Sarah Paulson Discusses Her Future on American Horror Story

American Horror Story: 1984 has been one of the better recent seasons of the horror anthology series, but it's still been missing a very important element: Sarah Paulson, who announced earlier this year that'd she'd be sitting this installment out. But Paulson is a very busy actress, with so many other projects, and some of us have wondered if she'd actually return to the show that has defined her career.

Paulson said in September that she could make a cameo on 1984, but in a new interview with Variety she confirmed that she won't be appearing on the slasher-themed outing of the FX series. That said, she hasn't ruled out returning in the future -- though it doesn't sound like she'll be coming back any time soon.

"I think the star of American Horror Story is American Horror Story itself," the actress mused. "The show is the thing and I think you can get a whole different group of actors and people will still watch it. I think that's the extraordinary thing that Ryan created, and I would love to be a part of it. One time, I said I'd like it be to vampires in space when I'm 99 and I hope the show is still going then."

That certainly doesn't sound like someone who will be returning for season 10 -- which creator Ryan Murphy revealed he still doesn't know the theme for. "I always have the next season decided by Halloween, so I have a week. But now I'm sort of dealing with two ideas and I lean towards whichever is more in my brain right now," Murphy told Variety. "Every season has a runner-up idea, but the runner-ups have never made it on screen. I've never gone back to the second choice, although I should. Sometimes the choice just pops into my brain. I can't explain it."

Murphy did say he'd consider returning to a previous season again, as the show did last season with Coven and Murder House. Maybe Paulson could simply make cameos as all of her old characters? We have to see Asylum's Lana Winters one more time before the show ends.

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