You've seen the pictures [1], you've analyzed the gallery photos [2], and now it's time to meet the characters of American Horror Story: Freak Show [3]. Ryan Murphy has been giving away tons of details about the new crop of characters, and when you add those to what we already know, you get a pretty good idea of what this season will look like. The season premieres this week, and you can check out the new details on Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, and everyone else below!
Elsa Mars
- Played by: Jessica Lange
- Is she in the freak show? Sort of
- Who she is: Elsa is the ringleader of the freak show. She's a former German cabaret star who, in Lange's words [4], is "very manipulative. She understands what's needed, and she provides it. However the thing I want to be very clear that Elsa really loves these people. She truly cares for them in her own selfish narcissistic way. It's not just exploitation." As Ryan Murphy told EW [5], her character is very benevolent: "She loves them and takes care of them. She's sort of like the mama of all of them. She's trying to do anything to keep this freak show going because where are these people going to go? In her way, she relates to them and feels like she's one of them as well." Stay tuned for flashbacks to her 1930s cabaret heyday.
Bette and Dot Tattler
- Played by: Sarah Paulson
- Is she in the freak show? Yes
- Who she is: Bette and Dot are conjoined twins, one (or two?) of the newest additions to the freak show. "It's not as simple as nice and evil," Paulson said [6] of this season. "It's more complicated, in true Ryan Murphy style."
Jimmy Darling
- Played by: Evan Peters
- Is he in the freak show? Yes
- Who he is: Poor Jimmy has lobster hands, an unusual disfigurement that Ryan Murphy fans might remember from their appearance in his previous show Nip/Tuck.
Ethel Darling
- Played by: Kathy Bates
- Is she in the freak show? Yes
- Who she is: Ethel is Jimmy's mother and also, obviously, The Bearded Lady. "Ethel is basically Elsa's right-hand woman," said Murphy [7]. "She helps run the camp, and she's sort of the guardian of the law. She had a real tragedy in that she was a real circus star in the '20s and '30s and then she had her baby and she became a down-and-out drunk, and Elsa saved her." Supposedly, we'll be seeing flashbacks to young Ethel as well.
Dell Toledo
- Played by: Michael Chiklis
- Is he in the freak show? Yes
- Who he is: "Jimmy is the big man on campus and is the male leader of the group until Dell comes and they begin to battle for power under Elsa," said Murphy [8]. Dell also happens to be Jimmy's father, Ethel's ex-husband, and the freak show's strongman.
Desiree Dupree
- Played by: Angela Bassett
- Is she in the freak show? Yes
- Who she is: Desiree is Dell's new wife and the show's three-breasted woman. "They show up at Elsa's freak show because all their freak shows have closed," said Murphy of Desiree and Dell [9]. "There's nowhere else to go and they're desperate for work, and they don't know what else to do with their lives."
Gloria Mott
- Played by: Frances Conroy
- Is she in the freak show? No
- Who she is: Conroy is playing Gloria, "a wealthy woman whose son, Dandy (Finn Wittrock), wants to join the freak show," according to EW [10].
Stanley
- Played by: Denis O'Hare
- Is he in the freak show? No
- Who he is: O'Hare is playing one half of a con-artist team. His partner? Emma Roberts! According to Vulture [11], his character will be a collector of freaks. "I'm going to be working at cross-purposes with [Elsa]," he said. "We'll have lots of scenes with each other, but we'll be battling."
Patricia
- Played by: Gabourey Sidibe [12]
- Is she in the freak show? No
- Who she is: Sidibe will return to the show to play a socialite who returns home to Jupiter when she learns that her mother (Patti LaBelle) has disappeared, according to EW [13].
Twisty the Clown
- Played by: John Carroll Lynch
- Is he in the freak show? No
- Who he is: Lynch is portraying this season's main villain, a retired clown by the name of Twisty. He's not pleased that the freak show has moved into his home town of Jupiter, and as Murphy said [14], "he's out to make their lives a living hell. He's wearing a mask on the lower part of his face, and there comes a point in the season where he takes the mask off, and when you see what's under, you will faint in terror."
Edward Mordrake
- Played by: Wes Bentley
- Is he in the freak show? Maybe
- Who he is: Bentley will play Edward Mordrake in the two-part Halloween [15] episode. "He is a very famous horror myth," said Murphy [16]. "It was a man with two faces. A normal face and then a face on the back of his head that would whisper evil things and force the forward-facing entity to commit horrible crimes." Spooky! "It's very much like a Bloody Mary sort of thing," he continued [17]. "It's in that realm."
Maggie Esmerelda
- Played by: Emma Roberts
- Is she in the freak show? No
- Who she is: Roberts disclosed [18] during the Comic-Con panel that her character's name will be Maggie. "She's a fortune-teller with a crystal ball who's a complete con artist," Murphy told EW [19]. "She shows up at the camp to help them, and it ends up terribly bad." In case you're wondering, yes, Maggie and Jimmy have a romantic connection!
Pepper
- Played by: Naomi Grossman
- Is she in the freak show? Yes
- Who she is: EW has confirmed [20] that Asylum's Pepper is returning! "What Elsa has done for 20 years is she goes around to hospitals and jails and rescues these 'freak' circus performers who are going to be shipped away to asylums, and she signs the waivers and she becomes their guardians," said Murphy. This "is sort of like what happened to Pepper before she went to the asylum."
Dandy Mott
- Played by: Finn Wittrock
- Is he in the freak show? No
- Who he is: Dandy and his mother are Palm Beach society members, but all he wants is to be in the freak show. "He relates to them," said Murphy [21]. "He feels like a freak inside even though he's a beautiful man. But they're quite fabulous."
Patricia's Mother
- Played by: Patti LaBelle
- Is she in the freak show? No
- Who she is: "Patti LaBelle plays a friend and co-worker to Franny Conroy," according to Murphy [22]. She "knows what's going on in this town, and she tries to stop it." Sadly, the famous vocalist won't be singing.