'American Horror Story' Season 4 Cast: Denis O'Hare Talks Gay 'Expression' In '50s & Returning For Fifth Installment [VIDEO]
American Horror Story: Freak Show actor Denis O'Hare (who plays Stanley) recently talked about this season's gay themes and whether or not he will be returning for season 5.
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O'Hare's Stanley has been one of the primary villains this season on American Horror Story, frequently orchestrating the deaths of various "freaks." Some of the subtext for Stanley, however, is in how comfortable he is with his homosexuality, while Dell (Michael Chiklis), who is also gay, is very uncomfortable with it.
As such, O'Hare noted to Examiner recently that it's been interesting to watch the examination of these two characters.
"I's really interesting to see Dell as one expression of [being gay in the 1950s], somebody who's so deeply closeted that he actually considers hanging himself in the last episode, to someone like Stanley, who just seems to roll with it," O'Hare said. "It seems to be part of his lifestyle, which is admittedly not a healthy lifestyle; he's a professional liar, but there is a sense in which he's a lot more, I guess, at ease with it."
Stanley does not have any truly healthy relationships as he often hires hustlers on the down low, but O'Hare commends the exploration of what it meant to be gay in those days.
"I think it is pretty amazing to have that snapshot of what it was like to be a gay person in the 1950s. I think it's really cool."
O'Hare does not know if he will be back for the fifth season of American Horror Story next year, though he said if he does he would be comfortable playing another "Stanley" type of character, someone who is not necessarily "disfigured," like his other AHS characters.
American Horror Story: Freak Show returns on Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX.
Watch the promo for the next episode of American Horror Story below:
