Jessica Lange shaded “American Horror Story” network FX during a panel at PaleyFest (via Entertainment Weekly) in which she remembered having to drive herself home from the anthology series’ set during production on previous seasons. The Oscar and Emmy-winning icon currently stars in “AHS 13,” marking her first appearance on the show since 2018’s “AHS: Apocalypse.”
“We had to drive ourselves,” Lange said during the panel discussion alongside franchise co-star Sarah Paulson. “We would drive ourselves home at like 4 or 5 in the morning, park on some street in the French Quarter, and find our way home.”
Lange added that it’s “still a bone of contention for her” as Paulson laughed in approval next to her. The actor, who filmed the show’s third season “Coven” in New Orleans, said FX was “too fucking cheap” to provide cars or drivers for the stars at the time.
Over the course of the show’s first four seasons, Lange helped propel “American Horror Story” to become one of TV’s buzziest shows. She headlined the Season 1 as Constance Langdon, Season 2 as Sister Jude Martin, Season 3 as Cordelia Goode and Season 4’s Elsa Mars, all of whom she is playing again in “AHS: 13.” Lange won Emmys for her roles in the show’s first and third seasons.
Lange told “Good Morning America” before the new season kicked off that the chance to play her old characters is why she returned after a yearslong hiatus away from the franchise, explaining: “It really was just the idea of bringing those four characters back — and one mystery character that I’m not going to [spoil].”
“First, [Ryan Murphy] talked to me about playing [season 1’s] Constance, which I think was his favorite character that I did. But I said I’ll come back if I can do all four characters,” Lange also said on “Live With Kelly and Mark” before the season premiered.