The Real Reason All the Original Stars Left American Horror Story

Summary

• American Horror Story has always had a remarkable cast.
• Intriguingly, viewers have shown a fondness for seeing the same faces across different seasons of the anthology series.
• Past cast members each had unique reasons for not returning to the show, but there's one reason they all seem to share.

It's been a week since the fifth episode of season 12 of American Horror Story aired, and unfortunately, the show is now going on a hiatus. Meanwhile, fans of the anthology series seem unable to let go of it and have thus taken to social media to reminisce about its glory days.

Debuting in 2011, the FX horror series was an instant hit, earning both audience and critical acclaim and becoming the network's flagship project. More importantly, over its impressive twelve-season run, American Horror Story has featured big-name actors, some of whom are now forever linked to the show in the public imagination. Sarah Paulson, Zachary Quinto, Jessica Lange, and Kathy Bates have all appeared in multiple seasons. However, of all the beloved AHS actors, only Quinto and Emma Roberts put in an appearance in season 12, titled Delicate, which raises many questions.

Unexpected Turn of Events

During the twelve years it's been on the air, American Horror Story has presented us with many fascinating and spine-chilling stories, some more fantastical than others and some eerily realistic. Actors like Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Jessica Lange, Emma Roberts, and others have brought a slew of different characters to life, each playing a variety of different roles. Remarkably, the audience accepted this, experiencing no cognitive dissonance when seeing one actor playing several roles in the same show.

In fact, viewers were upset every time a beloved AHS star didn't reappear on the show. Every cast member, however, t had their reasons for leaving the fan-favorite series.

Slew of Reasons

First and foremost, the most common reason was that the actors got tired of the show despite the fact that they each got to portray different characters. Naturally, they wanted to explore other projects, and fortunately, they had ample opportunity to do that. For instance, Sarah Paulson has appeared on many shows, including Ratched, since her tenure on American Horror Story.

Then, some AHS actors had conflicts with one another and chose not to work in a tense environment, hence their decision to leave the show. Evan Peters and Emma Roberts' infamous feud led to the former taking a break from AHS for a while and focusing on his mental health.

However, the primary reason was the decision by AHS creator Ryan Murphy to revitalize the show by adding new faces to the cast who would better fit the new characters he dreams up every season.

Fortunately, some of our favorite actors may return to AHS in the next season; we just need to wait for official confirmation.