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Chris Colfer's New Asylum Movie "Completely Different" From Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story

Exclusive! Young actor insists he started writing script long before Jessica Lange put on her habit

By Marc Malkin Jan 09, 2013 7:58 PMTags
Chris Colfer Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Just because Chris Colfer's next movie script takes place in an asylum, that doesn't mean he's trying to rip off his Glee boss Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story.

"It takes place in an asylum in the 1930s," Colfer told me yesterday while promoting Struck by Lightning, the high school drama that he wrote and stars in with Rebel Wilson and Sarah Hyland. "We started putting it together long before American Horror Story [season two] ever happened.

"When I found out they were doing Asylum, I was like, ‘Oh, crap! People are going to think I stole it from them,'" he continued. "But it really wasn't at all. Thankfully, it's completely different."

Unlike Lightning, Colfer says he'll only have a supporting role in the asylum flick, but it's a "very, very important supporting character."

He also said they have a director signed up and offers out to actors. "I just got a phone call about a meeting about it, and things are moving along," Colfer said. "It might be actually happening much sooner than I thought."

In Struck by Lightning, Colfer stars as an angst-ridden high schooler who blackmails classmates to contribute to his literary magazine before he dies in a freakish accident. Pitch Perfect funnylady Rebel Wilson plays his best friend.

"I'm looking forward to the DVD to come out because there's going to be so many bloopers," Colfer said of working with Wilson. "[Rebel] is so funny. She ad-libs up a story and you never know what's coming out of her mouth. She's a dream to work with."

We can't wait for it either.