‘American Horror Story’ Season 10 Cast & Character Guide: Who’s Playing Who (This Time)
If there’s any constant across all of American Horror Story’s seasons, it’s the repetition of cast members. Creator Ryan Murphy seems to have selected an ensemble cast that he is happy to have play musical chairs, swapping out costumes and accents and mannerisms to create new characters. Sometimes, a single cast member will play multiple roles within the same season and timeline, but through some highly planned alchemy of lighting, dialogue, and gesture, the etch-a-sketch of who they previously played is wiped clean effortlessly.
Red Tide—the first half of Double Feature—is no exception to the show’s signature deployment of a rotating cast. At the time of writing this, only two episodes of the show have aired so details about many of these characters are yet to be revealed. For now, to help you adjust to the new roster, here’s a list of cast members on Red Tide, as well as the other roles they’ve held within the AHS universe (if any). Out of all of the main cast, only two of the members on this list are making their AHS debut.
RELATED: How to Watch ‘American Horror Story: Double Feature’: Where to Stream Season 10 Right Now
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Finn Wittrock as Harry Gardener
Image via FX
Cautiously framed as what could be considered the protagonist of Red Tide, Finn Wittrock plays Harry Gardener, a writer who travels to Provincetown with his wife and daughter in order to rework a pilot. In the first episode “Cape Fear” he’s shown as an unremarkably frustrated dad and writer who kills a man in self-defense but never really breaks out of his reasonable-man role. He takes a sharp turn in “Pale,” where instead of taking his family away from Provincetown he meets up with a local playwright named Austin (Evan Peters) and takes a mysterious drug that will supposedly cure his writers’ block but ultimately turns him into a vampire that thirsts for his wife’s blood.
Other AHS Finn Wittrock characters: Dandy Mott, Freak Show; Tristan Duffy & Rudolph Valentino, Hotel; Jether Polk, Roanoke; Bobby Richter, 1984.
Lily Rabe as Doris Gardener
Image via FX
Okay, so Lily Rabe’s history on AHS is steller. Who could forget her as Sister Mary Eunice McKee, a terrifying nun from both Asylum and Freak Show? So far this season, she’s a little bit more subdued. Of course, as regular watchers of the series know, we can never get too comfortable with those who seem docile. The show’s repeated use of sleight of hand makes Doris one of the more frightening characters precisely for the domestic role she leads. Rabe comes to Provincetown with her husband and daughter and displays a remarkable amount of patience when it comes to her partner’s… creative process. She also still looks adorable while arguing for her own artistic vision as an interior designer.
Other AHS Lily Rabe characters: Nora Montgomery, Murder House; Sister Mary Eunice McKee, Asylum & Freak Show; Misty Day, Coven & Apocalypse; Aileen Wuornos, Hotel; Shelby Miller, Roanoke; Lavinia Richter, 1984.
Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Alma Gardener
Image via FX
In her American Horror Story debut, Ryan Kiera Armstrong plays Alma Gardener, Doris and Harry’s daughter. While she may be new to the show, Armstrong hits the tone perfectly, positioning herself as a key focal point of terror within the cast. She has an awareness that seems to surpass her years, often surprising her parents with her frank, unsettling comments that arrive in domestic moments that otherwise seemed mundane.
Evan Peters as Austin Sommers
Image via FX
It shouldn’t be too surprising that the playwright who offers Harry the pill that turns him into a vampire is played by Evan Peters. Throughout his AHS journey, Peters has portrayed quite a range of characters from Jesus to Andy Warhol to Charles Manson. Across all characters—including his new appearance on Red Tide—Peters possesses an unpredictability that makes him simultaneously terrifying and someone you want to root for as he changes dramatically from frame to frame.
Other AHS Evan Peters characters: Tate Langdon, Murder House & Apocalpyse; Kit Walker, Asylum; Kyle Spencer, Coven; Jimmy Darling, Freak Show; James Patrick March, Hotel; Rory Monahan & Edward Philippe Mott, Roanoke; Jesus, Andy Warhol, Marshall Applewhite, Davis Koresh, Jim Jones, Charles Manson, & Kai Anderson, Cult; Mr. Gallant & Jeff Pfister, Apocalypse.
Sarah Paulson as “Tuberculosis” Karen
Image via Netflix
Yes, Sarah Paulson is in this season, too. After a strange absence from 1984, Paulson makes quite the comeback as Provincetown’s resident madwoman, an outsider character who is mostly marginalized and dismissed by the rest of the town. In the first few sequences, she serves as a harbinger of bad news to come, heightened by the fact that AHS audiences have come to understand that where Paulson comes trouble follows. She seems like the only character in the town who truly understands what’s at stake in the trend of transitioning vampires. Or at least the only one is vocal about stopping it.
Other AHS Sarah Paulson characters: Billie Dean Howard, Murder House; Lana Winters, Asylum; Cordelia Goode, Coven & Apocalypse; Dot Tattler, Freak Show; “Hypodermic” Sally McKenna, Hotel; Ally Mayfair-Richards, Cult; Wilhelmina Venable, Apocalypse.
Frances Conroy as Sarah “Bell Noir” Cunningham
Image via FX
When Harry Gardener (Finn Wittrock) first meets Austin (Evan Peters), he’s swept into the darker creative circle of Provincetown by Frances Conroy, a famous erotica novelist. Conroy is probably best known on the show for her role as one half of Moira O’Hara, the housemaid in Murder House who has the capability to transform from a sexually promiscuous young woman (in the eyes of men) to an incisive older woman who knows exactly how to manipulate those who are attracted to her. In this season, she makes the perfect duo with Evans as they work together to maintain their status as artist vampires.
Other AHS Frances Conroy characters: Moira O’Hara, Murder House & Apocalypse; Shachath, Asylum; Myrtle Snow, Coven & Apocalypse; Gloria Mott, Freak Show; Bebe Babbitt, Cult.
Billie Lourd as Leslie “Lark” Feldman
Image via FX
When Billie Lourd finally shows up at the end of the second episode, she’s an enchanting dentist-turned-tattoo-artist-vampire whose job among the other turned people in Provincetown is to shave their teeth into points to make them more efficient at cannibalizing.
Other AHS Billie Lourd characters: Winter Anderson & Linda Kasabian, Cult; Mallory, Apocalypse; Montana Duke, 1984.
Leslie Grossman as Ursula
Image via FX
If ever a part fit an actress like a glove, it was this presentation of Leslie Grossman as Ursula, Harry’s literary agent. She brings the same gum-snapping energy she had as Coco in Apocalypse but now as a salient—if hard-headed—professional subtly orchestrating his family’s horrors through her persistence. And once she finds out about those black pills, watch out. Ursula’s ambition knows no bounds, no matter the cost.
Other AHS Leslie Grossman characters: Meadow Wilton & Patricia Krenwinkel, Cult; Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt, Apocalypse; Margaret Booth, 1984.
Adina Porter as Chief Burleson
Image via FX
After Adina Porter’s complicated performance as the morally ambiguous Dinah Stevens in Apocalypse, it’s a strange but somehow logical step to see her in Provincetown working in law enforcement. She makes a terse and compelling chief of police.
Other AHS Adina Porter characters: Sally Freeman, Murder House; Lee Harris, Roanoke; Beverly Hope, Cult; Dinah Stevens, Apocalypse.
Macaulay Culkin as Mickey
Image via FX
Macaulay Culkin makes a stunning debut on AHS as Mickey, one of the more…forward personalities to emerge from Provincetown to meet Harry. A local sex worker with a sharp sense of humor, Mickey promises to bring a certain spectacular flair to the season. A struggling writer in his own right, he’s also shown right away as compassionate, the only person in Provincetown who will help “Tuberculosis” Karen.
Angelica Ross as The Chemist
Image via FX
The chemist is the one person who understands the pills everyone is taking that either turn them into murderous but excellent artists or mindless zombies. Angelica Ross stars as the chemist, and it’s obvious she fully understands her power as the one person who can make the pills, and she’s unwilling to compromise when it comes to who has control of them.
Other AHS Angelica Ross characters: Donna Chambers, 1984.
Denis O’Hare as Holden
Image via FX
Longtime AHS regular Denis O’Hare is back again in Season 10 as a character named Holden, a Provincetown fan and famed interior designer. O’Hare has described his character as “very funny” and said he will appear in four episodes of Season 10. “He’s not a main driver of action – because I came in late,” O’Hare told Digital Spy. “And he’s definitely got some comic relief aspect, which I love. He’s very funny, I think. I have great costumes. I have wonderful costumes. I’m really excited about that.”
Other AHS Denis O’Hare characters: Larry Harvey, Murder House; Spalding, Coven; Stanley, Freak Show; Liz Taylor, Hotel; William van Henderson, Roanoke
KEEP READING: The 11 Scariest ‘American Horror Story’ Episodes, Ranked
