and Lily Rabe (Nora). He was careful to add that returning actors will be playing characters that are the "opposite" of the ones they played during Season 1. And while the central Harmon trio will be sitting out Season 2, he assured the audience that "anybody can pop up at any time" and he hasn't ruled out the possibility of revisiting characters or plotlines in future seasons. Even when it comes to former cast members' now suddenly busy schedules, "the door is always open for fun, crossover, cameo stuff."
More on the new location:
By now we know the second season will take place at an unspecified east coast facility of some kind. As Murphy had teased shortly after the Season 1 finale, a big clue regarding the Season 2 location was buried somewhere in the penultimate episode and during a pre-Q&A screening of that episode, "Birth," that clue was pretty glaring: Psychic Billie Dean likened the Harmon's supernatural forces with those commonly found in "prisons or asylums." (This teaser poster would also seem to confirm the asylum theory.) In response to a question about whether the haunting aspect would be similar to Season 1's (i.e., ghosts being tangible and also trapped where they died), Murphy made clear that ghosts will probably not be as prominent a theme this time around, as both he and AHS co-producer Brad Falchuk want to explore other kinds of horror genres. Although he twice mentioned that we should "never say never" when it comes to ghosts; so far his only rule when it comes to this show's supernatural phenomena is that there will never be "werewolves or vampires." (The crowd went wild for this.)
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http://www.tv.com/news/paleyfest-ryan-murp.../#ixzz1o2meVatgCan't wait to see Jessica Lange and Evan Peters play victims this time, if the returning actors will be playing characters that are opposite of the ones they played in Season 1.