Since American Horror Story has already aired nine seasons, there have been so many actors who’ve appeared on the show that any attempt to list them all here would be foolhardy. Of course, any fan of the anthology series should know that several actors have become synonymous with the series after starring in many seasons.
Even though Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe, Finn Wittrock, Kathy Bates, and Jessica Lange have all played a pivotal role in American Horror Story history, Evan Peters’ contributions can’t be underestimated. After all, Peters starred in all but one AHS season that has aired to date and it is very safe to say that many of his characters have been very challenging to portray.
As a result of Evan Peters’ fearless American Horror Story performances, most fans of the show have come to adore him as an actor. Unfortunately, as it turns out, it seems that Peters’ American Horror Story tenure has had a negative impact on him.
So Many Roles
In the past, several of Evan Peters’ co-stars have spoken about how talented he is and claimed he is a delight to work with. With that in mind, it makes perfect sense that the people in charge of American Horror Story have asked him to come back to the series again and again.
Since American Horror Story is an anthology series, Peters has portrayed many different characters on the show. Thankfully for everyone involved and fans alike, Peters has proven to be awesome in each role. For that reason, Peters is set to return for American Horror Story’s tenth season after he decided to skip the show’s ninth outing.
Creator’s Take
From the outside looking in, it seems to be indisputable that Ryan Murphy is the main powerbroker behind the scenes of American Horror Story. Unfortunately, throughout Hollywood history, many people in a position of power in the entertainment industry have been very callous when it comes to the people who work for them. However, while speaking to Entertainment Weekly in 2019, Murphy made it clear that he cares about the actors who work for him.
As anyone who’s seen the seventh season of American Horror Story should know, Evan Peters portrayed the cult leader Kai Anderson during it. During the aforementioned conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Ryan Murphy spoke about his favorite episode from that season. Since Peters completely committed to his portrayal of Anderson, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to AHS fans that Murphy spoke about how it took a toll on the actor.
“I really loved Evan’s performance so much, and so did Sarah. We still talk about it. Like once a week about how good he is? Evan is CRIMINALLY underrated in this role. He really suffered while making it, it took him I don’t know…two years to recover? Evan and I and Emma and Sarah and Holland Taylor had Thanksgiving together that year right after filming, and I remember Sarah and I kept feeding Evan food, trying to nourish him and make him feel better. He was still feeling it, the darkness, while we were making Pose season one, it got under his skin in a really hard long way. I loved him in it. He and I talked after it, and we decided maybe it was time to do some comedy.”
Peters Tells His Truth
When Ryan Murphy spoke about how a single season of American Horror Story affected Evan Peters, it was fascinating. However, it was always going to be more interesting to read Peters’ own words about the show, especially since he spoke about the entire series.
During a 2018 GQ interview, Evan Peters spoke about how difficult it has been for him to portray his intense American Horror Story characters. “I'm goofy, I'm silly, I like to have fun. I don't like to yell and scream. I actually hate it. I think it's disgusting and really awful, and it's been a challenge for me. Horror Story sort of demanded that of me.. It's been all a massive stretch for me and really difficult to do. It's hurting my soul and Evan as a person. There's this massive amount of rage that's been called upon from me, and the emotional stuff that's been called on me for Pose has been heartbreaking, and I'm sick. I don't feel good.”
From there, Evan Peters went on to talk about the lasting effect that American Horror Story has had on him. “It's just exhausting. It's really mentally draining, and you don't want to go to those places ever in your life. And so you have to go there for the scenes, and it ends up integrating it somehow into your life. You're in traffic and you find yourself screaming and you're like, What the hell? This isn't who I am. I fight really hard to combat that.” Of course, Peters is far from the only actor to sacrifice for a role but that it is pretty wild to learn how hard Peter’s AHS tenure has been for him.
