“American Horror Story” staple Sarah Paulson isn’t able to say if she’ll be starring on the anthology’s upcoming FX on Hulu spinoff “American Horror Stories” — but she can confirm she will at least be directing “something” for the Ryan Murphy show’s new offshoot.
“Um, I don’t know if I’m going to be in it, but I do think I’ll be directing it,” Paulson told TheWrap during a virtual Summer CTAM panel for Netflix’s “Ratched,” a Murphy-produced “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” prequel show in which Paulson plays a young Nurse Ratched. “Can I say that? I can say that. Directing something, not all of them, but something.”
In late May, FX revealed it had placed a series order for “American Horror Stories,” which it described as “weekly anthology series that will feature a different horror story each episode.” In that same announcement, the cable channel revealed it was pushing the 10th season of Murphy’s “American Horror Story” to next year, but did not set a time table for the debut of “Impeachment,” the next installment of “American Crime Story.” Paulson, who stars on both “AHS” Season 10 and “Impeachment,” says she doesn’t know when the shows will be able to begin production, having both been delayed due to the pandemic.
“Oh gosh, I don’t know any more than you all do,” Paulson said in response to a later question from TheWrap during Tuesday’s “Ratched” panel. “Certainly, it depends on the state of the world. California is not having its finest moment right now dealing with this virus. And both productions will be shooting in Los Angeles, so that will sort of dictate how that works. We were less than two weeks away from starting ‘Impeachment’ when everything shut down. So I’ve heard rumors of October, then I heard rumors of 2021. Lot of rumors, no facts though.”
In April, Murphy told TheWrap his plan for “American Horror Story” Season 10 was a “weather-dependent” theme, so the inability to shoot during the summer because of COVID-19 might prompt him to accelerate another idea (as the anthology has already been renewed through Season 13) or hold the 10th season until next year. And now we know he and FX decided to go with the latter idea.