When a guy like Ryan Murphy says he’s going to make a fruit salad, you can bet that salad is going to have every fruit you’ve ever heard of, plus a few rarities from an island you can’t even understand is real. And so for American Horror Story: Freak Show, it’s no surprise that he’s pulling out all the stops for what “freaks” will be giving carnival goers (and FX audiences) their money’s worth. The latest cast member to join the fray is Jyoti Amge, the Guinness World Record holder for being the world’s smallest living woman. No CGI needed here.
Amge joins the recently cast singer Patti LaBelle for this fourth season of American Horror Story. In announcing the news on his Twitter page, Murphy didn’t happen to drop any info on what kind of character the 20-year-old record holder would be playing. I’m going to craftily go out on a limb and say “World’s Smallest Woman” though. On the flip side, LaBelle co-stars as Gabourey Sadibe’s mother, a townie who plays a big part in unveiling the secrets surrounding Twisty (John Carroll Lynch), the killer clown haunting Jupiter, Florida.
American Horror Story: Freak Show stars Jessica Lange as Elsa Mars, the German-born head of one of the last remaining carnival sideshows of its kind in America. Her employees include strongman Michael Chiklis, who is married to Angela Bassett’s character; his ex-wife is to be played by Kathy Bates, whose son is Evan Peters. Sarah Paulson is set to play a pair of conjoined twins named Bette and Dot, and Frances Conroy, Wes Bentley and Finn Wittrock will also star in differing capacities.
The Nagpur, India native Amge, seen above during her Guinness photo shoot, is 20 years old and is just over two feet tall. She suffers from a cartilage growth anomaly called achondroplasia. American Horror Story won’t be Amge’s first time in front of a camera, as she was the focus of the documentary series Body Shock for the episode “Two Foot High Teen.” She also appeared as a guest participant on the reality series Bigg Boss 6, which is the Indian version of Big Brother.
LaBelle, who will appear in four Freak Show episodes, will be taking on her first TV series role since 2004 when she appeared on the series All of Us. (She’s obviously appeared on many different shows as herself, but I’m talking about fictional characters here.) She was last seen in feature form for Charles Randolph-Wright’s musical drama Mama, I Want to Sing!.
American Horror Story: Freak Show is set to debut on FX in October.
