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\u201cWhat is the secret to American Horror Story\u2019s success?\u201d The Hollywood Reporter\u2019s Jackie Strause asked at the first panel of this year\u2019s PaleyFest. \u201cJessica Lange!\u201d an audience member called out to a round of applause. The interaction was representative of the evening in general. Sure, this was a star-studded AHS panel <\/a>with actresses from throughout the show\u2019s run: Sarah Paulson, Billie Lourd, Gabourey Sidibe, and Leslie Grossman, plus costume designer and co-executive producer Lou Eyrich, all dressed in black. But Lange was the real star of the show, and everyone in the room knew it.<\/p>\n On fire from the beginning, Lange almost immediately admitted she has \u201cnever watched any of\u201d the series. While reflecting on shooting Freak Show, her favorite season and favorite role, she complained about the late-night shoots: \u201cWe would drive ourselves at 4 in the morning and park on some street in the French Quarter and find our way home, because they were too fucking cheap.\u201d Later, she admitted it\u2019s \u201cnot fun at all\u201d to go into a season blind without an outline, forced to rewrite and change lines on the fly. She did relish the chance to briefly play Margaret Thatcher this season, calling her a \u201cmiserable, monstrous human being. What she did to the Irish \u2026\u201d Even after expressing her gratitude for AHS mastermind Ryan Murphy and the cast of repertory players he has cultivated over 13 seasons,<\/a> she acknowledged, \u201cCertain stories were better than others. We had better writers on some.\u201d<\/p>\n Throughout the panel, the cast was playful and self-aware about the show\u2019s gonzo tendencies, especially 13 seasons in. Sidibe was the biggest defender of the tone: \u201cNone of this is real. It\u2019s high camp. [Jessica] had two heads.\u201d And after Paulson gave AHS: Roanoke a big thumbs-down \u2014 \u201cfucking hated Roanoke\u201d \u2014 Sidibe called it her favorite season. Still, everyone onstage seemed amused and accustomed to Lange\u2019s bluntness. \u201cSorry, Jessica, people like it,\u201d Sidibe said after Lange seemed surprised by the season\u2019s high viewership. \u201cI know you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n As far as AHS\u2019s future, the panel knew nothing, though Lange maintains that this season will be her last. (\u201cDoesn\u2019t it close the series? I thought that\u2019s what was promised to us. We\u2019re not going to keep bringing these old bitches back.\u201d) According to the cast, though, last night\u2019s episode is where the Coven sequel story becomes much more central to the season \u2014 and knowing where 13 ends, both Lourd and Eyrich said they strongly believe the Coven story isn\u2019t yet complete. Sorry, Jessica.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Vulture Daily<\/p>\n An entertainment newsletter for the pop-culture obsessed.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n