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Could Connie Britton Return to “American Horror Story”?
When Neil Patrick Harris openly campaigned for a role on the Ryan Murphy anthology series “American Horror Story”, he got his wish. Now, one of the stars of the debut season hopes to make a triumphant return.
Connie Britton was the central character in the Beetlejuice-esque FX “American Horror Story”, which premiered in the fall of 2011. She played Vivien Harmon, wife to the abusive and cheating husband, Ben Harmon, who both turn up dead in the haunted house.
Now, the star of “Friday Night Lights” and the ongoing “Nashville” hopes to return and tell another “story”.
Variety reports that the ladies of the show were celebrated by the Television Academy Tuesday night with a special panel, including cast members Kathy Bates, Jamie Brewer, Connie Britton, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe and Gabourey Sidibe, along with executive producers Jennifer Salt and Alexis Martin Woodall.
Some of the women, like Paulson and Rabe, have been part of the show for several seasons; Britton, however, was only in the first, dubbed “Murder House” — but she hasn’t ruled out returning to the show.
When asked by moderator Debra Birnbaum, executive TV editor at Variety, if she would return to the show, she didn’t miss a beat before answering, “Of course I would,” eliciting a roar of excitement from the audience.
“I would love to come back, but scheduling is tricky,” clarified Britton, who currently stars in ABC’s “Nashville.”
Still, Britton looked back fondly on her experience on “American Horror Story,” remembering the show before it became an Emmy-winning hit.
“The thing that [creator Ryan Murphy] said to me was, ‘You can take my word for it that you will not be doing anything that you’ve been doing for the last five years on this show,’” said Britton, who had been doing “Friday Night Lights” before “American Horror Story.” “And that appealed to me a lot.”
I think we’re all in love with Britton as an actress, who’s one of the best out there next to Vera Farmiga. With the loss of Jessica Lange, it would be spectacular to see Britton back on the show, even if it were a bit-part.
Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor best known for his role in 1993’s Jurassic Park, has passed away this week at 78 years old. In a statement shared on Neill’s Instagram page this morning, the actor’s family said that his passing was “sudden and unexpected.”
Neill had been diagnosed with a rare blood cancer in 2022, but stated the following year that he was in remission. The family notes that he “remained cancer free” at the time of his passing.
The family statement reads, “It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.
“They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care. More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.”
In addition to his iconic role as Dr. Alan Grant in the original Jurassic Park and the sequels Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World: Dominion, Sam Neill left an indelible mark on the horror genre with memorable roles in Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession, The Omen: The Final Conflict, John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, and sci-fi horror favorite Event Horizon.
Sam Neill’s vast resume in film and television began in the early 1970s and also includes the films Sleeping Dogs, Enigma, The Good Wife, A Cry in the Dark, Dead Calm, The Hunt for Red October, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Hostage, The Jungle Book, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, The Horse Whisperer, Bicentennial Man, Daybreakers, Escape Plan, and Thor: Ragnarok.
Sam Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
Steven Spielberg said in a statement to Variety, “I owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him.”
Spielberg adds, “Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.”
Sam Neill in ‘Event Horizon’
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