Jessica Lange will exit American Horror Story after next season

Last Updated on July 22, 2021

One of the main pleasures of Ryan Murphy's batshit crazy "American Horror Story" is watching Jessica Lange go way over the top in each and every episode, fearlessly and gleefully. Who knew, during that first year when Lange had a juicy supporting role, that she'd end up being the lynchpin for the three-seasons-and-counting horror series?

Lange has already committed to a fourth season of "AHS" (as has FX), but it's sadly looking like that will be her last. In an interview with EW, Lange explained her reasons for wanting to depart the show that has revitalized her career:

“It ends up being a lot of time during the year being committed to something… I haven’t done that for a long time. It’s like doing a stage play between the rehearsal and the run. This is a 6-month commitment every year. That will be four years in a row. I want to have more time to myself I guess. Once it’s over and I have a full year ahead of me with nothing to do, who knows? It might not have been the best decision. But I think four years doing something is a sufficient amount of time.”

Fair enough – and she does leave the door ajar just a little for a return.

Murphy may have already found a few candidates to carry the crazy torch, however: both Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett are returning next year, and it's very possible that they'll stick around for a few more.