FX has released the first cast photo of the upcoming American Horror Story: Freak Show, offering your first official glimpse of what the various members of the show’s “troupe of curiosities” will look like before they are dismembered by a killer clown, then resurrected according to Ryan Murphy’s whims. Let’s meet them!
– At the very top is Sarah Paulson as Bette And Dot Tattler, conjoined twins who are two very different shades of victimized. One is grimly resilient, while the other is resiliently grim. They also have a swing!
– On the top row at left is Denis O’Hare as a character whose name is yet to be revealed, but which he’s previously described as a “collector of freaks.” Therefore, he wears a vest.
– Next to him is Kathy Bates as Effil Darling. You may recall reading her beloved movie scoop site, Ain’t It Cool News.
– To her right is Angela Bassett as Desiree Dupree. You may recall the movie Total Recall.
– Next to her is Frances Conroy as an as-yet-unknown character, whose prim dress and proper comportment is meant to suggest that maybe it is she who is the freak, yes? And by extension maybe it is you who are the freak, no? Or maybe she has a bird in her head.
– Holding all of them aloft are Michael Chiklis’ Wendell Del Toredo, ex-husband of the bearded lady and world’s strongest man; and Evan Peters as Jimmy Darling, their son and world’s greasiest kid. Note that Peters only has to use his fingertips, so powerful is his sense of resentment toward society.
– At the center of it all is Jessica Lange’s Elsa Mars, glamorous ringleader of the freak show and, thanks to the odd way she’s positioned, at first glance some sort of freak herself. Most likely this is just a trick of the lens, but we suppose one can’t rule out that she’s a giant bug-lady with taffeta wings, headed to insect prom. Stupider things have happened on this show.
– Finally, on the far right is your host, Everybody Loves Raymond’s Brad Garrett. Or possibly just some other guy! We’ll find out Oct. 8.