At the American Horror Story Art Show, We Are All Freaks. One of Us: On . Though often criticized for his high concepts as well as his love of camp, snark, and sentimentality, Murphy has done more on his programs for the visibility of gay, disabled, and nontraditionally beautiful characters than perhaps any other showrunner in modern TV history. Glee alone (before it went off the rails, plot- wise) hired actors with Down syndrome, used overweight performers for romantic arcs, featured a cast diverse in ethnicity and sexual orientation (including the trans character Unique Adams), and focused on the scourge of bullying on a regular basis. That the latest season of Murphy’s horror anthology American Horror Story is set at a freak show would seem to be the final logical extension of the writer- director’s obsession with outcasts. ![]() Freak shows, which were mostly popular in America from the 1. Set in Jupiter, Fla., in 1. AHS: Freak Show revolves around a “Cabinet of Curiosities” run by Jessica Lange’s German chanteuse, Elsa Mars, that includes Kathy Bates’ Bearded Lady, Sarah Paulson’s conjoined twins, Evan Peters’ Lobster Boy, and Michael Chiklis’ Strong Man. ![]() ![]() American Horror Story: Freak Show is the fourth season of the FX horror. We built an entire huge compound and then we had to build the interior of all those.Rounding out the cast of Murphy’s regular AHS collaborators are performers born with physical differences: Jyoti Amge, the smallest woman in the world; Ben Woolf, an actor who has pituitary dwarfism; and Mat Fraser, a performer with phocomelia, a congenital disorder that causes shortened limbs. The so- called freaks—Elsa calls them, in a nod perhaps to Lady Gaga, her “monsters”—are rejected and feared by the local townspeople. Though in a heavy- handed way, Murphy seems to enjoy using the outcasts as a metaphor for all marginalized people, telling us over and over that the real freaks are the callous townspeople who judge based on looks. Not one for subtlety or relying on the audience to pick up cues on their own, Murphy has Elsa say in the premiere “I’ll tell you who the monsters are: the people outside in this town.” While some feel that AHS: Freak Show is exploiting those with physical differences or misrepresenting the life experiences of such people for the entertainment of the able- bodied, it’s refreshing that the show’s casting directors are offering these actors work—not just hiring starlets and putting them in prostheses—and that the writers are creating interesting characters for those actors to play. You may not like the show—and if you have a fear of clowns, it is the stuff of your nightmares—but you can’t honestly accuse it of having the gaze of an old- fashioned freak- show audience. The “freaks” are our protagonists; we empathize with them, not the bigoted world outside their tent. Murphy’s strength is his casting. For the three previous seasons of AHS he has written juicy parts for women over 5. Kathy Bates and Jessica Lange) have won Emmys for their work on his shows. By creating rich roles—witches, nuns, cabaret singers, unhinged mothers, racist pre–Civil War society mavens—he is speaking for another invisible other in Hollywood: the sexy, vital, powerful, damaged, interesting women who have outgrown ingenue roles. It’s no wonder that Broadway diva Patti Lu. Pone, Oscar- winners Lange and Bates, and musical superstar Patti La. Belle (who made her AHS debut this week) have lined up to work with him. His unhinged older women represent a much more delicious acting challenge than the dowdy mothers and grandmothers they must get asked to play all the time, and instead of being peripheral to the main story—usually a man’s—they drive the drama. This season AHS has presented viewers with different dimensions of womanhood. Angela Bassett’s Desiree Dupree, who, in her own words, has “three titties, proper girl parts, and a ding- a- ling.” (I’m not sure hermaphroditism has ever been such an overt characteristic of cable drama before.) Transgender actor Erika Ervin plays the character of Amazon Eve, a role originally written for a man. Even Bates’ Bearded Lady is gender nonconforming in her own way. There is a lot going on in this baroque show already, and we are only two episodes into the season. We haven’t even talked about the killer clown, perhaps one of AHS’ scariest creations, or the spoiled, petulant man- boy who drinks his liquor from a crystal baby bottle. But beneath its high theatricality, which includes 1. Last Friday saw American Horror Story cast members Jamie Brewer, Naomi Grossman, and Liana Mendoza partying with pop art gallery Hero Complex on the. This old house is haunted and known as “Murder House” on the TV show American Horror Story, but in real life it’s the stately Rosenheim Mansion in L.A. Thought American Horror Story was just a nightmare? Think again. Here's all the moments that actually happened at IRL, over at MTV.co.uk. We asked our fave horror fans and practitioners, including Eli Roth, Mel Brooks (!), and the Human Centipede guy, to compile the most terrifying movies you probably. The leading information resource for the entertainment industry. Find industry contacts & talent representation. Manage your photos, credits, & more. American Horror Story is an American anthology horror series created and produced by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. Described as an anthology series, each season is. American Horror Story fans rejoice! We've listed the 15 best characters from Murder House, Asylum, Coven, Freakshow, and Hotel--just for you. Ben Woolf from "American Horror Story: Freak Show" has died in an L.A. Watch American Horror Story 1 2011 Online on Putlocker. Stream American Horror Story 1 in HD on Putlocker. IMDb: 8.2 Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters. Fiona Apple and David Bowie songs in their campy acts, is some real heart and a desire to give voice to the voiceless. Best American Horror Story Characters. Few shows thrill, shock, horrify, and delight their fans quite like American Horror Story does. Every season we’re treated to a new story, locations, characters, time frames, and slight variations in the core cast. After Murder House, some actors who played minor characters (Jessica Lange, Lily Rabe, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters) were catapulted into starring roles, while other actors, like Connie Britton, were never seen on American Horror Story again. ![]() Shame, that. For this list, we did our best to choose vital and fascinating characters from all five completed seasons of American Horror Story. We’re surely not far enough into My Roanoke Nightmare to know who the stand- out characters will be. But we have chosen our favorite major (and maybe one or two minor) characters from Murder House, Asylum, Coven, Freak Show, and Hotel. We also did our best not to select too heavily from one actor or one season. Expect spoilers for any season discussed. Here are the 1. 5 Best American Horror Story Characters. Violet Harmon – Murder House. One thing American Horror Story has always been great at is showing us the difference between people with power and people without. As the Harmon’s only child, Violet (Taissa Farmiga) has no say in her parent’s failing marriage or the fact that this failure caused her to get dragged to a new town, a new school, make new friends, and deal with everything that comes along with living in a murder house. Through all of it, Violet takes no crap, keeps her cool (mostly), and doesn’t lose sight of who she is. Though she ultimately dies horribly, Violet never betrays what she knows to be right. When her father is being a fool, Violet tells him. When her mother’s cloying weakness becomes a hindrance, Violet tells her too. When her boyfriend reveals. Violet Harmon is a good kid and a minor badass who provides a lot of the girl- power in Murder House. Adelaide Langdon – Murder House. The other teenage girl in Murder House actually lives next door. Played by the great Jamie Brewer, Addie is cursed with a terrible mother and murderous brother. She also has Down’s Syndrome, which she believes keeps her from being a “pretty girl.” Despite not actually being a ghost, Addie provides some creepy lines in American Horror Story’s first season. Who wouldn’t want to move into a lovely new home, only to hear: “You’re gonna die in here?” Yikes! Addie is headstrong; not fully understanding why it’s inappropriate to enter other people’s houses when they’re not there, or why it’s not smart to pet any random dog you encounter. Fans love Addie for her bravery, her willingness to converse with ghosts, her friendly demeanor, and the way she speaks her mind. Addie’s only kryptonite is the “bad girl room”, where we see her thrown when Constance is irritated with her. The “bad girl room” is a closet full of mirrors that forces Addie to see her own reflection—something she hates. Fiona Goode – Coven. When making this list, it was nearly impossible to not include every character played by Jessica Lange. She was sublime. Fans already know that most American Horror Story characters were written with the actors in mind. That’s probably why Fiona Goode loves cool clothes and is annoyed with the lesser humans she constantly has to tolerate. Lange plays these things to perfection. This is never more true than in Coven, where Fiona Goode is an amazing witch, but a terrible mother and an even worse Supreme. To Fiona, power means never having to obey the rules. When we meet Fiona, she is dying. Giving her an obstacle to overcome only helps to illustrate what an incredible badass Fiona Goode is. She inspires loyalty in some (Spalding, the Axe Man) and enmity in others (Myrtle Snow, Pembroke) while keeping absolutely everyone on their toes. She also voted for Obama, twice. If only she’d been kinder to Papa Legba, maybe Fiona Goode wouldn’t have ended up surrounded by all that “knotty pine“. Moira O’Hara – Murder House. Fans still weren’t sure what kind of chicanery to expect from American Horror Story when they met the maid, Moira O’Hara. Frances Conroy has gone on to play many great characters, but Moira stands out among them. Moira is also played by Alexandra Breckenridge, who has only been back to American Horror Story one other time. As you’ll recall, Moira appears to be a hot 2. Ben Harmon (Dylan Mc. Dermott) and as an “old” woman to Vivien. This eventually leads to some hilarious exchanges, like when Ben finally confronts Moira for “parading around in that slutty little outfit” while Vivien looks on as if her husband has blown a gasket. Moira was a nice girl who was assaulted by her employer, then murdered by Constance, her employer’s wife. As a result, she’s another ghost trapped in the Murder House for all time. How many of us wanted to see Moira get revenge on Constance by the end of that first season? JP March – Hotel. Evan Peters has absolutely slayed his roles in every season of American Horror Story, though we still don’t know who he’ll be in season six. We suspect him to be a killer for the first half of Asylum, but he never really plays a bad guy until Hotel. We could argue that at, this point, he makes up for lost time. JP March is a clear allusion to HH Holmes the hotelier and inventive murderer from the 1. March is a romantic, hopelessly in love with Countess Elizabeth (Lady Gaga), though he almost marries Ms. Evers, who is hopelessly in love with him. It’s a long, tangled story full of blood and hurt feelings. But isn’t that most of American Horror Story anyway? March is not just a creative murderer; he’s a tutor of sorts, revealed to have taught a few renowned killers the tricks of the trade—leading them to murderous immortality. Plus, those goggles were amazing. Countess Elizabeth – Hotel. In the oversaturated world of vampire lore, it’s hard to find a new way to go. But Countess Elizabeth (Lady Gaga) is unlike any vamp we’ve ever seen. Sure, she’s seductive and powerful, we’ve seen that. Yeah, there are sex scenes that turn into bloodbaths, but everyone has already seen The Hunger, right? She’s a little Bathory, a bit of Vampirella. Where the Countess really shines is in her soul, her conscience, her long storied past full of heartbreak, hope, love, and yes—blood drinking. She craves beautiful things and, we later learn, has spent decades pining for a lost love, that she loses again. The Countess gives March one night a month with her, even though she doesn’t like him. She helped Liz Taylor (Denis O’Hare) find her true self, and led countless children away from unacceptable homes and families. Okay, she’s also selfish, brooding, and kind of shallow. But we still love the Countess, maybe a little more than we should. Marie Delphine La Laurie – Coven. The first time it was announced that Kathy Bates was joining the cast of American Horror Story, there were shouts of glee and dancing in the streets—somewhere, we presume. She’s such an obvious choice for a show that focuses on having a variety of strong women who are far more than set d. Kathy Bates straddles a fine line between racism and vulnerability, psychopathy and comedy, in her turn as real- life murderess Marie Delphine La. Laurie. Like Fiona Goode, Delphine is also a terrible mother (even worse than Fiona, though only slightly worse than Joan Ramsay). While racism isn’t exactly hilarious, we can’t help but laugh when we see Delphine weeping in front of the TV as she realizes that a non- white man is now President of these United States. In the present, Delphine learns about fast food burgers, how to battle zombies, and that her greatest enemies still hate her guts. Delphine’s deeds may be difficult to watch, but it’s even more difficult to look away. Chester Creb – Freakshow. We did say we would mostly limit this list to major characters in the American Horror Story universe. But c’mon, if Neil Patrick Harris appears in something, it’s a safe bet that the something is gonna be amazing. Such is the case for Chester Creb, traveling lizard salesman and wannabe stage performer. But like many of the aspiring song- and- dance men in Freakshow, Chester has a wee streak of murder in him, and a larger streak of pure batshit insanity. He came back from the war feeling rather. This was compounded by the complex relationship between Chester and his wife’s new girlfriend. When Chester gets it on with the Tattler Twins, his puppet Marjorie (Jamie Brewer) becomes as murderous as he. Yeah, Chester believes, as so many puppeteers seemingly do in horror shows, that his comely girl dummy is real. By the time this leads to a horrified confession for the murder of someone who was never alive in the first place—it’s clear that Chester Creb will go down in history as one of the most memorable characters on all of American Horror Story. Sister Jude – Asylum. Once there was an unhappy woman named Judy Martin. As a child, she killed her pet because she forgot to feed it. As an adult, she sang, and drank, and searched in vain for the right man. A terrible accident occurred one night, making Judy believe she had killed a child while driving drunk. Desperate for absolution, she joined a convent and rose to run Briarcliff Manor, a hospital and mental asylum for people whose families don’t mind if they are tortured or killed. Sister Jude has the major hots for Monsignor Timothy Howard (Joseph Fiennes). Who wouldn’t? Jude is also the spiritual advisor for her various mental patients, which to her means a lot of degradation, emotional and mental abuse, and routine canings that are treated as a “normal” part of treatment. Jude battles many foes in Asylum, and is beaten by a few of them, eventually becoming a patient named “Betty Drake” before being rescued by Kit Walker. As Jude’s nemeses include Nazi doctors, serial killers, the angel of death, and the devil himself, we’re not going to hold a few defeats against her. Bette and Dot Tattler – Freakshow.
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