Lourd joins Collins and returning stars in American Horror Story season 8

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Actress Billie Lourd worked with writer/producer Ryan Murphy on his short-lived Fox television series Scream Queens, and after that show ended Murphy added her to the cast of the 7th season of his FX anthology series American Horror Story (pictured above). It has now been revealed that Murphy and Lourd will be continuing their working relationship on the next season of American Horror Story, where Lourd will be coming back to play a new character.

Also confirmed to be returning from previous seasons to play new characters in the show's 8th season are Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, and Evan Peters. During a recent event in Los Angeles, Murphy dropped some details about Peters' role in the new season, saying he will be playing a hairstylist who is more of a comedic character.

Murphy also revealed that the grandmother of Peters' character is being played by legendary actress/author Joan Collins. Anjelica Huston is in talks to join the cast of the new season as well, but she hasn't been confirmed just yet.

A big deal has been made about the fact that American Horror Story's 8th season will be taking place in the future, but this isn't a distant future: the setting of the season is just "18 months from today".

It's rumored that the characters will be dealing with nuclear fallout. Murphy hasn't said whether or not that's the case, but he has said that the tone of the season is 

heightened. It’s not necessarily as real and grounded as the past season. We’re sort of getting back to (the tone of earlier seasons) Asylum and Coven."

We'll keep you updated as more information on season 8 is made available. The season is expected to begin filming in mid-June for a fall premiere.