Sarah Paulson has no plans to leave American Horror Story

As we approach the American Horror Story season 8 premiere on FX, it does feel clear that this is the time in which we start taking a serious look at the future of the franchise. While it has been renewed already through season 10 and the ratings remain really strong, there are still questions as to how long the show can continue to stick around.

Creatively, it does benefit heavily from being able to tell a largely new story every year — there is more of a crossover element for American Horror Story: Apocalypse, but that is entirely by choice. With that in mind, we think that the biggest factor that could determine the show’s future is mostly the interest from the cast in continuing to be a part of it. While there is a certain degree of flux that can exist here (we’ve seen many cast and crew members pop in and out over the years), it is hard to imagine the show without Sarah Paulson. She’s been with the show from the beginning and, in the process of that, has also been the recipient of many awards. This has also helped her to build an even stronger relationship with show’s executive producer Ryan Murphy that has led to roles on other shows.

Related – Check out the official American Horror Story season 8 trailer!

Luckily, it does not appear as though Paulson has any interest in stepping down from this particular series in the near future. Speaking in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter while promoting the upcoming season, Paulson had the following to say:

I’ve made the joke before that I want to be doing this show until I’m 95. That they’re going to have to drag me out of there kicking and screaming. That being said, I have no idea what Ryan’s plans are for me. It’s tantamount to me walking in and saying, “Do you want me to go left or right?” and then whatever he says, I will just go there. (Laughs.) So I don’t know what his plans are for me as it pertains to Horror Story, but there will be crawl marks on the walls from them trying to drag me out if they ever ask me to go.

Our feeling on the future of the franchise is to see how things go both this season and then in season 9; after that, it’s easy to reassess everything. Ten seasons is a good natural endpoint for a show like this, and with Ryan moving over to Netflix, it may be increasingly hard over time to maintain his FX productions.

Can you imagine American Horror Story even existing without Sarah Paulson on board? Be sure to share in the comments!

Also, remember that you can like CarterMatt on Facebook for some other information when it comes to the series. It’s a great way to stay up to date with all of our American Horror Story scoop. (Photo: FX.)