Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have added Emma Roberts to their coven.
The Scream 4 star has joined the third installment of American Horror Story . She joins real-life boyfriend Evan Peters , and a growing all-star cast that includes Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, and Patti LuPone. Series veterans Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe, and Frances Conroy will also be returning for the new season. Season 1 star Taissa Farmiga, who was absent from the series’ second season, will also be returning, along with newcomer Gabourey Sidibe .
Details of Roberts’ role are being kept under wraps, as is Murphy and Falchuk’s M.O., but what is known is that she is a party girl.
The third season of the American Horror Story anthology will be filming in multiple locations , including New Orleans. While this season will be more historical than its predecessors, Murphy said it would also be more upbeat than Asylum , which shed an unflattering light on mental health institutions. Murphy also said that three people, including Bates, would be playing real people this season.
Roberts, who is the daughter of Eric Roberts and niece of Julia Roberts, first became known for her role in the Nick series Unfabulous. In 2007, she played the title character in Nancy Drew , and went on to do more coming-of-age and family films, including Wild Child and Hotel for Dogs .
In 2011, Roberts landed a lead in Scream 4 as Jill Roberts, the younger cousin of Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott. Roberts admitted that she almost didn’t go to her audition , but her mother encouraged to go. She said she didn’t even meet with director Wes Craven in person — she read her lines via Skype — and she initially didn’t think she got the role because she was so nervous.
“I got home and I found out I got the part,” she said.
American Horror Story: Coven premieres in October.
[Photo credit: Ovidiu Hrubaru / Shutterstock.com ]