2012 News & Updates
December 13, 2012
Jessica Lange nominated for Golden Globe Award
Jessica Lange has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries for American Horror Story: Asylum.
Complete list of nominees
December 7, 2012
Lange will be back for Season 3 of AHS
Why Did Jessica Lange Sign on for Season 3? Dec 7, 2012
by Natalie Abrams (TV Guide)
When FX renewed American Horror Story for a third season, the network touted that Jessica Lange was set to return for Round 3 as well.
That makes the two-time Oscar winner, thus far, the only actor who will appear in all three seasons of Ryan Murphy's anthology series. But why did Lange decide to be the one constant in the repertory cast? Well, apparently, there's nothing Murphy could do that would make her not want to return.
"Ryan is very collaborative, so I don't think he would suddenly pull something out of his hat that I would suddenly say, 'I absolutely don't want to be involved with this story,'" Lange said during a call with reporters Friday. "Sometimes, episode to episode, I think, 'Oh my God, what the hell are we doing? We shouldn't be doing this!' And yet, the thing that always amazes me is nothing that we do in this show, really, is not somehow founded in some reality somewhere... Unless we really sink the ship, I can't imagine that there would be something that Ryan came up with that I would not want to be involved with."
Lange, 63, says that she has no idea what Murphy has concocted for Season 3 and that the two haven't discussed it much. "I think I will try it again depending on what the story is, who the character is and all of that, so we'll see what happens."
Putting her trust in Murphy has paid off, with Lange scoring SAG, Golden Globe and Emmy awards for her Season 1 performance as Constance Langdon, the acid-tongued Southern belle neighbor of the Harmon family. But whether her Season 2 turn as Sister Jude, the nun once in charge of Briarcliff who finds herself as a patient next week, will garner the same accolades remains to be seen.
Still, after decades in the business, Lange says that she doesn't worry what the critics think and just wants to make sure she's doing things she's never done before. "Now I feel like I have nothing to lose, so I don't mind putting myself out there in the most raw, naked, exposed way," she said. "I also am able to do that because I really feel like Ryan would protect me somehow. I feel, at this point, I can take any chance I want. I can go as far as I want because judgment doesn't matter to me anymore."
November 13, 2012
Jessica Lange on Jimmy Kimmel Live
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
October 16, 2012
Jessica Lange nominated for Golden Globe Award
Jessica Lange has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries for American Horror Story: Asylum.
Complete list of nominees
December 7, 2012
Lange will be back for Season 3 of AHS
Why Did Jessica Lange Sign on for Season 3? Dec 7, 2012
by Natalie Abrams (TV Guide)
When FX renewed American Horror Story for a third season, the network touted that Jessica Lange was set to return for Round 3 as well.
That makes the two-time Oscar winner, thus far, the only actor who will appear in all three seasons of Ryan Murphy's anthology series. But why did Lange decide to be the one constant in the repertory cast? Well, apparently, there's nothing Murphy could do that would make her not want to return.
"Ryan is very collaborative, so I don't think he would suddenly pull something out of his hat that I would suddenly say, 'I absolutely don't want to be involved with this story,'" Lange said during a call with reporters Friday. "Sometimes, episode to episode, I think, 'Oh my God, what the hell are we doing? We shouldn't be doing this!' And yet, the thing that always amazes me is nothing that we do in this show, really, is not somehow founded in some reality somewhere... Unless we really sink the ship, I can't imagine that there would be something that Ryan came up with that I would not want to be involved with."
Lange, 63, says that she has no idea what Murphy has concocted for Season 3 and that the two haven't discussed it much. "I think I will try it again depending on what the story is, who the character is and all of that, so we'll see what happens."
Putting her trust in Murphy has paid off, with Lange scoring SAG, Golden Globe and Emmy awards for her Season 1 performance as Constance Langdon, the acid-tongued Southern belle neighbor of the Harmon family. But whether her Season 2 turn as Sister Jude, the nun once in charge of Briarcliff who finds herself as a patient next week, will garner the same accolades remains to be seen.
Still, after decades in the business, Lange says that she doesn't worry what the critics think and just wants to make sure she's doing things she's never done before. "Now I feel like I have nothing to lose, so I don't mind putting myself out there in the most raw, naked, exposed way," she said. "I also am able to do that because I really feel like Ryan would protect me somehow. I feel, at this point, I can take any chance I want. I can go as far as I want because judgment doesn't matter to me anymore."
November 13, 2012
Jessica Lange on Jimmy Kimmel Live
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
October 16, 2012
September 23, 2012
Emmy Awards 2012: Jessica Lange wins best supporting actress in a miniseries
After Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild accolades for her scene-stealing performance on FX's "American Horror Story," Jessica Lange went on to nab an Emmy — for outstanding supporting actress in a miniseries/TV movie — as well. This is her fourth career Emmy nomination and second win — her last statuette was for the HBO film "Grey Gardens" in 2009.
While the Globes classified Ryan Murphy's brutal, campy haunted-house series as a TV drama, the Emmys placed it in the miniseries category instead. Lange plays Constance Langdon, a devious, old Southern belle who used to live in the house that, in season one, is occupied by Ben and Vivien Harmon and their daughter Violet.
Lange beat co-star Frances Conroy — who plays her former housekeeper Moira O'Hara — as well as Mare Winningham and Sarah Paulson, who is joining the cast. The sophomore season of the "miniseries," returning Oct. 17, is called "American Horror Story: Asylum."
September 11, 2012
Children’s Book Coming from Jessica Lange
By DAVE ITZKOFF New York Times, Sept. 11, 2012
If you know Jessica Lange only from her Emmy-nominated role as the mother from hell on “American Horror Story” you might think twice before sharing her handiwork with offspring of your own. But performers are not their characters — nor has Ms. Lange ever worked on a soap opera with a co-star who turned out to be Dustin Hoffman in drag — and now this Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress is about to become the author of a picture book for young readers.
The Jabberwocky imprint of Sourcebooks said on Tuesday that it had acquired a book by Ms. Lange called “It Is About a Little Bird,” which is based on a book that she created for her own grandchildren and which will use photographs that she took and illustrated by hand.
Steve Geck, the Sourcebooks editorial manager, said in a telephone interview that the book tells the story of two young girls who visit their grandmother on “a ramshackle farm.” There, Mr. Geck said, “They come upon an old birdcage, and when they ask her about it, she tells them the story, how she grew up in France and had this bird as a pet and what it meant to her.” He added that the book “captures that moment in childhood where children realize there’s a world that exists beyond themselves, and there’s a history beyond themselves.”
Mr. Geck said that the sensibility of “It Is About a Little Bird,” which is tentatively planned for a fall 2013 publication, was less Ryan Murphy and “more Frank Capra.”
Children’s Book Coming from Jessica Lange
By DAVE ITZKOFF New York Times, Sept. 11, 2012
If you know Jessica Lange only from her Emmy-nominated role as the mother from hell on “American Horror Story” you might think twice before sharing her handiwork with offspring of your own. But performers are not their characters — nor has Ms. Lange ever worked on a soap opera with a co-star who turned out to be Dustin Hoffman in drag — and now this Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress is about to become the author of a picture book for young readers.
The Jabberwocky imprint of Sourcebooks said on Tuesday that it had acquired a book by Ms. Lange called “It Is About a Little Bird,” which is based on a book that she created for her own grandchildren and which will use photographs that she took and illustrated by hand.
Steve Geck, the Sourcebooks editorial manager, said in a telephone interview that the book tells the story of two young girls who visit their grandmother on “a ramshackle farm.” There, Mr. Geck said, “They come upon an old birdcage, and when they ask her about it, she tells them the story, how she grew up in France and had this bird as a pet and what it meant to her.” He added that the book “captures that moment in childhood where children realize there’s a world that exists beyond themselves, and there’s a history beyond themselves.”
Mr. Geck said that the sensibility of “It Is About a Little Bird,” which is tentatively planned for a fall 2013 publication, was less Ryan Murphy and “more Frank Capra.”
August 29, 2012
'American Horror Story: Asylum' Unveils First Look at Characters and New Teasers
(AceShowBiz, Aug. 29, 2012)
"American Horror Story: Asylum" has shared the first look as well as details of its characters via Entertainment Weekly. Gracing the cover of the magazine's latest issue, Jessica Lange dresses in a habit to portray Sister Jude, who is described as a sadistic nun with a dark past that will resurface.
"If I were playing a straitlaced nun, start to finish, I can't say that would interest me too much," says the Emmy-winning actress who played Constance Langdon in the first season. "What's great are the extremes. To go from where she was and where she's getting to, that's what's going to be interesting."
Sister Jude clashes with Zachary Quinto's alter ego, a psychiatrist named Dr. Thredson, since his forward-thinking ways conflict with her management style. Playing Sister Jude's second-in-command, Sister Eunice, is Lily Rabe.
James Cromwell, meanwhile, portrays Dr. Arden whose diabolical experiments on Briarcliff's inmates result in the Raspers, the mutated humans who lurk in the forest outside of the institution. He is also described as a possible former Nazi.
Joseph Fiennes takes on the role of Monsignor Timothy O'Hara, Sister Jude's superior who is also the object of her affections and fantasies. He has dark intentions under his grace and piety.
Adam Levine's character is named Leo. Having just married to Jenna Dewan's Teresa, he and his new wife are visiting modern-day Briarcliff for a honeymoon, which is ruined when Leo draws the attention of the Big Bad.
Evan Peters will stay in Briarcliff as a new inmate, Kit, who is committed after being accused of murdering his wife (played by Britne Olford). However, he insists that she was abducted by something not humans. Chloe Sevigny will join him as nymphomaniac inmate Shelley.
Sarah Paulson rounds up the cast as Lana, a lesbian journalist who is committed to the asylum by her own girlfriend after she nearly exposes Briarcliff's darkest secrets. Another character lurking around the asylum is Bloody Face, a serial killer who wears a mask made out of his victims' skin along with black nightie and opera length gloves.
In addition to nuns, inmates and a serial killer, the second installment of the horror series will feature aliens. Co-creator Ryan Murphy says, "I think they want to be scared. I'm just writing what I would like to see. I'm scared of aliens and I'm scared of Nazis and I'm scared of nuns. So it's the perfect stew of horror and fear."
In another effort to hype up the upcoming October 17 premiere, a new teaser has just been released featuring a girl wearing a red dress while standing in the woods. Her wrists are bandaged and she is later pulled off the ground. The tenth promo follows a previously-released teaser titled "Taste" which shows a woman being given a red pill.
June 24, 2012
Jessica Lange will play nun in season two of ‘American Horror Story’
by Juan C. Guerrero
Returning cast member Jessica Lange will play a nun in the second season of American Horror Story.
The season will take place in the 1960s at an East Coast institution for the criminally insane, which Lange’s character will run, according to Vulture.
Season one was set in Los Angeles and focused on the Harmon family’s experiences after moving into the murder house. Lange, who is a 2-time Oscar winner, played next-door neighbor Constance Langdon, a former actress who had a dark connection to the murder house.
Series writer Tim Minear talked to MTV News about Lange’s new character.
"She's not playing this kind of ersatz Tennessee Williams character this time," he said. "She's playing a nun. She's playing an administrator of a facility. It's different. In this instance, she's a bride of Christ."
Minear also said that the murder house from the first season might make an appearance.
"I wouldn't rule anything out," he said.
Season 2 will include new cast members Adam Levine, Chloë Sevigny and James Cromwell. Sevigny will play a nymphomaniac named Shelly while Cromwell will play a doctor at the facility.
Zachary Quinto, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters and Lily Rabe will also return from season 1.
April 23, 2012
Jessica Lange joins cast of 'Therese Raquin'
Two-time Oscar winner and American Horror Story’s Jessica Lange will return to the big screen alongside Elizabeth Olsen in Charlie Stratton’s remake of Emile Zola’s erotic thriller, Therese Raquin. Lange replaces Glenn Close as Madam Raquin, the overbearing aunt to Olsen’s Therese, who is having an affair with her bland husband’s (Tom Felton) best friend (Oscar Isaacs). No release date is set.
March 1, 2012
Jessica Lange will return to 'American Horror Story'
If you liked Jessica Lange in season one of American Horror Story, then you’re going to love what creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have in store for season 2: EW has learned exclusively that the two-time Oscar winner will return to the FX drama this fall.
The actress, who won a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award for her work as the hateful, bigoted (and extremely delicious) Constance Langdon, has signed a new deal to stay with the horror franchise. But she won’t reprise her memorable role in the new season, which resumes production in late July for a mid-October return to FX. She’ll play someone entirely new, promises Murphy.
“We have designed the second season of American Horror Story completely around her character,” Murphy told EW exclusively. “Last year Jessica came in with Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott. This will really be the Jessica Lange show so I’m very excited about it. We are designing this amazing new opposite of the Constance character for her. She and I have spoken about different things. She has a lot of ideas, and has a lot of input into her character. She told me some things she has always wanted to play as an actress. She’s a great collaborator and a great friend.”
“I really sweated this negotiation,” continues Murphy, “so I’m glad she is firmly on board.”
Lange is not the only actor from season 1 who will return for a second year. Murphy said he signed three more, but won’t reveal their identities until Friday when he and the AHS cast members participate in the annual PaleyFest in Beverly Hills. (EW’s own Tim Stack will moderate.) Obviously, Britton and Walsh, a.k.a. the Harmons, won’t return because they perished at the end of season 1. That means potential returnees could be Denis O’Hare (Larry Harvey), Evan Peters (Tate Langdon), and Frances Conroy (Moira O’Hara).
AHS season 2 will take place on the East Coast and will involve a horror institution. Regrettably, that’s all we can get from Murphy.
'American Horror Story: Asylum' Unveils First Look at Characters and New Teasers
(AceShowBiz, Aug. 29, 2012)
"American Horror Story: Asylum" has shared the first look as well as details of its characters via Entertainment Weekly. Gracing the cover of the magazine's latest issue, Jessica Lange dresses in a habit to portray Sister Jude, who is described as a sadistic nun with a dark past that will resurface.
"If I were playing a straitlaced nun, start to finish, I can't say that would interest me too much," says the Emmy-winning actress who played Constance Langdon in the first season. "What's great are the extremes. To go from where she was and where she's getting to, that's what's going to be interesting."
Sister Jude clashes with Zachary Quinto's alter ego, a psychiatrist named Dr. Thredson, since his forward-thinking ways conflict with her management style. Playing Sister Jude's second-in-command, Sister Eunice, is Lily Rabe.
James Cromwell, meanwhile, portrays Dr. Arden whose diabolical experiments on Briarcliff's inmates result in the Raspers, the mutated humans who lurk in the forest outside of the institution. He is also described as a possible former Nazi.
Joseph Fiennes takes on the role of Monsignor Timothy O'Hara, Sister Jude's superior who is also the object of her affections and fantasies. He has dark intentions under his grace and piety.
Adam Levine's character is named Leo. Having just married to Jenna Dewan's Teresa, he and his new wife are visiting modern-day Briarcliff for a honeymoon, which is ruined when Leo draws the attention of the Big Bad.
Evan Peters will stay in Briarcliff as a new inmate, Kit, who is committed after being accused of murdering his wife (played by Britne Olford). However, he insists that she was abducted by something not humans. Chloe Sevigny will join him as nymphomaniac inmate Shelley.
Sarah Paulson rounds up the cast as Lana, a lesbian journalist who is committed to the asylum by her own girlfriend after she nearly exposes Briarcliff's darkest secrets. Another character lurking around the asylum is Bloody Face, a serial killer who wears a mask made out of his victims' skin along with black nightie and opera length gloves.
In addition to nuns, inmates and a serial killer, the second installment of the horror series will feature aliens. Co-creator Ryan Murphy says, "I think they want to be scared. I'm just writing what I would like to see. I'm scared of aliens and I'm scared of Nazis and I'm scared of nuns. So it's the perfect stew of horror and fear."
In another effort to hype up the upcoming October 17 premiere, a new teaser has just been released featuring a girl wearing a red dress while standing in the woods. Her wrists are bandaged and she is later pulled off the ground. The tenth promo follows a previously-released teaser titled "Taste" which shows a woman being given a red pill.
June 24, 2012
Jessica Lange will play nun in season two of ‘American Horror Story’
by Juan C. Guerrero
Returning cast member Jessica Lange will play a nun in the second season of American Horror Story.
The season will take place in the 1960s at an East Coast institution for the criminally insane, which Lange’s character will run, according to Vulture.
Season one was set in Los Angeles and focused on the Harmon family’s experiences after moving into the murder house. Lange, who is a 2-time Oscar winner, played next-door neighbor Constance Langdon, a former actress who had a dark connection to the murder house.
Series writer Tim Minear talked to MTV News about Lange’s new character.
"She's not playing this kind of ersatz Tennessee Williams character this time," he said. "She's playing a nun. She's playing an administrator of a facility. It's different. In this instance, she's a bride of Christ."
Minear also said that the murder house from the first season might make an appearance.
"I wouldn't rule anything out," he said.
Season 2 will include new cast members Adam Levine, Chloë Sevigny and James Cromwell. Sevigny will play a nymphomaniac named Shelly while Cromwell will play a doctor at the facility.
Zachary Quinto, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters and Lily Rabe will also return from season 1.
April 23, 2012
Jessica Lange joins cast of 'Therese Raquin'
Two-time Oscar winner and American Horror Story’s Jessica Lange will return to the big screen alongside Elizabeth Olsen in Charlie Stratton’s remake of Emile Zola’s erotic thriller, Therese Raquin. Lange replaces Glenn Close as Madam Raquin, the overbearing aunt to Olsen’s Therese, who is having an affair with her bland husband’s (Tom Felton) best friend (Oscar Isaacs). No release date is set.
March 1, 2012
Jessica Lange will return to 'American Horror Story'
If you liked Jessica Lange in season one of American Horror Story, then you’re going to love what creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have in store for season 2: EW has learned exclusively that the two-time Oscar winner will return to the FX drama this fall.
The actress, who won a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award for her work as the hateful, bigoted (and extremely delicious) Constance Langdon, has signed a new deal to stay with the horror franchise. But she won’t reprise her memorable role in the new season, which resumes production in late July for a mid-October return to FX. She’ll play someone entirely new, promises Murphy.
“We have designed the second season of American Horror Story completely around her character,” Murphy told EW exclusively. “Last year Jessica came in with Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott. This will really be the Jessica Lange show so I’m very excited about it. We are designing this amazing new opposite of the Constance character for her. She and I have spoken about different things. She has a lot of ideas, and has a lot of input into her character. She told me some things she has always wanted to play as an actress. She’s a great collaborator and a great friend.”
“I really sweated this negotiation,” continues Murphy, “so I’m glad she is firmly on board.”
Lange is not the only actor from season 1 who will return for a second year. Murphy said he signed three more, but won’t reveal their identities until Friday when he and the AHS cast members participate in the annual PaleyFest in Beverly Hills. (EW’s own Tim Stack will moderate.) Obviously, Britton and Walsh, a.k.a. the Harmons, won’t return because they perished at the end of season 1. That means potential returnees could be Denis O’Hare (Larry Harvey), Evan Peters (Tate Langdon), and Frances Conroy (Moira O’Hara).
AHS season 2 will take place on the East Coast and will involve a horror institution. Regrettably, that’s all we can get from Murphy.
"The Vow" opening February 10, 2012
January 29, 2012
Jessica Lange wins SAG Award
Transcript
JESSICA LANGE: Well, this is…this is such a pleasure coming from the actors. It means the world to me, so I thank you. Thank you to F/X and all the crazy, wild, imaginative people who put this thing together. It was a real leap of faith for me to jump into it, but it’s been a wonderful ride. It’s great to play such a big character with so much to do.
And I want to thank specifically the writers. I want to thank the directors. I would love to thank Ryan Murphy for his special attention to this character. And mostly I want to thank the other actors. Sometimes, you know, you go to work and it’s…it’s thrilling, and that’s what makes us continue to do it. So, I thank you for your generosity. I thank you for making my work better and…to be an actor means everything to me. So, thank you so much.
JESSICA LANGE: Well, this is…this is such a pleasure coming from the actors. It means the world to me, so I thank you. Thank you to F/X and all the crazy, wild, imaginative people who put this thing together. It was a real leap of faith for me to jump into it, but it’s been a wonderful ride. It’s great to play such a big character with so much to do.
And I want to thank specifically the writers. I want to thank the directors. I would love to thank Ryan Murphy for his special attention to this character. And mostly I want to thank the other actors. Sometimes, you know, you go to work and it’s…it’s thrilling, and that’s what makes us continue to do it. So, I thank you for your generosity. I thank you for making my work better and…to be an actor means everything to me. So, thank you so much.
January 16, 2012
January 15, 2012
Jessica Lange wins Best Supporting Actress at 2012 Golden Globes
Jessica Lange (American Horror Story) has won the Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Mini-series or Movie award at the 2012 Golden Globes.
She beat out Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire), Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey (Masterpiece), SofiaVegara (Modern Family) and Evan Rachel Wood (Mildred Pierce) to win the award, presented by Felicity Huffman and William H Macy.
Jessica Lange wins Best Supporting Actress at 2012 Golden Globes
Jessica Lange (American Horror Story) has won the Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Mini-series or Movie award at the 2012 Golden Globes.
She beat out Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire), Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey (Masterpiece), SofiaVegara (Modern Family) and Evan Rachel Wood (Mildred Pierce) to win the award, presented by Felicity Huffman and William H Macy.