American Horror Story will be back for a fourth season later this year. This season will be set in Florida during the 1950’s and take place at a circus freak show. Series Crestor Ryan Murphy tweeted some photos from the set and one featured a new character that is currently in the Guinness Book of World Records. Jyoti Amge, 20, stands just over 2 feet tall and will star on the series. Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, and Angela Bassett are all set to return among others. New faces to the show will include Wes Bentley and Michael Chiklis. Here are 15 facts you may not know about AHS.
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1. American Horror Story creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk began developing the show even before Glee debuted in 2009. FX did not order the pilot until February 2011. In an interview Murphy stated, “I went from Nip/Tuck to Glee, so it made sense that I wanted to do something challenging and dark.” Murphy has always had a love for the horror genre so it made sense that his next project would delve deeply into it. Falchuk’s main goal with this project was to really scare viewers. In an interview he admitted, “You want people to be off balance afterwards.”
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2. American Horror Story has filmed at many different locations during its first three seasons. Much of that has to do with each season being an entirely different story. The first season’s pilot was shot on location at Country Club Park, California. The house that the Harmon’s live and die in was previously used as a convent. Exterior’s of the house were also used on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Portions of the second season were filmed in Hidden Valley, California which is very close to Los Angeles. A majority of the third season of the drama was shot in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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3. If you watch the opening credits for American Horror Story, you may have noticed each piece contained in the sequence can be explained in an episode of the series. Murphy explained that for season one, “By the time you see the ninth episode, every image in that title sequence will be explained.” The same would hold true for seasons two and three. The title sequences were created by Kyle Cooper. He is also responsible for creating the opening sequence for the movie Seven and the hit television series The Walking Dead. The same theme song has been used each season.
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4. The first promo for the second season of American Horror Story was on Facebook in August of 2012. The title of the page was “Special Delivery” and depicted a nun carrying buckets of body parts and then emptying the bloody contents. Over twenty of these promos were released on the social media site. On August 31, 2012, promos began to air on FX with the title, “Meet the Residents.” Some of the characters included were Sister Eunice played by Lily Rabe and Dr. Thredson played by Zachary Quinto. The song Que Sera, Sera would play during the spots.
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5. American Horror Story has received strong ratings for all three of the seasons that have aired thus far. The pilot episode was viewed by 3.18 million people and was the most watched series premiere on the FX Network. The first season averaged 2.82 million viewers. Though the second season premiere was watched by 3.85 million fans, the overall average for the season decreased to 2.53 million viewers. The third season saw a large increase in viewers. 5.54 million viewers tuned in to the season premieres. The season averaged an impressive 4.o million viewers.
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6. Some of the music you heard during the first season of American Horror Story may have sounded familiar to you. The reason for this is because scores from numerous horror films were selected to be included in the series’ soundtrack. Scores from such movies as Pyscho, Insidious, Twisted Nerve, What Lies Beneath, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula were featured. There have also been countless references to horror movies including Constance’s grandson being the Antichrist like in The Omen and the three masked intruders from season one mirrors the movie The Strangers.
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7. Actor Chris Zylka, known for playing Flash Thompson in The Amazing Spiderman and Jake Armstrong on the short live The Secret Circle, was originally intended to star in a brief story arc during the second season of American Horror Story. He was going to play a patient in the asylum who was a deaf mute. Producers wanted Zylka to shave his head for the role that was going to only appear in two episodes. When Zylka refused he was fired from the show. The character never appeared on the series as was written out of the script upon Zylka’s exit.
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8. Emma Roberts joined the cast of American Horror Story in season 3 and is expected to return for the fourth season which will focus on a circus freak show. Evan Peters has been with the show since it began in 2011 and will be appearing in season four too. Roberts’ and Peters’ characters had a brief romantic encounter during season three. The two are a couple in real life and have been dating since 2012. They announced to People Magazine in January 2014 that they are now engaged. Roberts is the niece of actress Julia Roberts.
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9. American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy built a close friendship with actress Jessica Lange over the three years the two have been working together. Lange was only intended to have a small part during the first season, but was asked to return for seasons two and three because everyone enjoyed working with her. She will return for season four, but in a smaller role. Murphy consulted with Lange when he was creating her characters for the second and third season. Lange wanted to have a drunk scene and sing, so Murphy incorporated that into the script.
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10. American Horror Story received two Emmy wins in 2012. Jessica Lange won for her portrayal of Constance and the series won the accolade for Outstanding Hairstyling. Stars Connie Britton, Denis O’Hare, and Frances Conroy would also recieve nominations. In 2013, James Cromwell took home the Emmy in the Supporting Actor category, where Zachary Quinto was also a nominee. The drama would also win Outstanding Sound Editing. In 2014, the series has already won for Casting and Costumes. Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Frances Conroy, Angela Bassett, and Kathy Bates are all vying for wins come September.
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11. Modern Family’s Eric Stonestreet guest-starred during the first season of American Horror Story. He played a character who believed he could conjure up a killer with a pig’s head. Stonestreet was intended to come back for the horror show’s second season. He was going to play a serial killer that would share many scenes with Sarah Paulson’s Lana Winters. Unfortunately, the part was not included in the final draft of the script and Stonestreet did not appear. Stonestreet had worked with Ryan Murphy previously when he guest-starred on Nip/Tuck in 2009.
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12. An experience similar to Stonestreet’s happened with Max Adler. Adler, who many might remember as Dave Karofsky on Glee and as Miles “Tank” Conroy on Switched at Birth, signed on to star on American Horror Story’s second season as Mr. Capshaw. The role ended up being cut from the version that aired on television. Adler’s next project is the comedy Saugatuck Cures where he will play a man pretending to be an ex-gay minster in order to scam money for church-goers and pay for his mother’s cancer treatment.
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13. The Voice’s Adam Levine appeared during American Horror Story’s second season. He and co-star Jenna Dewan-Tatum are newlyweds exploring haunted places on their honeymoon. Levine’s character ends up losing his arm during a scuffle with a serial killer. In order to pull the stunt off, Levine had to wear a prosthetic arm brace. He described it as wearing a backpack with a “shoulder nub” on it. That way the arm was actually able to be ripped during the scene while Adam’s real arm was hidden under his shirt. If you pause the scene just right, you can see the shape of his actual hidden arm.
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14. Naomi Grossman played Briarcliff Mental Institution resident Pepper for nine episodes of American Horror Story. In order to change her appearance, Grossman would have to spend over three hours in hair and makeup each day prior to filming her scenes. Producers would even have Grossman wear a sheet over her head when entering the set. They did not want the cast and crew to see what the actress actually looked like before being transformed into Pepper. Grossman was even kicked off set because security did not recognize her.
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15. James Cromwell played the evil Dr. Arthur Arden during the second season of American Horror Story. His character was a Nazi solider during World War II. There were several flashback scenes that featured a younger version of Cromwell’s character. The actor’s resemblance to Cromwell was uncanny because Cromwell’s son John Cromwell played the role. Cromwell told Ryan Murphy, “Well you have to cast my son – he looks just like me.” When he came in to read for the part, Murphy cast him instantly and insisted, “You can’t beat the luck of that.”
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