“American Horror Story” creator Ryan Murphy offers some info on the 2-part Anne Frank episode

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

WARNING:  If you didn’t see last night’s episode, you may want to skip this semi-spoiler-filled story…

So, “AHS: Asylum” fans, what the hell did you think about that whole Anne Frank subplot last night? Well, showrunner Ryan Murphy is serving up some explanations. In a sit-down with EW, a number of topics about the hit show’s second season were addressed, but we’ll keep them germane to the two-part episode that kicked off Wednesday night and will conclude November 14th.

Simply, when asked about where the idea of Anne Frank came from, Murphy said:

“We have a great writing staff but I will take credit for that. One of the things we’ve done on the show is we take historical figures—last year was the Black Dahlia and this year is Anne Frank. The Black Dahlia particularly was a case that was never solved so we solved that case in our way. The Anne Frank thing was always interesting to me because after the war, much like the Anastasia case, there were many women who came forward after that diary and said, “Well I’m the real Anne Frank,” and they were struck down. Many of them were found to be mentally ill and suffering from schizophrenia, so I read about those cases…

Before we even wrote one word of it, I thought there was sort of only one actress I was interested in playing Anne Frank and that was Franka. So I brought her in and said ‘I’m gonna write this for you and would you do it.’ And we had no script because we were very early on in the season. She loved the story and I sorta swore her to secrecy and God bless her heart she had like five months without telling anybody. I love how it came together.”

Moving off a bit, another thing that stuck out in Murphy’s comments:

“I really think American Horror Story is about the darkness of society. It was always conceived to be a social statement on different things. I don’t wanna say too much given that we’re writing the last two episodes. I would say even when it’s light, there’s a darkness, there’s an irony, there’s a melancholia to it. You really root for (Sarah) Paulson, particularly after you see Part II. And wait til you see next week!”

You can read the full interview HERE, but until then, let us know what you think of the whole Anne Frank storyline? Did it lose you, turn you on, or do you need to see the rest of the episode to make the call?

Source: EW

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Jake Dee is one of JoBlo’s most valued script writers, having written extensive, deep dives as a writer on WTF Happened to this Movie and it’s spin-off, WTF Really Happened to This Movie.