A surprising choice! American Horror Story has cast Billy Eichner for season 7 for a recurring role, according to Deadline.
The Billy on the Street comedian, 38, will star alongside AHS regulars Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters. It’s not yet known who they will be playing, but the new season of the anthology will take place in the aftermath of the turbulent 2016 election. The first episode will be set on election night.
Details of the new season have been kept under wraps, but sources tell Deadline that Eichner will be playing a close confidante of Paulson’s character and “will mostly be wearing mysterious tank tops.” The website reports that he will appear in six or seven of the 11 episodes.
Creator Ryan Murphy first revealed the theme during an episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in February. “I don’t have a title, but the season that we begin shooting in June is going to be about the election that we just went through,” he said. “So I think that will be interesting for a lot of people.” When Cohen asked if President Donald Trump will be in it, Murphy cryptically replied, “Maybe.”
The director-producer, 51, later clarified that it won’t be a literal depiction of the election, though. “The themes of American Horror Story have always been allegories,” he said at the Publicists Guild Awards Luncheon in Beverly Hills last month. “You will not see [Donald] Trump or [Hillary] Clinton as characters on the show.”
He blamed his previous “maybe” answer on the booze at WWHL. “They gave me three martinis in 20 minutes!” he joked. “That’s not good.”
American Horror Story does not have a premiere date yet, but it will likely return to FX this fall.
