American Horror Story is coming back this fall, and Billie Lourd and Gabourey Sidibe are not hiding the fact that the show’s latest chapter is built around familiar faces. Speaking with PEOPLE at the Disney 2026 Upfront in New York City on May 12, 2026, the two actors said season 13 is on the way and sounded eager to get back to work.
Lourd said, “We’re so excited,” but added, “We can’t tell you much.” She said season 13 is “definitely different” and noted that “a lot of fan favorites” are returning. Sidibe reached for a food metaphor to explain the mix, calling it “like a casserole of your favorite foods,” while Lourd compared it to “a minestrone.”
The return carries extra weight because both actors have been part of the series for years. Sidibe said she has been on American Horror Story for more than 10 years, while Lourd said she joined in season 6 in 2017 and has now been on the show for almost 10 years. That long run, they said, is part of why the set still feels familiar even when the material changes.
“Look, it always, every time we’re back, it feels like home,” Sidibe said. “It feels like a family that you forget that you’re annoyed by, and so it’s really wonderful.” Lourd backed that up by describing filming as hard, but the set as cozy, adding that Sidibe has been taking care of her during the event.
That balance of secrecy and reassurance is the story here. The show is not just returning; it is leaning on the cast members audiences already know, including names tied to the franchise’s broader history, with the source material’s photo caption also naming Angela Bassett, Emma Roberts, Lourd and Sidibe. For fans, the message is clear: the new season is being sold less as a reset than as a reunion.
What remains unknown is the part the network clearly does not want to give away yet. Lourd was careful about that, saying she was “very careful” in how she described the returning favorites. But the big picture is already out in the open: American Horror Story season 13 is set for fall, and the people bringing it back sound confident that the show still has the old chemistry that made it a fixture in the first place.
