All 12 of Sarah Paulson’s American Horror Story roles ranked as coven returns

Jul 29
Written by Jack Wetherill

Sarah Paulson has played a lot of characters in American Horror Story (FX)

Queer actress Sarah Paulson is once again stepping into Cordelia Goode’s shoes, with the latest season of American Horror Story to revisit her coven of witches.

If, like us, you believe Coven is one of the best American Horror Story seasons ever (behind Asylum, obviously), then this will be music to your ears.

Photographs from the set in New York showed Paulson back with the likes of Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe and Frances Conroy, as well as new casting Alex Consani, as the coven returned.

Sarah Paulson and her coven are back for American Horror Story season 13 (Getty Images)

But show creator Ryan Murphy has revealed to Entertainment Tonight: “Everyone thinks it’s a coven season, and it’s not. It’s all the seasons. So Sarah Paulson is playing six or seven roles.”

It’s yet to be confirmed which of Paulson’s other roles will appear in American Horror Story season 13, but even just that tease has us extra excited – so we decided to rank them all… do you agree with our placements?

12. Mamie Eisenhower

Sarah Paulson played Mamie Eisenhower, former First Lady of the United States in American Horror Story: Double Feature‘s “Death Valley” set of episodes.

Honestly, we completely forgot about the character because I don’t think anybody would pick Double Feature as their favourite AHS season (not “Death Valley”, anyway!?) so sadly, even with all the alien content, Paulson’s portrayal of Mamie Eisenhower is in 12th place.

11. Susan Atkins

No, we’re actually not putting both of Paulson’s Double Feature characters at the bottom of our list.

Eleventh place goes to Susan Atkins, simply because she was a minor character in a Charles Manson flashback part of Cult.

While the character was horrifying (she was one of Manson’s most devout followers and stabbed Sharon Tate), she wasn’t a character that was the focal point of a season.

Fun fact: she was the 10th character that Paulson portrayed in the American Horror Story universe.

10. TB Karen

Also from Double Feature, but from the “Red Tide” series of episodes, TB Karen left more of an impression on us. Also, “Red Tide” was the better half of Double Feature, if you ask us.

The character goes through a major personal journey with the pill and blood-sucking creatures, before coming to a tragic (but understandable) end.

An incredible performance from Paulson, just attached to a largely forgettable season.

9. Wilhelmina Venable

Sarah Paulson as Wilhelmina Venable (FX)

Sarah Paulson played Wilhelmina Venable in Apocalypse, as well Billie Dean Howard and Cordelia Goode.

The character ruled Outpost 3 with a firm hand and air of brutality. Venable is not at all a forgettable or insignificant character, just not one of our favourites.

Though her styling was impeccable! That hair? Iconic!

8. Audrey Tindall

Roanoke was a bit of a complicated one (for a number of reasons, let’s be honest). Sarah Paulson played English actress Audrey Tindall, who played Lily Rabe’s character of Shelby Miller in “My Roanoke Nightmare”.

Audrey later appeared as herself in “Return to Roanoke: Three Days in Hell”.

Roanoke is definitely one of the goriest seasons of American Horror Story, and isn’t objectively bad, it’s just a little bit more complicated than it needed to be.

Even Paulson herself has said it’s her least favourite American Horror Story season.

7. Ally Mayfair-Richards

Sarah Paulson as Ally Mayfair-Richards (FX)

One of Sarah Paulson’s more memorable American Horror Story characters, though potentially not for the right reasons (not that that is because of Paulson’s acting abilities!).

Appearing in Cult, Ally, who is married to another woman with whom she shares a son, has a number of phobias, which often saw her screaming in public.

That’s probably mostly what people would remember of the character, rather than the actual plot of the season.

6. Billie Dean Howard

Sarah Paulson as Billie Dean Howard (FX)

Sarah Paulson’s first appearance in American Horror Story was in Murder House as medium Billie Dean Howard – and she was so iconic she returned in Hotel and Apocalypse, too.

The character puts Paulson in a completely different frame – she’s not a victim, she’s not a villain, she’s not particularly vital to the storyline. But she brings an element of fun that has left her a fan-favourite character.

5 and 4. Bette and Dot Tattler

In Freak Show, Sarah Paulson played conjoined twins Bette and Dot Tattler in arguably the best display of her acting prowess ever in the horror franchise series.

Both twins had distinct personalities which, of course, Paulson had to embody – and she did just that, and then some.

We can still remember the first time we watched that fantasised scene of them eating the pink cupcakes and slowly dying.

Such an underrated Paulson performance!

3. ‘Hypodermic’ Sally

Sarah Paulson as 'Hypodermic' Sally — Sarah Paulson as ‘Hypodermic’ Sally (FX)

Sally McKenna, or “Hypodermic” Sally, was Sarah Paulson’s character in American Horror Story: Hotel and showed a completely different side to her.

She’s known for her troubled past (and after life) and has many of the tropes of a classic horror character, without being a literal monster (well, arguable).

Sally’s styling is another reason the character really sticks out, with her choppy, frizzy bob and love of leopard print.

2. Cordelia Goode

The Supreme herself, Cordelia Goode. First appearing in Coven, and then in Apocalypse, though she was also mentioned in Hotel. The character is also confirmed to be returning in the new season.

Cordelia is another character that really goes through it. Whether that’s because of her witch-hunter husband (good riddance), nasty mum (we still love you, Fiona!) or the Antichrist himself, you can’t help but cheer Cordelia on.

And we can’t wait to see what she gets up to next season.