Jessica Lange isn’t leaving much room for wishful thinking when it comes to a return to American Horror Story. Asked if she’d ever step back into Ryan Murphy’s long-running FX anthology—particularly with Season 13 rumored as a potential “final” chapter—the Oscar winner gave a blunt, three-word response: “Oh Christ, no.”
The moment came while Lange was promoting Long Day’s Journey Into Night at the Dublin International Film Festival, where she spoke to Irish radio outlet SPIN 1038. Pressed on the idea of coming back, she doubled down, noting it’s been “more than 10 years, 12 years” since she last worked on the series in a substantial way—then reiterating, simply, that she’s not doing it.
For AHS fans, the definitiveness stings because Lange is so closely tied to the franchise’s early identity. As Entertainment Weekly and Deadline note, she was a major presence across the first wave of seasons and won two Emmys for her work on the show—helping turn characters like Constance Langdon and Sister Jude into instant canon. Her most recent on-screen AHS appearance was a return in 2018’s Apocalypse.
The irony is that Lange’s shut-it-down answer arrived during a period when other franchise regulars have openly entertained the idea of coming back, and when Murphy has signaled interest in revisiting familiar faces. EW even points to the contrast with Sarah Paulson, who has spoken positively about returning.
And then, in the kind of twist American Horror Story would appreciate, the conversation didn’t end there. In October 2025, Murphy revealed a Season 13 lineup that included Jessica Lange, a development that Variety and Entertainment Weekly described as a surprise given her earlier comments.
Whether Lange’s “no” was truly final in February—or simply a very Lange way of keeping expectations in check—her instinct for timing remains impeccable: even a refusal from her turns into a headline-worthy event.
