Warning: Some potential American Horror Story: Coven spoilers follow...
Creator Ryan Murphy is keeping the details of the third chapter of American Horror Story, AHS: Coven, pretty close to the vest, as expected. We've known for some time that Season 3 would center on witches and feature a location where, as he said, "real horror had taken place." It was then revealed that at least three of the characters would be based on actual women who had become legendary either in, or following, their time. Bates and Lange were set to portray mortal enemies who had once been best friends. Oh, and we knew that production would take place in New Orleans.
Executive producer Tim Minear was joined by cast members Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett at today's TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour, where they teased a few more details about what we can expect from AHS: Coven.
The panel jumped off with a genuine moment of hilarity when the actors were asked to say, whatever they were allowed to, about their characters. Paulson and Minear talked over one another as they tried to sort out what they could, and could not, say. "Wait, can we say the thing? Oh we can!?! That cat's out of the bag...Okay."
Basically, we now know that Paulson will play Lange's daughter. "Isn't that a nugget," Paulson exclaimed. "Chew on that for awhile!". We will. The character names were also unveiled; two pf which were quite notable. Kathy Bates plays Madame LaLaurie (as rumored) and Angela Bassett Marie Laveau.
For those who are unfamiliar, LaLaurie is an infamous figure in New Orleans lore. A Louisiana-born socialite, she was said to be a serial killer who tortured, and though it was not proven, many say murdered, her slaves. Bassett's Laveau was a renowned Louisiana Creole practitioner of Voodoo in New Orleans. The plot is indeed thickening.
Murphy had said that Bates' character was, "meaner than anything she's ever played before" and "ten times worse" than Annie Wilkes from Misery. We believe it now. There are very few female serial killers, and LaLaurie, if lore and legend is to be believed, was one of the worst. As Bates says, "It's gonna knock your socks off."
For her part, Bassett said there were a few, "Voodoo... how do you say it... Voodians? Who have offered to show me a few things." The actress felt a little shy to go receive that particular lesson on her own. She and Lange may make a field trip of it, though.
Lange and Paulson's character names were a bit more generic. Lange is set to play Fiona and Paulson, her daughter, Cordelia. Both Paulson and Minear did confirm that there may be some hidden meaning in Cordelia's name, though, as in a reference to the parental relationship in Shakespeare's King Lear. In the play, Cordelia is Lear's most beloved daughter, and she near-worships her father. But when she refuses to cater to his ego and "prove" her devotion, he banishes her; which sets him on a course to an ultimately tragic end.
"I think everybody knows the subtitle is Coven, so some of us play witches, some play historical characters," said Lange of her character. "I do play a witch." Hallelujah, it would be a vast disappointment for fans if Lange was somehow not a witch on the witch-centric season of American Horror Story.
There have also been rumors that some kind of fountain of youth, or ageless spell, is a part of the storyline. "We move back and forth in time, so it encompasses a lot of different stories," Lange said.
It's unclear if they will be playing the same characters, or reincarnations, or if the show will continue to interweave various people's stories at various points in history. However, my guess is the first, that at least a few of the characters are ageless, timeless, magical beings.
"All of these women are playing very iconic, very strong female characters," said Minear. "Not all of them are witches, some of them are witches, but they're all powerful."
It was also confirmed that two kinds, possibly even two factions, of witches will be featured in the story."We're taking the idea of the Salem witches fleeing to the South at some point. There's these two different kinds of witches in our world," Minear said.
Could this be a classic, "are you a good witch or a bad witch tale?" Or is it Voodoo versus/combined with colonial/European Witchcraft? Or is it possible that only some are truly magical, while others (Bates perhaps?) are not, and are, as such, driven to malevolent acts in an attempt to capture some of what comes so naturally to others? Just speculating here, Bates could just be an evil, evil witch. Or simply an evil human. It does sound as though there will be some kind of war in play, though. And it feels like it will be witch against witch, in a battle that may have begun with those trying to suppress all magical beings.
"I think some of the bigger themes this year are oppression of minorities of all kinds. Within that idea, the idea of minority groups sort of going after each other and doing the work of the larger culture for the larger culture," Minear said of the larger thematic scope of the story. "While there is a very strong feminist theme that runs throughout Coven this year, there's also themes of race and themes of oppression. There's also a very strong theme of family and specifically mothers and daughters."
Though they will be tackling relevant issues, as they always do, Minear stresses that this season will also be overflowing with humor. Though, I for one, have found that each season was peppered with a healthy dose of levity. "The fun quotient is high this year," says Minear. "This year is a drama, but there is a lot of humor and there is a kind of -- we are embracing a kind of velocity and fun with the series this year, so it's not the same as it was the last two years, but I think it might be a bit more welcoming to the audience."
AHS: Coven is currently in production in New Orleans with only a few days of shooting under their belt. Speaking for myself, the Season 3 debut simply cannot get in my eyeballs fast enough.
As to the remainder of the cast, it was revealed yesterday that Alexandra Breckenridge, who played young Moira opposite Frances Conroy in Season 1, is set to return. She joins returning and new "American Horror Story Players" (a term coined by our own Eric Goldman, I believe) Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Taissa Farmiga, Frances Conroy, Lily Rabe, Denis O'Hare, Emma Roberts, Angela Bassett, Patti LuPone and Gabourey Sidibe.
No word on Zachary Quinto yet, but he was spotted at the FX party, and we have hopes...
American Horror Story: Coven is set to premiere in October on FX.
Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com
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