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Ryan Murphy and cast talk 'American Horror Story', previews

By April MacIntyre Aug 7, 2011, 5:06 GMT

03/16/2011 - Ryan Murphy - PaleyFest 2011 Presents "Glee" - Arrivals - Saban Theatre - Beverly Hills, CA, USA © Tommaso Boddi / PR Photos

Probably the most cryptic new series wheeled out at the Television Critics' Association summer press tour was the FX and Ryan Murphy newcomer:  American Horror Story

With an all-star cast highlighted by Jessica Lange and Frances Conroy, the visually arresting series is full of mystery and red herrings, effects and fancy fonts.

The new drama series premieres on FX on Wednesday, October 5th, at 10:00 p.m.

The Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning team of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have delivered a very un-Glee like eyepopper.

The cast includes the Harmon family housekeeper, Moira, is played by Alexandra Breckenridge and Frances Conroy. Tate, one of Ben Harmon’s patients, is played by Evan Peters.  Denis O’Hare plays Larry Harvey;
Constance, the Harmons’ next-door neighbor; is played by Jessica Lange. Violet, the Harmon's daughter; is played by Taissa Farmiga. Ben Harmon is played by Dylan McDermott. Vivien Harmon is FNL actress Connie Britton.

Today at the TCA panel for the series, Brad and Ryan each talked about the series, the opening title fonts and why they wanted to make a horror drama.

Murphy was asked about the title card fonts for his stylish series. Murphy says, "Well, I used to be a journalist. And when I was in high school, I was obsessed with topography. I was one of the editors of the paper. So I have books upon books of fonts. And when you sort of create a pilot, it’s a weird obsession...It was very sort of Frank Lloyd Wright inspired, because the house was inspired by that. And I was just flipping through a book and found it and pointed, and said that’s the one. It just sort of spoke to me...It’s a variation of a font called Macintosh, I believe."

Jessica Lange was asked why she wanted to do this TV series.

"Well, I think it had to do with the quality of the writing, and it had to do with the character that I could play...maybe we’re getting more like the English. You do television, you do theater, you do film, you do radio. I mean, you can do anything... So when this came up, I thought, well, here is great writing; here is a wonderful character. Something very unusual.   I had a couple phone conversations with Ryan, and I’d never had a man promise me so much. So I just decided I would do it."

Brad Falchuk explained how long the idea for "American Horror" had been simmering.

"Generally whenever Ryan and I work together, Ryan comes in with a “let’s do a,” and I say 'great.' So then we go do it. But this is something that we had talked about for three years...And then “Glee” came along, so there was a little intermission there. But it was always something in the back of both of our heads. And, again with working with Ryan, it’s being obsessed with the genre, and then it’s how can we bust the genre up. What can we do to the genre to make it not the genre anymore while paying homage to all these things that we love so much? And so then he and I usually get in a room and he has these giant ideas, and we start yapping about the giant ideas, and come up with something that we think is interesting."

Connie Britton was no fan of Murphy's "Nip/Tuck" but loved "Glee," and like Jessica Lange, she was also wooed by Murphy to consider her part. 

"I could never watch “Nip/Tuck” because it was too gory, and had watched enough of “Glee” to realize that it was incredibly innovative and exciting. But I can’t even say that I had such a great knowledge of the work of Ryan and Brad. But what I knew about Ryan is that he does what Brad says, which is he takes an idea, and then he makes it happen in a way that has never been done before," says Britton. "And it’s incredibly visionary and innovative. And so I too sat down, and we had a breakfast at the 101 Diner, Ryan’s favorite spot. And he too promised me more than any other man ever has. And for me, it seemed like an interesting thing to do, because particularly coming from “Friday Night Lights,” it’s really hard to know what to do after that. So I thought this would definitely be in every way completely different from “Friday Night Lights,” and that was something that I was looking for as well."

For Dylan McDermott, the project hearkened horror classics like "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Shining."

"I was instantly intrigued because of the genre - in the vein of “Rosemary’s Baby” or “The Shining” and “Repulsion” and all these Polanski movies that I loved growing with up with. So I was immediately obsessed with the idea of it and wanted to meet Ryan. And finally we arranged a meeting. And I still hadn’t read the script, but I was just so fascinated with the idea of psychological horror, that when I met with Ryan and Brad and Connie, we instantly had this chemistry, which we kind of prayed for. Then I read the script and that you just kind of pray for, and then I read the script and, I was completely in, because I just love this world. I love how strange and weird and creepy. And also it’s rooted in this reality of this broken family. So it just had all the elements that I was looking for."