Comic-Con welcomed the cast of Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story:  Coven for the first time since the anthology premiered on October 2011.  The hour opened with a video presentation that highlighted the season in its entirety before the cast was brought on stage.  Those in attendance were executive producer Tim Minear and cast members:  Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Emma Roberts, and the newest actor to join the AHS family, Michael Chiklis.  The FX drama is known for pushing the boundaries when it comes to violence and horror, and based on what was discussed in Saturday’s panel, the next installment will be taking that up a notch or two.

The laughs abounded among the cast members and the audience as they thought back to Coven’s most memorable scenes.  And while Bates joked that Murphy is quite difficult to work with, the consensus was that the experience had been a wonderful one.  There were also some tidbits given of what we can expect from this fall’s next chapter, American Horror Story:  Freak Show.  Hit the jump for highlights from the panel.

american-horror-story-coven-the-seven-wonders

American Horror Story:  Coven

  • The cast agrees that one of their favorite lines from last season are Myrtle’s last words, at the stake, “Balenciaga!”  It’s a scene that really stands out to most of them and they all had nothing but good things to say about Frances Conroy and the way she portrayed her character.  “I love Frannie, she’s pretty awesome.”  Peters was quick to note.  Minear told the audience it was Murphy’s idea to use that line.
  • Filming scenes of a serious matter can sometimes prove to be a difficult thing for actors.  However, Paulson says that her relationship with Jessica Lange is one in which they know how to differentiate between the heavier scenes and ones in which they can goof around a bit.  Paulson points out that the mother-daughter scene in which Fiona dies, was the saddest and most difficult one for her to film.
  • Minear notes that by the time they decided on who was going to be the next Supreme, the story was already at a point for that to happen.  It was fitting that Cordelia had to be the chosen one.  At first, Murphy made all of them believe it was going to be them but eventually confirmed with Paulson over the phone.
  • When asked if it’s difficult to come up with new material and create something that will top the previous season, Minear said it wasn’t a problem.  He hails Ryan as the one comes up with the most twisted ideas.
  • Stevie Nicks’ involvement with the show wasn’t supposed to be a musical one from the get-go.  It wasn’t until she was on set and she brought up the fact that she had a song titled “Seven Wonders” that Murphy got the idea to have her sing.  That sequence was done on the fly as Murphy wanted to take advantage of her being on set that day.

american-horror-story-freak-show-logo

American Horror Story:  Freak Show

  • The tone of Freak Show will be different than anything before it.  “It’s the best season so far, not like the first three,”  Minear noted, “When watching the dailies I can compare it to Zodiac that was done in sherbet.  You’re gonna love it.”
  • Paulson, who is playing conjoined twins Bette and Dot, already has a favorite.  She likes Bette best, “It feels organic to me.  I love her.”  It’s important for her to keep a certain mystery around the show, so when it comes to describing her character she hinted that there are about 22 people working on each shot with her on set.  Paulson describes her character as something that’s never been done before.
  • As for Bassett and Chiklis’ characters, Desiree Dupree and Wendell del Tolito.  They will be playing a married couple, with Bates playing Chiklis’ ex-wife, Ethel Darling, and Peters playing his son, Jimmy Darling.
  • Minear teased that the villains of Freak Show will rival those of the previous seasons.  He calls the next installment’s monster as “the scariest creation so far.”  John Carroll Lynch will bring that character to life and according to Minear, “It’s going to scare the shit out of you.”
  • Lange will be playing the character of Elsa Mars and Roberts will breathe life to Maggie.  Roberts points out that she will not be playing a villain this time around.
  • There will be a lot of familiar faces making an appearance on Freak Show, “We always have an open door policy,” says Minear of the actors.  In addition, there will also be new people coming on board.

Click here for all of our previous and continuing Comic-Con coverage.