American Horror Story: Cult Adds Emma Roberts

Screen Rant

American Horror Story: Cult Adds Emma Roberts To Its Cast

By Dana Getz

Published Aug 1, 2017

Emma Roberts officially joins the cast of American Horror Story: Cult, making a return to the series after two seasons away on Scream Queens.

Emma Roberts has officially boarded the cast of American Horror Story: Cult. The actor, a veteran of the horror anthology series, first appeared in season 3's Coven as Madison Montgomery, a sharp-tongued starlet turned telekinetic witch. She came back for the subsequent cycle, Freak Show, as Maggie Esmerelda, a con artist who posed as a fortune teller to kidnap performers and make a profit, but hasn't returned to the show since.

She has, however, stayed within Ryan Murphy's TV universe. After AHS, she starred in his FOX comedy horror Scream Queens as Kappa Kappa Tau queen bee Chanel Oberlin. Outside of that, she also nabbed roles in several films, including supernatural thriller The Blackcoat's Daughter, tech-centric suspense flick Nerve, and upcoming dramas Billionaire Boys Club and Who We Are Now, the latter of which puts her alongside fellow AHS alum Zachary Quinto.

Murphy announced Cult had added Roberts via Instagram on Tuesday, posting a photo of her in a white dress and tan trench coat while holding a large kitchen knife. "Look who showed up on the set of Cult looking glamorous and ready for action," he captioned the picture.

Look who showed up on the set of Cult looking glamorous and ready for action. A post shared by Ryan Murphy (@mrrpmurphy) on Aug 1, 2017 at 1:10pm PDT

Some initially speculated she may just be visiting friends on set (she's been involved with Evan Peters on and off since 2012), but Roberts herself confirmed the news on Twitter. "I've joined #ahscult will you?" she wrote.

I've joined #ahscult will you? mrrpmurphy
?: johnnygray5 https://t.co/FwnTrDmuvG— Emma Roberts (@RobertsEmma) August 1, 2017

Roberts joins a number of other returning players: Sarah Paulson, Adina Porter, Cheyenne Jackson, Frances Conroy, Mare Winningham, and Peters are all confirmed to appear. Though she'll be alongside a handful of new castmates, too, including Arrow‘s Colton Haynes, Girls' Lena Dunham, Scream Queens' Billie Lourd, Billy on the Street host Billy Eichner, Popular's Leslie Grossman, and The Newsroom's Alison Pill.

It's unclear as of yet what character Roberts will play, as details for the season are just beginning to take shape. It's been known for months that this chapter will be centered around the 2016 U.S. presidential election, but Murphy only revealed the title and premiere date last week. Shortly afterward, a website was launched promising eight weeks of teasers, so any updates will likely be posted there, though Murphy's social media accounts have also proved a hotbed for information regarding Cult.

Whoever Roberts plays, fans should be happy to have yet another familiar face on board — especially in light of news that longtime staple Kathy Bates won't be back this time around.