Fiennes

With approximiately one month until the cameras begin to roll on the second season of American Horror Story, the series has certainly kept things under wraps in terms of where the plot is headed. However, with an impressive cast and some details regarding the show’s setting and characters, we certainly have enough information to last us for the time being. Now, it seems American Horror Story may be casting one of their final roles for the new episodes as a man with plenty of power now comes into play.

EW reports that Joseph Fiennes is currently in talks to join the second season as the head of the insane asylum which employs main character Jessica Lange, along with frenemy James Cromwell, and where patients Adam Levine, Chloe Sevigny, Zachary Quinto, Evan Peters, and others currently reside. It’s said that Fiennes character is “tortured”, and is unfortunately the only brief description we get other than his occupation.

Set in the 1960s, the institution for the criminally insane will take place on the East Coast, and the season’s theme will ironically enough by the topic of “sanity”. Co-creator Ryan Murphy describes the theme as, “What makes someone sane or insane? Sometimes the people you think are insane are actually the most sane of all. It’s fun to write about people who society throws away.” Speaking of the people cast out of society, Sevigny’s character is said to be put into the institution by her husband because she has become a sex addict of sorts, which was legal back during the time period. Along with the rules of the era, one character will be institutionalized for being a lesbian as well, though it’s unclear whom just yet.

Fiennes is famous for both his work on television and film, as he’s worked on such features as Shakespeare in Love, Enemy at the Gates, and Elizabeth. The past couple of years Fiennes has tried hard to break into a regular television role, but failed with one season series Flashforward on ABC and Camelot on Starz. Fiennes has worked with Murphy before in a pilot that was never picked up for FX called Pretty/Handsome, which had Fiennes playing the lead role of a husband and father who must tell his family that he is actually a transsexual.

Currently, American Horror Story is set to premiere in mid-October on FX, and the cast will also include Lily Rabe, Sarah Paulson, and Lizzie Brocheré. While five of the cast members will be returning to the series, each will be playing a brand new role in an anthology format, as each season seeks to press the restart button.