The co-creator of AHS takes us through his stand-out picks in honor of the 100th episode.
Once upon a time, there was a creepy ghost teen in a rubber suit…
This week,American Horror Storywill air its 100th episode on FX with the latest installment ofAHS: 1984.
Credit: Everett Collection
To celebrate the grand (Guignol?)
From rough idea to day one of filming took four years.
It was a huge risk at the time, creatively and financially.
Robert Zuckerman/FX
I said, “Yes.”
He paused and then said “This scares me…but excites me, too.
Let’s do it.”
Everett Collection
Also, there’s the cast.
My first time with Jessica, Connie, Dylan.
She kissed my cheek and we were off.
Suzanne Tenner/FX
What are we doing here?"
We were always taking the script apart and redoing it.
It was like this great thrill ride, that we found in the filming.
FX
The only person who never wavered ever was Dylan McDermott.
Always grinning, always so in the part and willing to go anywhere.
And he smiled and said, “I’m good.”
Michele K. Short/FX
I said, “How can you be good?
This is so weird.”
And he was right.
FX
She said it as a joke, but the IDEA fit what we had planned perfectly.
I’ve never seen an actor be happier on set.
Jessica was reborn and we shot this number all day long.
Michele K. Short/FX
She never wavered and in fact, asked to keep going.
We had a ball that day.
It was pure creatively and we laughed for 14 hours straight.
FX
I loved working with her so much then, and now.
She is a born actress.
Gaga’s idea, by the way.
FX
It was like making a ten-minute silent movie, all the shots were very planned and choreographed.
I would do countless takes just to get the train of Gaga’s red dress to move right.
And I loved that we usedNosferatu, one of my favorite movies.
Did she dye the pool blood red?"
She is incapable of disappointing.
We’ve grown up together, and worked for the first time back in 2003 onNip/Tuck.
This was sort of the culmination of all things Sarah, meaning she could utilize all her gifts.
I have always said to her since filmingThe People Vs OJ Simpson, “You should direct.”
Sarah is just a machine of preparation and professionalism.
The shot composition, the angles, the suspense building.
That was all her.
Everyone loved her and everyone rallied and it felt like the family got back together again.
I loved being on set when Jessica made her grand return.
Even more fun if you get a cameo appearance by Emma Roberts and Billy Porter.
I felt Sarah really elevated this work, as she always did.
I like to keep challenging her because I honestly think she can do anything.
It was so so hot, and we had many many amazing dinners to talk about it ALL.
This was all Jessica’s idea.
I HATED making it.
The sets, the clothes, the actors in the ensemble.
Four amazing moments stick out for me: 1) Jessica singing Bowie, in that blue suit.
That was a day.
We dropped tons of glitter, it got in everyone’s eyes.
Jessica loved this scene.
- Working with John Carrol Lynch as Twisty, one of the greatest professionals of all time.
From the moment I sawZodiac, I wanted to work with him and he said yes.
- Sarah with those twin heads.
It was very hard, but exciting technically.
- Finn Wittrock.
Such a pro and always up for anything you throw at him.
Dandy was one of my favorite characters we ever did.
Specifically, Dandy in that Playroom.
6)CULT, EPISODE 11, “GREAT AGAIN”
This was my favorite season.
I think Falchuk agrees.
That happened to me, so we put it into the show.
Many crew members were openly sobbing the day we shot that, months after the election.
So many people still had PTSD.
Other members of the crew, Trump voters for sure, were simply silent.
I thought, “Well, this is the world now…..polarized.”
And is was satirical to boot, which I loved.
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?
I loved him in it.
He and I talked after it, and we decided maybe it was time to do some comedy.
I really admired the dedication and the discipline he delivered.
And the cast this year was a murderer’s row of my favorite people in the world.
Adina Porter was amazing, like Evan she really WENT there.
Everyone was on fire this season, electric and tortured and combustible.
Just like we all were that year after the 2016 election.
Wear platform boots and sling shawls around, be WHO YOU ARE because life is short.
She was the ONLY star who we used who sent flowers and gifts to the cast and crew!
Pure magic and kindness.
Stevie was unsure at first aboutCoven, and her role in it.
She wanted to ensure the feminine power corralled was on the RIGHT side of the spectral spectrum.
They both just showed up, game and ready to go.
The most indelible memory I have of this season happened when we finished shooting.
That’s why I used it in the show.
Hello, three months of night shoots.
Everyone has lost their minds.
It is purposeful, we are really trying to send up that time and those movies.
I’ve been so inspired by her performance, I’m writing a miniseries just for her!
Top secret but it’s gonna be my tribute to her talent.
We have been friends since 19f***ing98.Popular.
I’m so proud of her.
The scene where she destroys my fave Gus Kenworthy in a boat is really a masterclass on commitment.
That was a rough night and Leslie really delivered a character so different from herself.
How great is she?
Another actress who can do anything, any tone, any move.
And again my true character actor love John Carroll Lynch.
Whenever he’s in a scene, I am just in awe.
I loved this episode because it changed the format.
This season was very polarizing, but I loved it.
This is one of her greatest roles for us, I think.
She was so so brilliant in that.
This was the season that made me think “Ok, this show can go for 20 years.”
Because we can keep playing with the format, the form.
It proved to me we didn’t have to have every season be a grand spectacle.
We could be raw and rough and verite.
It reinvigorated me in some way, after the operas we had done.
This felt like an independent film approach.
It felt like, “Ok…season 20?
Bring it on.”
