True to form, American Horror Story‘s Jessica Lange scared the audience of Today this morning by saying she plans to retire from acting “within a couple years.”
“I want a new adventure in life. I’ve been doing this for quite a long time,” Jessica, 64, told Savannah Guthrie. “I want to be open to the possibilities.”
Now in her third season as the indisputable star of American Horror Story, Jessica previously told The Los Angeles Times that she’s nearing the end of her acting career.
“I have a list: another stage production, maybe one or two more movies, one more season of American Horror Story,” she told The Times of the popular FX series. “Then that is it for me. Because I think that’s enough. I want to go out with a bang … or should I say, a scare?”
Although Jessica delights in spooking fans, she admitted to Savannah she doesn’t watch the series — both because of her acting method and personal preferences.
“I mean, I’ve never been interested in that genre,” she said of horror, adding that’s not a big deal because she doesn’t like to watch her performances anyway. “It’s interesting because you know when I’m doing it, I don’t want to watch it because I feel like it will affect the work I’m doing. Then, when it’s over, I feel like it’s over and it’s of no interest to me anymore.”
Thankfully, it seems FX is glad to have Jessica around for as long as she’s willing to stay: The network just renewed American Horror Story for a fourth season, which is no surprise considering the third season has been the series best rated.
That means Ryan Murphy will have to craft a whole new cast and plot before the October 2014 premiere. Even though that’s an undeniable challenge for all the producers and actors involved, Jessica said the unique structure also gives them an advantage over other shows.
“What’s great about what we do is that we’ve got 12 episodes to kind of investigate and explore a character, but you don’t have to sustain it year after year.”
Catch the next episode of American Horror Story: Coven on FX this Wednesday night at 10/9c. Also follow @starcasm as we live-tweet the episode!