News & Updates 2013
Dec. 20, 2013
Nick Venable, CinemaBlend.com
Jessica Lange Joins Mark Wahlberg In Remake Of The Gambler
The 1980s were undoubtedly the best years of Jessica Lange’s film career, with five of six Oscar nominations coming then, including her Best Supporting Actress win for 1982’s Tootsie. She has earned a rare cyclical success for her deliciously outlandish roles on FX’s American Horror Story for the last three years, garnering both an Emmy and a Golden Globe. She won’t be returning after the fourth season, allowing a lot more time to get back into features full force, and we can now expect to see her in Paramount’s upcoming remake of Karel Reisz’s 1974 hit The Gambler. This is one of those instances where you know when to hold ‘em.
We can expect this remake to be pretty big, as Lange joins box office champion Mark Whalberg as his mother, according to Deadline. It will be directed by Rupert Wyatt, who rocked the box office himself with another sorta-remake, 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Add in Oscar-winning screenwriter William Monahan (The Departed) and Brie Larson (Short Term 12), and there’s enough talent involved to make you forget this is yet another uncalled for Hollywood updating.
The film will probably follow the original’s storyline with a few change-ups to keep things interesting. Wahlberg will take over the role made famous by James Caan as a gambler who doesn’t know when to quit, even when it could ruin his life. He loses all of his money and is forced to borrow money from everyone around him, including his girlfriend (Larson) and his mother (Lange). Desperation then puts leads him down even more degrading paths, but such is the life of a gambling man. If Lange plays this role with even a quarter of the contempt-filled rage that she’s capable of, Wahlberg really should have known better.
AHS is really the majority of what Lange has kept busy with the last few years. She played Rachel McAdams’ mother in Michael Sucsy’s 2012 romance The Vow and will soon be seen in Charlie Stratton’s Paris-in-the-1860s thriller In Secret, opposite Elizabeth Olsen and Oscar Isaac. And of course she’s signed up for that fourth season of FX’s hit series. For her role of witch Supreme Fiona , Lange recently received her 14th Golden Globe nomination as well as her fifth Screen Actors Guild Award.
There’s no word yet on when The Gambler will go into production, but it doesn’t seem like there will be too much more casting to do, unless Monahan’s script has added or fleshed out a few additional roles. Something I can say with a fair amount of certainty is that there won’t be any all-out musical numbers during the movie, something that Lange proved herself still adequate at in a particularly absurd episode of last season’s American Horror Story: Asylum. You can watch it, watch it, bo botch it below.
Dec. 12, 2013
Golden Globe Nomination for Lange
Jessica Lange has been nominated for Best Actress in a Mini-Series or TV Movie for "American Horror Story: Coven". The other nominees include Helena Bonham Carter ("Burton and Taylor"), Rebecca Ferguson ("White Queen"), Helen Mirren ("Phil Spector") and Elisabeth Moss ("Top of the Lake").
Dec. 11, 2013
SAG Nomination for Lange
Jessica Lange has been nominated for Best Actress in a Television Drama Series for "American Horror Story: Coven". The other nominees include Claire Danes ("Homeland"), Anna Gunn ("Breaking Bad"), Maggie Smith ("Downton Abbey") and Kerry Washington ("Scandal").
Dec. 4, 2013
Trailer released for "In Secret"
The title has been changed and release date is set for February 2014
Nov. 7, 2013
Jessica Lange is scheduled to appear on the TODAY show, Monday, November 11th. She will be discussing her children's book "It's About a Little Bird".
Nov. 7, 2013
'American Horror Story' Renewed for a Fourth Season
by Stephanie Blackmon, Examiner.com
"American Horror Story" has been renewed for a fourth season by FX. The television network announced Wednesday, November 6 there will be a 13 episode season set to premiere in 2013.
In an interview with The Huffington Post, FX’s John Landgraf, called Ryan Murphy, creator of both "American Horror Story" and "Glee", a “master producer”. Landgraf also went on to praise Murphy and the team for their work on the show.
“What he…and the entire production team and cast responsible for the "American Horror Story" franchise have done is nothing short of extraordinary,” said Landgraf. “Every year, they create a riveting and brilliant new mini-series. "AHS: Coven" is the best yet, and I have no doubt that the next installment will be even better.”
The latest season of "AHS" has been the most successful season of the three with "Coven" averaging over 7.7 million viewers.
Jessica Lange, who has appeared in all three seasons of "AHS," has already committed to starring in the fourth season, but says it will be her last season.
“I’m going to do the next season of this and hopefully a play and then maybe one or two movies and then I think-- I feel like maybe then it’s time to start something brand new in life,” said Lange.
As far as other returning cast members of the show or talk of the new plot, there has been no word yet.
October 22, 2013
'American Horror Story's' Jessica Lange at ease in the shadows
By Yvonne Villarreal, LA Times
Jessica Lange sees an end in sight.
Shrinking into her all-black ensemble in a cold Beverly Hills hotel room, the 64-year-old actress fidgets with her sleeves as she talks about her version of a five-year plan.
"I am coming to the end of acting," she says with sureness. "I have a list: another stage production, maybe one or two more movies, one more season of "American Horror Story" ... and then that is it for me. Because I think that's enough. I want to go out with a bang ... or should I say, a scare?"
If her remaining future roles are anything like her starring role in FX's dark anthology "American Horror Story," the audience will be the one to go out with a whimper. A very frightened whimper and lots of it. Lange, whose four-decade career includes such cinematic hallmarks as "Tootsie" and "Blue Sky," has become an unexpected star of horror on the network's hit series, which racked up 17 Emmy nominations this year and drew 5.5 million viewers in the third-season premiere of its latest installment, "Coven," earlier this month.
"It reenergized me; it reenergized my career," says Lange, who took home an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a SAG award in 2012 with her first-season portrayal of meddling neighbor Constance Langdon. "There's no shame in recognizing that. It's exposed me to a whole new generation, which is a little strange. I'm not used to young people thinking I'm cool."
Oh, how they do. Lange spooked audiences with her first-season character, a poisonous cupcake maker and master manipulator with a Southern drawl. She followed it up in the show's second season with her tormented portrayal of Sister Jude Martin, the stern head nun with a tortured past running a mental institution. Now, in the third season, her scene-stealing performance as the all-powerful witch Fiona Goode has earned her the unofficial title of the grand dame of "American Horror Story."
"There are certain people who just pull focus no matter who they're on-screen with," says "American Horror Story" co-creator Brad Falchuk. "She is one of those people. She has an incredible intensity and incredible fragility. She, on the one hand, scares the hell out of you, and on the other hand, has you falling in love with her. It's hard not to be compelled by her."
Lange's risky foray came about thanks to considerable prodding, primarily from the show's co-creator Ryan Murphy, who had reached out to her by telephone in 2011.
"The power of seduction got me here," she says. "He just charmed me. I don't watch TV — I had never seen 'Glee' or 'Nip/Tuck.' I knew of him by reputation. And the truth of the matter is, I just thought, 'Wow, nobody has done that song and dance for me in a long time.' I liked being wanted."
Lange's road to terror was paved two years earlier by HBO's "Grey Gardens," a telefilm about the lives of socialite wannabes Edith Bouvier Beale/"Little Edie" (Drew Barrymore) and her mother, Edith Ewing Bouvier/"Big Edie" (Lange). Lange's unflinching take on the unkempt, gray-haired woman who makes a home amid piles of rotting garbage and cat feces had critics buzzing and people talking.
"It brought back the thrill of acting," she says. "It was the perfect storm. It's all the tired stuff everybody says — age working against you, films that made your career not being made anymore. But also, I really needed a distraction in my life; I was still getting used to the idea of my kids leaving the nest. I thought it was a good time to go out on a limb because horror is not my thing."
But madness, heartbreak and despair seem to be. Many of Lange's most memorable performances are rooted in darkness — whether for a big-screen portrayal of Frances Farmer, an actress who went into a physical and emotional tailspin in the '40s, or a stage and TV depiction of Blanche DuBois in "A Streetcar Named Desire."
Sarah Paulson, another "American Horror Story" vet who has also worked with Lange, admires her ability to drop into mental illness. Paulson recalls a scene from "American Horror Story: Asylum," in which Sister Jude becomes unraveled as Paulson's character Lana is released from the mental institution.
"I remember just staring at her and thinking, `I was just talking to her on the way to the set and now she's muttering to herself. And it was so simple, not overwrought. But it was so damn powerful. Nobody plays more things at once than that lady. There is more going on in one line with Jessica than another actor can get across in an entire season."
Lange isn't quite sure what accounts for her comfort in doom and gloom — "I'm sure it has to do with what's bred in the bone," she says.
She grew up with a hard-drinking father, but doesn't attribute her penchant for darkness to that. "I think it's just genetic," she says. "I've never been a sunny personality. I've never been outgoing. I'm a solitary person. So those are areas of the human psyche that I like to explore, probably in a subconscious attempt to understand my own place in the world. It hasn't been easy; it's been my own horror at times."
Sometimes, the artistic process hits too close to home.
"I remember when I was doing 'Frances,' I let her get so deep under my skin that it actually felt like a haunting," she said. "And when I did Blanche DuBois for the first time, I think my kids were worried about me. The deeper you go, the more they settle in and it's harder to pull away. I used to soak in a hot tub for hours in the dark, just like Blanche."
Michael Sucsy, who directed and co-wrote "Grey Gardens," recalls Lange's first look at the telefilm's posters in which her character's wrinkles were airbrushed out.
"She was like, 'I was in the makeup chair for four hours getting those, why would they get rid of them?'" he says. "She was always pushing for more. She was all about us making her fatter, older, whatever. And you don't find that with a lot of female actresses."
Presenting a stark truth is what drives and guides her work, says Lange, who moonlights as a fine art photographer.
"I shoot in black and white because I think there is something much more arresting about it. I think any time you distill an image down to shadows and highlights, it has a kind of power that speaks to something on a much more primal way," she says. "My acting roles are a blending of that — it's the gray. And I love the balance. It's been fun. Depressing, sure, but fun. So I want a little more of it. For a little longer."
'American Horror Story's' Jessica Lange at ease in the shadows
By Yvonne Villarreal, LA Times
Jessica Lange sees an end in sight.
Shrinking into her all-black ensemble in a cold Beverly Hills hotel room, the 64-year-old actress fidgets with her sleeves as she talks about her version of a five-year plan.
"I am coming to the end of acting," she says with sureness. "I have a list: another stage production, maybe one or two more movies, one more season of "American Horror Story" ... and then that is it for me. Because I think that's enough. I want to go out with a bang ... or should I say, a scare?"
If her remaining future roles are anything like her starring role in FX's dark anthology "American Horror Story," the audience will be the one to go out with a whimper. A very frightened whimper and lots of it. Lange, whose four-decade career includes such cinematic hallmarks as "Tootsie" and "Blue Sky," has become an unexpected star of horror on the network's hit series, which racked up 17 Emmy nominations this year and drew 5.5 million viewers in the third-season premiere of its latest installment, "Coven," earlier this month.
"It reenergized me; it reenergized my career," says Lange, who took home an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a SAG award in 2012 with her first-season portrayal of meddling neighbor Constance Langdon. "There's no shame in recognizing that. It's exposed me to a whole new generation, which is a little strange. I'm not used to young people thinking I'm cool."
Oh, how they do. Lange spooked audiences with her first-season character, a poisonous cupcake maker and master manipulator with a Southern drawl. She followed it up in the show's second season with her tormented portrayal of Sister Jude Martin, the stern head nun with a tortured past running a mental institution. Now, in the third season, her scene-stealing performance as the all-powerful witch Fiona Goode has earned her the unofficial title of the grand dame of "American Horror Story."
"There are certain people who just pull focus no matter who they're on-screen with," says "American Horror Story" co-creator Brad Falchuk. "She is one of those people. She has an incredible intensity and incredible fragility. She, on the one hand, scares the hell out of you, and on the other hand, has you falling in love with her. It's hard not to be compelled by her."
Lange's risky foray came about thanks to considerable prodding, primarily from the show's co-creator Ryan Murphy, who had reached out to her by telephone in 2011.
"The power of seduction got me here," she says. "He just charmed me. I don't watch TV — I had never seen 'Glee' or 'Nip/Tuck.' I knew of him by reputation. And the truth of the matter is, I just thought, 'Wow, nobody has done that song and dance for me in a long time.' I liked being wanted."
Lange's road to terror was paved two years earlier by HBO's "Grey Gardens," a telefilm about the lives of socialite wannabes Edith Bouvier Beale/"Little Edie" (Drew Barrymore) and her mother, Edith Ewing Bouvier/"Big Edie" (Lange). Lange's unflinching take on the unkempt, gray-haired woman who makes a home amid piles of rotting garbage and cat feces had critics buzzing and people talking.
"It brought back the thrill of acting," she says. "It was the perfect storm. It's all the tired stuff everybody says — age working against you, films that made your career not being made anymore. But also, I really needed a distraction in my life; I was still getting used to the idea of my kids leaving the nest. I thought it was a good time to go out on a limb because horror is not my thing."
But madness, heartbreak and despair seem to be. Many of Lange's most memorable performances are rooted in darkness — whether for a big-screen portrayal of Frances Farmer, an actress who went into a physical and emotional tailspin in the '40s, or a stage and TV depiction of Blanche DuBois in "A Streetcar Named Desire."
Sarah Paulson, another "American Horror Story" vet who has also worked with Lange, admires her ability to drop into mental illness. Paulson recalls a scene from "American Horror Story: Asylum," in which Sister Jude becomes unraveled as Paulson's character Lana is released from the mental institution.
"I remember just staring at her and thinking, `I was just talking to her on the way to the set and now she's muttering to herself. And it was so simple, not overwrought. But it was so damn powerful. Nobody plays more things at once than that lady. There is more going on in one line with Jessica than another actor can get across in an entire season."
Lange isn't quite sure what accounts for her comfort in doom and gloom — "I'm sure it has to do with what's bred in the bone," she says.
She grew up with a hard-drinking father, but doesn't attribute her penchant for darkness to that. "I think it's just genetic," she says. "I've never been a sunny personality. I've never been outgoing. I'm a solitary person. So those are areas of the human psyche that I like to explore, probably in a subconscious attempt to understand my own place in the world. It hasn't been easy; it's been my own horror at times."
Sometimes, the artistic process hits too close to home.
"I remember when I was doing 'Frances,' I let her get so deep under my skin that it actually felt like a haunting," she said. "And when I did Blanche DuBois for the first time, I think my kids were worried about me. The deeper you go, the more they settle in and it's harder to pull away. I used to soak in a hot tub for hours in the dark, just like Blanche."
Michael Sucsy, who directed and co-wrote "Grey Gardens," recalls Lange's first look at the telefilm's posters in which her character's wrinkles were airbrushed out.
"She was like, 'I was in the makeup chair for four hours getting those, why would they get rid of them?'" he says. "She was always pushing for more. She was all about us making her fatter, older, whatever. And you don't find that with a lot of female actresses."
Presenting a stark truth is what drives and guides her work, says Lange, who moonlights as a fine art photographer.
"I shoot in black and white because I think there is something much more arresting about it. I think any time you distill an image down to shadows and highlights, it has a kind of power that speaks to something on a much more primal way," she says. "My acting roles are a blending of that — it's the gray. And I love the balance. It's been fun. Depressing, sure, but fun. So I want a little more of it. For a little longer."
October 5, 2013
Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates arrive at 'American Horror Story' premiere at the Pacific Design Center
Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates arrive at 'American Horror Story' premiere at the Pacific Design Center
September 30, 2013
'A Little Bird' tells me Jessica Lange is an author
Jocelyn McClurg, USA TODAY
Last season on FX's American Horror Story: Asylum, Jessica Lange gave new meaning to the term "scary nun." This season, on Coven, she'll play Fiona Goode, a designer-clad, fork-tongued witch who's good in last name only.
But off-camera, the Oscar and Emmy winner is showing her softer side — as a grandmother — in her first children's picture book, It's About a Little Bird (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, ages 4-8, on sale Tuesday).
Lange, 64, laughs at the incongruity between her wicked TV persona and publishing an innocent children's book.
"Well, the two are not connected at all. They're just different facets of what I do," she says by phone.
One of the things she does is take photographs, and her charming shots of her two young granddaughters ("two of my favorite people"), taken on her farm in the Hudson Valley, fill her new book. She wrote the text, based on a true story, about a gilded birdcage in the barn that may have once belonged to John Wayne, and a beloved, clever canary that Lange snuck onto a plane — in her pocket — from Rome to New York many years ago.
"He never made a peep, and this was a bird that never stopped singing."
Lange, who shoots in black and white with her Leica M6, hand-tinted the book's photos. "I haven't crossed over to digital," says the actress, who has a "huge" photography collection, admires Walker Evans and Cartier-Bresson, and loves older photographic techniques.
In 2008, Lange published a collection of her "street" photography, 50 Photographs. One of the things that appeals to her about taking pictures, she says, is "being anonymous. It's so the polar opposite of acting. I become the observer. I become invisible."
Little Bird began as a personal, handmade Christmas present for her granddaughters. (Lange worries about their privacy and declines to give their names and ages, but she says their mother is her oldest daughter, Aleksandra, whose father is Mikhail Baryshnikov.)
"It was never meant for publication, but a friend of mine saw it and said, 'Why don't we do this?' "
September 26, 2013
Jessica Lange: Stop Minnesota's wolf hunt
By Dave Orrick
[email protected]
Actress Jessica Lange has joined the opposition to Minnesota's wolf hunt.
"More than anything else, the cruel methods allowed for hunting and trapping wolves are deeply disturbing," the two-time Oscar winner and Cloquet, Minn., native wrote in a letter to Gov. Mark Dayton. The letter was released Thursday by the anti-wolf-hunting group Howling for Wolves.
To read Lange's entire letter, go to Blogs.TwinCities.com/Outdoors.
Minnesota's second-ever regulated wolf hunt will begin Nov. 9.
Largely because of hunting and trapping, wolves were almost wiped out in the Lower 48 states. Following protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, wolves staged a remarkable comeback. Last year, the Obama administration removed Great Lakes wolves from federal protections. Minnesota and Wisconsin held inaugural hunting and trapping seasons in the fall of 2012, and Michigan will likely open a season this year.
Dayton has supported Minnesota's hunting and trapping season.
Jessica Lange: Stop Minnesota's wolf hunt
By Dave Orrick
[email protected]
Actress Jessica Lange has joined the opposition to Minnesota's wolf hunt.
"More than anything else, the cruel methods allowed for hunting and trapping wolves are deeply disturbing," the two-time Oscar winner and Cloquet, Minn., native wrote in a letter to Gov. Mark Dayton. The letter was released Thursday by the anti-wolf-hunting group Howling for Wolves.
To read Lange's entire letter, go to Blogs.TwinCities.com/Outdoors.
Minnesota's second-ever regulated wolf hunt will begin Nov. 9.
Largely because of hunting and trapping, wolves were almost wiped out in the Lower 48 states. Following protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, wolves staged a remarkable comeback. Last year, the Obama administration removed Great Lakes wolves from federal protections. Minnesota and Wisconsin held inaugural hunting and trapping seasons in the fall of 2012, and Michigan will likely open a season this year.
Dayton has supported Minnesota's hunting and trapping season.
September 22, 2013 - Jessica at the 65th Emmy Awards.
She was nominated for her performance in "American Horror Story: Asylum" but lost to Laura Linney.
September 7, 2013
"Therese" premiere in Toronto, Canada
"Therese" premiere in Toronto, Canada
August 27, 2013
Toronto: Roadside Picks Up U.S. Rights to Thriller 'Therese' Roadside Attractions has acquired U.S. theatrical distribution rights to Charlie Stratton's romantic thriller Therese
Roadside Attractions has acquired U.S. theatrical distribution rights to Charlie Stratton's romantic thriller Therese.
Starring Elizabeth Olsen, Oscar Isaac, Tom Felton and Jessica Lange, Therese will have its world premiere Saturday, Sept. 7, at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The film, which was financed and produced by LD Entertainment, marks Stratton's feature directorial debut. It follows a beautiful young woman named Therese (Olsen) who is trapped in a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin (Felton) by her domineering aunt (Lange). When Therese meets her husband's childhood friend (Isaac), she embarks on an illicit affair.
Based on Emile Zola’s novel Thérèse Raquin, the film is produced by Mickey Liddell, Pete Shilaimon and William Horberg.
“We have always loved this script and have been actively tracking Therese since it was being developed,” said Roadside co-president Howard Cohen in a statement. “We are excited to be distributing Therese and to continue our collaborative relationship with LD Entertainment.”
Roadside will oversee the marketing and distribution of the film in collaboration with LD’s president of distribution David Dinerstein.
August 27, 2013
Jessica Lange Confirms Broadway Return In LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT
by www.broadwayworld.com
Legendary stage and screen superstar Jessica Lange confirms her Broadway return as part of a new production of Eugene O'Neill's classic LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT in a new interview conducted in promotion of the upcoming season of her FX horror hit AMERICAN HORROR STORY.
Lange discusses her participation in an upcoming revival of the revered drama, emphatically announcing her return to theatre, stating, "Yes. Absolutely. In fact, we are going to do a production... about ten years ago now, I did a production of what is probably my favorite play ever, of all time, Eugene O'Neill's LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT."
Lange clarifies, "I am planning on doing that sometime in the next year, year and a half, back on Broadway."
Lange originally starred in the play in the West End opposite Charles Dance under the direction of Robin Phillips in 2000. The oft-revived drama also enjoyed a 2003 Broadway revival with Vanessa Redgrave in the role of Mary Tyrone.
The two-time Academy Award-winner adds, "Mary Tyrone is maybe my favorite character that - well, Blanche DuBois and Mary Tyrone - are my favorite characters that I have ever, ever, ever played."
Of course, Lange made her Broadway debut in 1996 playing Blanche DuBois in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, co-starring Alec Baldwin, and has since returned to the Great White Way in another lauded Tennessee Williams masterpiece, THE GLASS MENAGERIE.
Lange instructively observes, "You know, it's wonderful when you are able to create this character and then re-visit it years later."
"So, that's what I'm really looking forward to," she says with a smile.
August 23, 2013
'American Horror Story's' Jessica Lange hints to hanging up the horror
By Yvonne Villarreal LOS ANGELES TIMES
A collective gasp among die-hard "American Horror Story" fans detonated Friday, just before noon Pacific time.
Jessica Lange, the dowager of the FX anthology series, laid the seeds that her end on the drama is drawing near. [Insert GASP!]
The 64-year-old actress, best known for her film work in such touchstones as "King Kong" and "Tootsie," experienced a career renaissance since joining forces with Ryan Murphy, appearing in his spookfest cable project. Her eery portrayal of meddling neighbor Constance Langdon earned her critical praise and awards acclaim. The momentum continued with her turn as sadistic nun Sister Jude Martin last season — a role that earned her yet another Emmy nomination.
BUZZMETER: Emmy 2013 pundit's picks
And while Lange is in production on the third season, in which she'll play a witch, she told The Times during a live Web chat that she'd be happy if her run ended there — "I think that would be wonderful because it would be a trilogy." But wait, there's hope. She's also open to the idea of one more season, hinting that there's an area she wants to explore (let's hope Murphy is taking suggestions).
But then that's it.
"I think that would be the absolute stop date," she said. "One more after this, because ... it takes up a lot of time. It's a big commitment every year. There's a lot of other things that I want to be doing."
How will the "AHS" community cope? Before plotting a "DON'T LEAVE 'AHS,' JESSICA!" campaign, watch the video above to hear what Lange had to say about working with Murphy, being exposed to a younger generation of fans, and her plans to return to theater.
Aug. 21, 2013
Jessica on the set of "American Horror Story: Coven" in New Orleans
A fan meets Jessica in New Orleans on the set of "American Horror Story: Coven".
Read his story and see his photos here!
Jessica on the set of "American Horror Story: Coven" in New Orleans
A fan meets Jessica in New Orleans on the set of "American Horror Story: Coven".
Read his story and see his photos here!
Aug. 2, 2013
'American Horror Story': Five Things to Know About 'Coven'
While co-creator Ryan Murphy was scratched from his scheduled participation in the panel -- filming just started on Coven last week in New Orleans and he's also shooting The Normal Heart in New York -- executive producer Tim Minear kept stars Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett from spilling too much about what to expect from season three.
Here are a few teasers about what's ahead:
1. Lange plays a witch named Fiona. "Some of us play witches, some of us play historical characters," she told the assembled press. "I do play a witch. We move back and forth in time. It encompasses a lot of different stories. I've shot two days so far, one day entrances and exits, the other day a scene. I don't know who the character is yet. It comes in little dribs and drabs."
2. Bates plays historical personage Madame LaLurie, a Louisiana-born socialite and serial killer who kept slaves bound in her home. Interestingly enough, Bates' great grandfather was the personal physician to Andrew Jackson, who lived next door to LaLurie. "I think he would have been there just before she left," Bates said.
3. Bassett also portrays a real person: Marie Laveau, a voodoo expert who, along with her daughter, had a big multiracial following. The actress noted that she's been approached by several individuals interested in voodoo in New Orleans for consultation should she need it. "It's been interesting being in New Orleans, there's such a regard and respect for who she was," Bassett said. "She was a woman in 1801 who lives to be 80 years old, who is a very influential person in the city. My character is based loosely on her."
4. Paulson plays Cordelia, the daughter to Jessica Lange's Fiona. This season, Minear said, will focus on themes of oppression of minorities of all kinds. "Within that idea, the idea of minority groups going after each other and doing the work of the larger culture for the larger culture [will be explored]," Minear said. "While there is a strong feminist theme that runs throughout Coven this year, there are also themes of race, oppression and there is a very strong theme of family, specifically mothers and daughters." Minear noted it would be safe to think of Cordelia in line with the character in William Shakespeare's King Lear.
5. Coven also will feature Salem witches fleeing to the South, Minear said, noting there are two kinds of witches in the world. Among the changes in Coven, Minear said this season will be more fun. "This year is a drama but there is a lot of humor, and we are embracing a kind of velocity and fun with the series," he said. "It's not the same as it was the past two years, but I think it can be more fun for the audience."
American Horror Story: Coven returns in October on FX.
'American Horror Story': Five Things to Know About 'Coven'
While co-creator Ryan Murphy was scratched from his scheduled participation in the panel -- filming just started on Coven last week in New Orleans and he's also shooting The Normal Heart in New York -- executive producer Tim Minear kept stars Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett from spilling too much about what to expect from season three.
Here are a few teasers about what's ahead:
1. Lange plays a witch named Fiona. "Some of us play witches, some of us play historical characters," she told the assembled press. "I do play a witch. We move back and forth in time. It encompasses a lot of different stories. I've shot two days so far, one day entrances and exits, the other day a scene. I don't know who the character is yet. It comes in little dribs and drabs."
2. Bates plays historical personage Madame LaLurie, a Louisiana-born socialite and serial killer who kept slaves bound in her home. Interestingly enough, Bates' great grandfather was the personal physician to Andrew Jackson, who lived next door to LaLurie. "I think he would have been there just before she left," Bates said.
3. Bassett also portrays a real person: Marie Laveau, a voodoo expert who, along with her daughter, had a big multiracial following. The actress noted that she's been approached by several individuals interested in voodoo in New Orleans for consultation should she need it. "It's been interesting being in New Orleans, there's such a regard and respect for who she was," Bassett said. "She was a woman in 1801 who lives to be 80 years old, who is a very influential person in the city. My character is based loosely on her."
4. Paulson plays Cordelia, the daughter to Jessica Lange's Fiona. This season, Minear said, will focus on themes of oppression of minorities of all kinds. "Within that idea, the idea of minority groups going after each other and doing the work of the larger culture for the larger culture [will be explored]," Minear said. "While there is a strong feminist theme that runs throughout Coven this year, there are also themes of race, oppression and there is a very strong theme of family, specifically mothers and daughters." Minear noted it would be safe to think of Cordelia in line with the character in William Shakespeare's King Lear.
5. Coven also will feature Salem witches fleeing to the South, Minear said, noting there are two kinds of witches in the world. Among the changes in Coven, Minear said this season will be more fun. "This year is a drama but there is a lot of humor, and we are embracing a kind of velocity and fun with the series," he said. "It's not the same as it was the past two years, but I think it can be more fun for the audience."
American Horror Story: Coven returns in October on FX.
July 18, 2013
Another Emmy nomination for AHS
The Emmy nominations have been announced and Jessica Lange is once again on the list. She is nominated for Lead Actress in a Miniseries for her role as Sister Jude in "American Horror Story: Asylum".
Also nominated were Zachary Quinto and Sarah Paulson.
Another Emmy nomination for AHS
The Emmy nominations have been announced and Jessica Lange is once again on the list. She is nominated for Lead Actress in a Miniseries for her role as Sister Jude in "American Horror Story: Asylum".
Also nominated were Zachary Quinto and Sarah Paulson.
June 3, 2013
Jessica Lange ('American Horror Story: Asylum') chats with Gold Derby editor Tom O'Neil
Jessica Lange ('American Horror Story: Asylum') chats with Gold Derby editor Tom O'Neil
January 24, 2013
Jessica Lange, Evan Peters return for third season of "AHS"
(From Queerty.com)
At a sneak-preview screening of American Horror Story‘s season finale, producer Ryan Murphy shared some details about the as-yet-unwritten Season 3.
Reports EW: Murphy said he knows the tale he wants to tell and which horror pop touchstones he wants to use. He’ll begin working with the writing staff next week to plot out the saga, then pitch the plan to FX for input and approval.
Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, and Evan Peters will return next season, playing new characters per the show’s novel anthology format. Murphy also said cast members from Season 1 who weren’t in Season 2 will return, and new faces will be joining the company.
Murphy said that Lange has been offering suggestions, specifically actors she’s long wanted to work with. (He offered no names, though hinted that Oscar winners might be in the mix.) The third season will be set in multiple cities and in modern times, but will occasionally peek into the past, much like the first season. It will possess a lighter, more romantic and comedic tone, at least compared to Season 2 decidedly dark bent, and it will also have a young star-crossed lovers element, similar to Violet & Tate in season 1.
Murphy said “female power” will be a major theme. And he has promised Lange a decidedly better wardrobe, so he says to look for the star to play a more “glammed-out” character. Finally, Murphy says Season 3 will have a signature, iconic monster, a la Rubber Man of Season 1 and Bloody Face of Season 2. And this time? “She’s a woman.”
Jessica Lange, Evan Peters return for third season of "AHS"
(From Queerty.com)
At a sneak-preview screening of American Horror Story‘s season finale, producer Ryan Murphy shared some details about the as-yet-unwritten Season 3.
Reports EW: Murphy said he knows the tale he wants to tell and which horror pop touchstones he wants to use. He’ll begin working with the writing staff next week to plot out the saga, then pitch the plan to FX for input and approval.
Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, and Evan Peters will return next season, playing new characters per the show’s novel anthology format. Murphy also said cast members from Season 1 who weren’t in Season 2 will return, and new faces will be joining the company.
Murphy said that Lange has been offering suggestions, specifically actors she’s long wanted to work with. (He offered no names, though hinted that Oscar winners might be in the mix.) The third season will be set in multiple cities and in modern times, but will occasionally peek into the past, much like the first season. It will possess a lighter, more romantic and comedic tone, at least compared to Season 2 decidedly dark bent, and it will also have a young star-crossed lovers element, similar to Violet & Tate in season 1.
Murphy said “female power” will be a major theme. And he has promised Lange a decidedly better wardrobe, so he says to look for the star to play a more “glammed-out” character. Finally, Murphy says Season 3 will have a signature, iconic monster, a la Rubber Man of Season 1 and Bloody Face of Season 2. And this time? “She’s a woman.”