Ryan Murphy already said that Gabourey Sidibe will be part of Freak Show, American Horror Story’s 4th season. However, the Oscar nominated actress may only appear on a limited capacity since Empire, a TV drama which she’s a part off got picked up by FOX.
Empire is about Lucious Lyon (played by fellow Oscar nominee and former War Machine, Terrence Howard) a “charismatic, savvy music superstar who is about to take his company, Empire Entertainment, public. Raised on the streets, he has never backed away from a fight and will resort to any measures, fair or foul, to defend his beloved Empire.”
Aside from Sidibe, Howard will be joined by other talented actors and actresses such as Malik Yoba, Jussie Smollett, and a third Oscar nominee, Taraji P. Henson.
Empire is a reunion for director Lee Daniels and writer Danny Strong who both collaborated on the movie The Butler. (Strong is also known as a Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum he was Jonathan. He’s also writing the last two Hunger Games movies.)
Sidibe will be playing the role of Lyon’s assistant and it will be a recurring role. But don’t lose hope because even with this 2nd project, the Precious star will still be back for AHS’s fourth season.
Aside from Sidibe, Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Emma Roberts and Denis O’Hare have all been confirmed to return next season. Michael Chiklis will also be appearing in Freak Show.
Lange will be playing a Marlene Dietrich type of character and will be the ring leader of the band of freaks. Paulson said she was practicing a certain skill so she is most likely to be one of the freaks. Also one possible freak is Bassett who said that she could play anything from a bearded lady to part of a Siamese twin, however, Murphy said that there’s a special role for her. O’Hare will be a collector of freaks while Chiklis, Bates, and Peters will be a family in the horror show’s fourth installment.
Roberts wasn’t confirmed to be part of Freak Show until just recently. There have been talks that although Roberts was an excellent actress, her interaction with her fellow cast members created some friction. It also has been reported that she only got her job back because Peters, vouched for his fiancée.
Meanwhile, two familiar faces will be absent from Freak Show. Actresses Lily Rabe and Taissa Farmiga have opted not to join next season because of other projects. Farmiga, who was also absent on the show’s 2nd season is busy with her movie called the Final Girls with Malin Ackerman and Nina Dobrev. Rabe on the other hand has two projects under her belt The Whispers a new ABC sci-fi horrow show that is being produced by Stephen Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and The Veil, a microbudget film with Jessica Alba and Thomas Jane which is about a girl who survived a cult called Heaven’s Veil.
So there you have it, an American Horror Story update. Make sure to regularly visit for more news about your favorite TV shows.