Throughout its twelve seasons to date, American Horror Story has become a genuine contender for TV's best revolving-door cast, including both Ryan Murphy's recurring stable as well as myriad one-off AHS actors who've come and gone. and the anthology isn't suddenly changing course for the still cloaked-in-mystery Season 13. While fans are already aware of quite a few returning faces, with Sarah Paulson back on board, someone new has been added to the lineup, and it’s an actor/filmmaker who 100% should have been involved from the very beginning.
Join me in flamboyantly applauding American Horror Story Season 13 for adding Pink Flamingos and Chucky-verse vet John Waters for what will no doubt be a delicious, devious, and duplicitous role that could presumably also be described using lots of other D-words. Waters is the reigning crown prince of camp, and he’s definitely leaned into becoming more of a horror icon as the years have gone by.
While Ryan Murphy usually likes to reveal big casting news through the show itself, usually through creepy social media videos, Waters himself was the one to let the cat out of the bag in this instance. While onstage for a spoken-word performance in Baltimore (via Baltimore Fishbowl), the Serial Mom helmer dopped this most fabulous bombshell on the crowd:
I’m going to announce tonight something new: I can’t say what role, but I have a big new part in American Horror Story.
He could have finished that thought by saying, "And the world will completely end, AHS: Armageddon-style, as soon as the season is over," and I'm not sure any of those words would have truly hit home, because HUZZAH! John Waters on American Horror Story! It's like getting Halloween for Christmas!
I can only assume anyone reading this knows exactly why Waters is such a non-guilty-pleasure prize for this series, and why I've wanted him on board since Murder House. He's as arch a performer as can be, with an air of delightful menace and an unmistakable voice. Having him bring life to any Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk characters would be aces, but this "big new part" in the anthology franchise sounds downright dreamy.
If there were time enough in the day, I could easily sit back and envision the Grammy nominated performer taking on every single role within this show, from Dr. Ben Harmon to Ramona Royale to Twisty the Clown. For reals, if AI could ever be good for anything, it'd be turning John Waters into every American Horror Story character so far.
Elsewhere in his spoken-word performance, Water talked about how his on-screen roles have been heading in a somewhat similar direction for a while now, saying:
I’m typecast. I’m always either the devil or Chucky’s father…I’ve always been trying to steal Vincent Price’s career.
Thinking about John Waters in all of Vincent Price's roles is a whole other line of imagining outside of AHS, so that'll have to be put on the back burner for now. But no matter, since he will legitimately be popping up on FX's hit anthology when it presumably hits the 2026 TV schedule in October.
Check out all the other confirmed cast members unveiled so far for Season 13, all of whom are returning from previous seasons save for Ariana Grande.
- Angela Bassett
- Kathy Bates
- Ariana Grande
- Leslie Grossman
- Jessica Lange
- Billie Lourd
- Sarah Paulson
- Evan Peters
- Emma Roberts
- Gabourey Sidibe
Okay so now I cannot wait to see Ariana Grande and John Waters sharing the screen, which is not a sentence I thought I'd ever say.
Could this cast possibly get any better? Well, yeah, since there are lots of other AHS vets not listed there, as well as tons of other A-tier performers also not in the mix. But is this an A+ lineup all the same? Indeed, it's simply...Divine.
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