{"id":624502,"date":"2026-08-07T01:01:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T01:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/624502\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T01:01:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T01:01:18","slug":"ryan-murphy-spills-on-ahs-season-13-ariana-grande-exit-more-glee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/624502\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Murphy Spills on ‘AHS’ Season 13, Ariana Grande Exit; More ‘Glee’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tWhen Ryan Murphy<\/a> called up each of his legacy American Horror Story<\/a> stars to ask them if they would return for the upcoming 13th season, he couldn\u2019t even get out the full question.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI couldn\u2019t get the sentence out of my mouth fast enough: \u2018Will you come back\u2026\u2019 \u2018Yes.\u2019 I was like, \u2018Well, OK,’\u201d Murphy tells The Hollywood Reporter with a laugh. That even included Jessica Lange<\/a>, who hadn\u2019t starred on his and Brad Falchuk\u2019s hit horror anthology in a series regular role since season four\u2019s Freak Show. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf she had said no, I probably wouldn\u2019t have done it,\u201d he admits. <\/p>\n

\n\tBut Lange said yes. So did Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Emma Roberts, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Billie Lourd, Frances Conroy, Gabourey Sidibe and Leslie Grossman.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 13-episode season, which returns Sept. 24 on FX and Hulu (at 6 p.m. PT), is a tribute to the entire series, and will see the returning cast reprising many of their iconic roles. Lange is playing all four of her characters; Paulson is playing six and Peters, five. Murphy has compared the season to the Avengers<\/a>, saying they all come together to defeat the ultimate evil.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis season is a tribute to all of the seasons, which we\u2019ll never do again,\u201d he says now of the effort, which included many, many months of writing. \u201cBut it was fun. It was like getting the band back together and once they got on the set with me, it was like we never stopped making this. Most of them had accents and they instantly fell back into their characters. It was fascinating and thrilling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWith Murphy\u2019s latest TV offering, The Shards, now released (we talked about that this week, too<\/a>), THR pressed the prolific creator<\/a> on what he\u2019s doing next, which includes the next season in his Monster<\/a> franchise, The Lizzie Borden Story<\/a>, him seriously considering rebooting Glee<\/a> and spilling more details about AHS season 13 \u2014 including on Ariana Grande\u2019s exit. He also reveals that he\u2019s already working on season 14 and another untitled adaptation. Mainly, Murphy says he has one thing in mind: \u201cHow do I bring projects back to L.A.?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\tThere is a ton of excitement around the upcoming all-star 13th season<\/a> of American Horror Story. How many more seasons of AHS do you want to do?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tAmerican Horror Story is an interesting thing, because some seasons I\u2019m very involved and some I\u2019m not involved at all or some I\u2019m half-way in. Brad Falchuk and I created that show together, and we worked on it this year together. And [showrunners] Ned Martel and Charlie Carver were our lieutenants on the crowd who did a wonderful job.<\/p>\n

\n\tI have a great passion for that show, and [FX boss] John Landgraf has a great passion for that show. It\u2019s a very important show in my career. It\u2019s something that John said, \u201cAs long as you want to keep making them, I\u2019ll keep airing them.\u201d That\u2019s always been the idea behind it, which is very empowering.<\/p>\n

\n\tSeason 13 is not the end; I\u2019m working on season 14 as we speak in terms of, \u201cWhat\u2019s the idea?\u201d and \u201cWho wants to be in it?\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tI loved doing this season because I had not directed an American Horror Story since Freak Show, I think. Not since season four. And I directed the pilot this year and I just love the process of going to all the castmembers, all of whom are very busy, and saying, \u201cHey, can we get the band back together?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHow did those calls to the AHS cast go?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIt all started with Jessica [Lange] because Jessica, after we did the first four seasons, wanted to go off and do different things, which I understood completely. But I reached out to her thinking she would say no, and if she had said no, I probably wouldn\u2019t have done it. She told me a story about how she was doing Broadway last season and she would go out after the show, and there were all of these young people who were there because they all watched her work on American Horror Story. And she was very moved by that. I said, \u201cWell, that\u2019s funny, because my idea is for you to do all four of your favorite characters.\u201d And she said, \u201cSign me up. I\u2019d love to do it.\u201d I was so grateful.<\/p>\n

\n\tSarah [Paulson] and I talked about it. She said yes. Sarah played six characters in the season. With all of the OGs, it wasn\u2019t even a conversation. I couldn\u2019t get the sentence out of my mouth fast enough. \u201cWill you come back\u2026\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d I was like, \u201cWell, OK.\u201d So before I started writing it, I had all of them \u2014 Emma [Roberts] and Evan [Peters] and Kathy Bates; Angela Bassett and Gabourey Sidibe and Leslie Grossman.<\/p>\n

\n\tWe also had a lot of the original costumes still in storage that we got to use. So there are little Easter eggs threaded around in the set decoration where fans can be like, \u201cWait, wasn\u2019t that in season two?\u201d It was. This season is a thank you to the fans for continuing to watch.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJessica Lange and Evan Peters in American Horror Story season three, Coven.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMichele K. Short\/FX Networks\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

\n\tAriana Grande exited season 13<\/a> because of her Eternal Sunshine tour. (She\u2019s since announced<\/a> a step back from the public eye.) Can you reveal what role you had in mind for her, or is it something you would save for down the line?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI love Ariana Grande. We\u2019re great friends. I had an idea and I came to her and she, very immediately, said, \u201cI\u2019m not sure because I think I\u2019m going on tour.\u201d I don\u2019t think the tour had been announced, and she had obviously just finished the Wicked movie. So when it came time to do that episode, I called her up and she was like, \u201cI don\u2019t know how I\u2019m going to juggle the tour with this.\u201d And I said, \u201cOK, if you can\u2019t, we can push to another season.\u201d She said, \u201cGreat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tYou have to be respectful. Who is busier than Ariana Grande? No one. She had told me at the time, \u201cI have this album that\u2019s dropping.\u201d It was really, truly a scheduling conflict. I said, \u201cOK, we\u2019ll kick that can down the road,\u201d and she said, \u201cGreat.\u201d Ariana is a big fan of horror. She\u2019s obviously done homages of that in her work; she did Scream Queens<\/a> for me and loved the experience, and people love her in that show. So I will always work with her.<\/p>\n

\n\tI love her, and I support her. It was a very big swing, but I might bring that back for another season, per Ariana\u2019s availability. I think the world of her.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou also just dropped your Lizzie Borden series first look<\/a>. The other Monster cases were clear-cut crimes, while Lizzie was acquitted and the case remains unsolved. She\u2019s also a female serial killer, which is rarer. Did any of that give you pause when tackling this story?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI find that show, which I do with Ian Brennan, to be very interesting because you know that no matter what you do, it\u2019s going to be controversial. That\u2019s baked into the cake<\/a>. I\u2019m always interested in, not glorifying these characters, but the Monster franchise is only about one thing: Are monsters made, or are they born?<\/p>\n

\n\tWith the Lizzie Borden case, I had a very deep connection to that. When I was in kindergarten, I won first place singing the Lizzie Borden nursery rhyme [\u201cLizzie Borden Took an Ax\u2026\u201d] in a choral competition, if you can believe that. That was the first thing I ever won. So I grew up with that nursery rhyme. I\u2019m from the Midwest. I thought everybody knew that nursery rhyme, and they did not.<\/p>\n

\n\tI like investigating that story because, in many ways, you can look at what it deals with women and society and it\u2019s very about today. It\u2019s a very modern story. The story of Lizzie Borden is: Did she do it or did she not? There are many theories. But I think it taps into Victorian America and this idea of, \u201cWhy can\u2019t I do this? Why can\u2019t my parents understand me?\u201d I think everyone, male or female, who is a teenager knows about that. And I\u2019m like, \u201cWhy can\u2019t we write about that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt is an interesting season because it is the Lizzie Borden story, but there are also other female \u201ckillers\u201d who I was always interested in exploring. I always wanted to do something about Aileen Wuornos. I\u2019ve always wanted to do something about the Countess Elizabeth B\u00e1thory, who Dracula was modeled after. So we are kind of doing this fantasia of women vs. the system, and it\u2019s not what they did, it\u2019s the question of: What made them do it? Why did they do it, if they did it? That\u2019s what the show is about. And it has three really great \u201cmonsters\u201d behind it: Lizzie Borden [played by Ella Beatty], Aileen Wuornos and Elizabeth B\u00e1thory.<\/p>\n

\n\tVicky Krieps plays B\u00e1thory, as well as the maid. She plays two parts. And then when I was working on it, there was only one actress who I thought could [play Wuornos], and that was Sarah Paulson. I told her, \u201cI have this thing,\u201d and she\u2019s like, \u201cOh, God.\u201d Then she read it and said, \u201cIt\u2019s going to be hard, but I\u2019ll do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tI love the season. Sarah Adina Smith, who directed many of the episodes, is a wonderful female director and I\u2019m going to work with her again on something soon. I thought it was really interesting to explore the themes that are modern.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tElla Beatty as Lizzie Borden in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, premiering Sept. 17 with all episodes on Netflix.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Netflix<\/p>\n

\n\tSome burning questions: What is the status of The Beauty<\/a> season two? Have you landed on what couple you want to focus on for Love Story<\/a> season two? And what\u2019s a white whale story you want to tackle\u00a0next?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThose are all things that I\u2019m considering and thinking about. And trying to figure them out.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou have to figure out what you\u2019re interested in doing next, and I\u2019m lucky enough that I have really great partners who want to do this and that. I haven\u2019t figured it out yet. I have many things coming out between August and Christmas, and I\u2019m sort of plotting out my next two years. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever do as much again as I did this year because I have three young children.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith me, it always starts with the idea: What are you interested in? And sometimes, you work on something and abandon it. We were doing an entire other Monster season \u2014 Ian and I wrote two of them. And it didn\u2019t feel right. So sometimes, I work on something and kick the can down the road.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe next thing I\u2019m doing, I start shooting December in Europe \u2014 I\u2019ve always wanted to do a vampire story and I always wondered why nobody has made a show about these characters I love [from a book and movie adaptation]. So that\u2019s the next thing I\u2019m going to tackle.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m also considering Glee. <\/p>\n

\n\tHow seriously?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s something to consider. For many, many people now in their 20s, they grew up on that show and it meant something to them. The music meant something. So, let\u2019s kick it around and see what we get. It\u2019s always about the story for me. What\u2019s the story? Do I want to tell the story now? Sometimes I want to wait.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m considering a lot of stuff. To me, it\u2019s always about how the scripts come in and what it costs. You have to be conscious about all of that. But because I have such great partners, I\u2019m able to create things that give thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people jobs. We need to bring production back to LA. We have to figure out: How do we make shows in L.A. so that people who came here and worked here can be with their families and not have to go out of state? I think that caused a lot of difficulties for people, so I\u2019m not thinking about it in terms of projects, I\u2019m thinking about: \u201cHow do I bring projects back to L.A.?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut I am optimist and I love everything I have coming out. I think I\u2019m in a development phase.<\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Shards<\/a> releases new episodes Wednesdays on FX and Hulu; American Horror Story season 13 premieres Sept. 24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Ryan Murphy called up each of his legacy American Horror Story stars to ask them if they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[268],"tags":[186266,434,18,117,89018,19,17,21404,15810,4950,114937],"class_list":["post-624502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-american-horror-story","tag-celebrities","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-glee","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-love-story","tag-monster","tag-ryan-murphy","tag-the-beauty"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117051529737825374","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}