American Horror Story’s ability to mix radical ideas with sensational casting is how it has turned into one of the most popular and unpredictable horror series on television, but its first season nearly had a lot more star power.
Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story helped usher in a major boom for the horror genre on television. American Horror Story not only proved that TV audiences are hungry for grisly horror content, but it helped bring anthology storytelling back to television. American Horror Story tapped into a winning structure that allows each season to tackle an entirely new subset of horror. This approach lets each of American Horror Story’s themes to get thoroughly explored every season, rather than running just one idea into the ground. American Horror Story’s anthology structure also permits a whole new cast to inhabit the series each season, which lends itself to plenty of special guest star opportunities.
Ryan Murphy has established a formidable stable of recurring performers throughout American Horror Story’s nearly decade-long run. Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Emma Roberts, and Jessica Lange have all gotten to explore radically different characters (sometimes even more than one at the same time) through the show’s many seasons. American Horror Story is always able to fit in some massive surprise guests, whether it’s Lady Gaga or Joan Collins. The series’ debut season, AHS: Murder House, premiered with an impressive cast. However, American Horror Story almost had some other heavy hitters in tow.
Neil Patrick Harris & Husband David Burtka Were Supposed To Play A Couple In Murder House
The first season of American Horror Story revolves around the murderous exploits that occur within an infamously haunted house. The Harmon family takes up residence in the alleged “Murder House,” but the previous tenants were a couple named Patrick and Chad that met their untimely end there courtesy of Tate Langdon. Patrick and Chad are played by Zachary Quinto and Teddy Sears respectively, but Ryan Murphy’s original plan was to have Neil Patrick Harris and his spouse, David Burtka, in the roles. Real-life couple Harris and Burtka would have brought a certain level of authenticity to the performance, but this was actually part of the reason that Harris turned down the role. Harris was concerned that if audiences were exposed to him and Burtka as such a venomous couple that they then might extrapolate and assume they’re also unhappy in real life.
Neil Patrick Harris doesn’t show up in the Murder House season, but he does eventually join the American Horror Story family when he pops up in Freak Show as Chester Creb. Not only that, but Burtka eventually appears in the season, too. Murphy also tried to find a way to work Harris into AHS: Hotel as well, but it didn’t come to pass. However, now that Neil Patrick Harris is in Murphy’s stable of recurring actors, it’s very possible that he’ll show up again in one of Murphy’s series, whether it’s American Horror Story, American Crime Story, or whatever he’s working on next.
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