Sarah Paulson's Best American Horror Story Character Is Returning for Roanoke

Lana Winters lives again!

By Chris Harnick Oct 31, 2016 3:20 PMTags
American Horror Story: Asylum, Insane Moments, Sarah PaulsonFOX

Sarah Paulson is bringing back a fan-favorite American Horror Story character to American Horror Story: Roanoke. Paulson will reprise her American Horror Story: Asylum role of Lana Winters this season, Ryan Murphy tweeted.

"Sarah Paulson's Asylum ultimate survivor Lana Winters returns this season on AHS: Roanoke," he tweeted. "Happy Halloween!"

This isn't the first time Paulson has done double duty. Last season in American Horror Story: Hotel, Paulson played both Sally and her American Horror Story: Murder House character Billie Dean Howard.

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Paulson's Winters was a journalist investigating Briarcliff in season two. She was eventually imprisoned in the asylum and after clashing with Sister Jude (Jessica Lange), she eventually befriended her when they were both locked up. The two famously performed in "The Name Game" together. No word if that will also return for the current season, but we can dream, can't we?

Lana Winters eventually escaped Bloody Face and got out of the asylum. Viewers then saw her in 2013 where she was in her 70s and she faced her son (played by Dylan McDermott) and ultimately killed him. Paulson often calls Lana Winters her favorite AHS role.

"The show really felt...really focused on Lana's story and her journey. I felt very connected to it. Because this show is a miniseries and has a beginning, a middle and an end to it, when it was time to say goodbye, it was really saying goodbye. I knew even though I was going to do the show next year, I knew I wasn't going to be playing that character and I would never play her again and it was over forever and ever," she told us during AHS: Coven. "I think there's something about the nature and the way that we do this—there are 13 episodes and the story starts and there's an end to the story and you put it away forever—that kind of lends itself to feeling very connected to the characters your playing...For me it was Lana. Lana's a character that I felt most connected to and part I most lived playing.

Paulson recently took home an Emmy for her work in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. In addition to AHS: Roanoke, she's also filming Feud alongside Lange, Susan Sarandon and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

American Horror Story: Roanoke airs Wednesdays, 10 p.m. on FX.