This will be the first season that American Horror Story [1] doesn't feature Jessica Lange, which the actress revealed months ago at PaleyFest [2], but we didn't really know why at the time. At the American Horror Story: Hotel panel at the Summer TCA, show creator Ryan Murphy revealed that the actors on AHS "all have one-year deals," so when the season is up, they can decide whether or not they want to come back again each time. This particular year, Murphy said, Lange "decided she wanted a year off to do a play, which I bought for her stupidly." Murphy didn't address the fact that Lange's original wording was that she was "done," while his explanation seemed to imply that she could come back for season six, if and when that happens. In the meantime, see who is in the cast [3] and when the next season [4] starts.