These Are Evan Peters' Favorite AHS Episodes Of All-Time
When it comes to "American Horror Story," actor Evan Peters is the show's unequivocal poster boy. The man has appeared in nine seasons — more than any other cast member — and is regularly at the forefront of the FX horror anthology series. But what does he actually think about it? Are there any episodes and seasons that are perhaps Peters' favorite?
It's a question that many fans have often wondered about him and other members of Ryan Murphy's "American Horror Story" menagerie. With Peters starring in so many installments over the years, forming a list of his favorite episodes of all time sounds like a tall task. But that's exactly what the Hollywood star managed to do during a 2019 sit-down with Entertainment Weekly.
According to Peters, there are five "American Horror Story" episodes that stand out the most to him from his time in the show. These episodes not only highlight Peters' ability to play different characters but also reveal and showcase unique aspects of each portrayal. Here are Peters' favorites.
In Season 1, Evan Peters picked the episode 'Rubber Man'
This is an episode that lives in "American Horror Story" infamy, as it includes the reveal of Season 1's Rubber Man serial killer. Evan Peters chose to include Episode 8, aka "Rubber Man," in his 2019 top five list likely because of its relevance to the entire series as a whole. Not only does it help set up the mythos of the Murder House, but it also strongly establishes Ryan Murphy's use of ghosts and exploration of the undead throughout the "American Horror Story" series as a whole.
During the episode, Peters' character Tate Langdon is revealed to be the infamous Rubber Man killer and rapist behind the attack on Vivien Harmon (Connie Britton). Portrayed as a ghost influenced by the darkness of the Murder House, Peters' rubberized version of Tate is both sadistic and determined. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in 2011 about the episode and first learning of the big reveal, Peters said: "I was shocked, but I was also grateful. I was thinking, 'Wow that's pretty cool. I guess I have to slime up and put on the rubber suit.'"
His favorite episode in Season 2 is 'Welcome to Briarcliff'
The next episode on Evan Peters' favorites list is none other than the premiere episode for "American Horror Story: Asylum," which aired from 2012 to 2013. In the episode, viewers are greeted with a much different and more laidback Peters character, Kit Walker.
Unfortunately, Kit's happy life is turned upside down when he is tossed into the Briarcliff Manor mental institution after claiming his wife was abducted by aliens. "In the beginning, [Ryan Murphy] told me the character Kit was going to be completely different than Tate," Peters explained in a 2012 interview with The Baltimore Sun. "For some reason, I thought it was going to be sunshine and rainbows. I don't know what I was thinking," Peters said, adding that "Kit goes through a lot of torture, but it's what you sign up for as an actor."
According to Peters, one of the things that challenged him most — but also interested him — was playing someone in a mental institution who is confused about their own sanity, while also suffering from the facility's inhumane treatments being deployed on him and other patients. "The torture was most challenging for me, just because being strapped down freaks me out," Peters told Collider in 2012, but he went on to clarify that the overall experience was great and it was worth it to give a good performance, noting, "When you can relate to your main characters more than things start to affect you more, as a viewer."
Peters also picked the first episode of Season 4, Freak Show
When it comes to Evan Peters' next favorite episode, the St. Louis native wound up choosing "Monsters Among Us," which is the very first episode of Season 4, "American Horror Story: Freak Show." The FX anthology series decided to go with an old-timey carnival theme this year — focusing on a gaggle of sideshow workers in 1950s Florida. Peters plays a worker named Jimmy Darling who suffers from the condition syndactyly, which involves having conjoined fingers or toes. This leads to the character being dubbed "Lobster Boy" by his fellow "freaks" and peers.
In addition to Peters loving the "Monsters Among Us" episode, showrunner Ryan Murphy has also publicly called it one of his favorite episodes ever — saying it's a perfect combination of everything he wanted to do with "American Horror Story" in Season 4. "It was like out of a dream. The sets, the clothes, the actors in the ensemble," Murphy told Entertainment Weekly in 2019 about shooting the "Freak Show" premiere.
The episode 'Devil's Night' from Hotel is a standout
While Evan Peters' isn't necessarily a main character in "American Horror Story: Hotel," that didn't stop him from including the season's fourth episode, "Devil's Night," on his list of all-time favorites. In it, Peters' character, James March, is the sadistic founder and owner of the Hotel Cortez, where everything takes place. Throughout the season, we see March do despicable things to people staying at the Cortez — all while being dead and living as a full-on ghost. "It is nice to be able to be the person who's torturing, as opposed to being the person who's getting tortured!" joked Peters in a 2015 interview with Vulture.
In "Devil's Night," March has an annual Halloween eve dinner party with a number of famous serial killers from the past that he secretly mentors — including Richard Ramirez (Anthony Ruivivar), Jeffrey Dahmer (Seth Gabel), and John Wayne Gacy (John Carroll Lynch). March, himself, is considered to be the first original serial killer, and he is based on H.H. Holmes. "He built this murder castle in Chicago in the late 1800s, which had asphyxiation chambers, chutes leading down to the basement, and all sorts of insane things," the actor explained to Vulture. "I was trying to get inside his head and figure out why."
Although a tough season for Peters, he loved the Cult episode 'Charles (Manson) in Charge'
The last entry on Evan Peters' favorite episodes list hails from Season 7, "American Horror Story: Cult," which is surprisingly one of the actors' least favorite seasons. Peters publicly described the season to GQ as being a tough and traumatizing experience, saying that playing Kai Anderson, "It's hurting my soul and Evan as a person."
But still, in his list of favorite "American Horror Story" episodes, Peters chose to go with Season 7's 10th and penultimate episode, "Charles (Manson) in Charge," as one of his top choices. In it, viewers are treated to a Peters showcase — with him appearing in pretty much every scene in the episode. As the title so aptly states, the episode includes a riveting performance by Peters as one of America's most notorious cult leaders, Charles Manson.
Further describing the experience of playing multiple cult leaders in "Cult," Peters told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 that "It was a pretty heartbreaking research process." In addition to Manson, the 35-year-old was also tasked with playing cult leaders David Koresh, Jim Jones, and Marshall Applewhite in separate but equally exhausting scenes. He said that researching for the role of Jones, the infamous leader of the Jonestown group, was the toughest thing he had to do that season.