List of American Horror Story cast members

The American Horror Story cast changes each season but has included over 55 main actors across 12 seasons so far. Being an anthology series, many actors come and go across the seasons in both new and/or returning roles. Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, and Lily Rabe have appeared in the most seasons with 9 appearances each. This is closely followed by Frances Conroy and Denis O'Hare who have both appeared in 8 seasons each. Peters' has portrayed the most characters across the show with 16, followed by Paulson who has portrayed 12. Naomi Grossman's character, Pepper, from Asylum was the first to reappear in a different season, Freak Show. Gabourey Sidibe's character, Queenie, who first appeared in Coven was the first character to appear in 3 or more seasons after reappearing in Hotel and Apocalypse. The only other character to do so is Billie Dean Howard, portrayed by Sarah Paulson, who appeared in Murder House, Hotel, and Apocalypse. The series has cast many pop culture celebrities, TV personalities, singers, supermodels, or sports stars including Adam Levine, Stevie Nicks, Patti LaBelle, Lady Gaga, Naomi Campbell, Trixie Mattel, Rick Springfield, Gus Kenworthy, Eureka, Kaia Gerber, and Kim Kardashian.

Cast members and characters

Special guest stars

! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Kate Mara
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Eric Stonestreet
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Charles S. Dutton
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Ian McShane
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Danny Huston
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Stevie Nicks
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Celia Weston
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Neil Patrick Harris
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Mare Winningham
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Naomi Campbell
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Billy Eichner
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Lena Dunham
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Joan Collins
! colspan="14" style="background-color:#ccccff;" |

Notable recurring, guest, and co-starring

! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Alexandra Breckenridge
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Christine Estabrook
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Jamie Brewer
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Ben Woolf
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Michael Graziadei
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Rosa Salazar
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Matt Ross
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Eric Close
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Teddy Sears
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Brando Eaton
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Ashley Rickards
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Morris Chestnut
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Rebecca Wisocky
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Tanya Clarke
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Mena Suvari
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Anthony Ruivivar
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Adam Levine
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Jenna Dewan
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Clea DuVall
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Mark Consuelos
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Britne Oldford
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Fredric Lehne
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Robin Weigert
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | John Aylward
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Barbara Tarbuck
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Franka Potente
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Mark Margolis
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Naomi Grossman
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Robin Bartlett
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Josh Hamilton
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Christine Ebersole
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Alexander Dreymon
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Riley Voelkel
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Leslie Jordan
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Grace Gummer
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Michael Cristofer
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Mike Colter
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Lance Reddick
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Skyler Samuels
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Patti LaBelle
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Lee Tergesen
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Heather Langenkamp
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Chrissy Metz
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Malcolm-Jamal Warner
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Angela Sarafyan
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | David Burtka
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Max Greenfield
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Richard T. Jones
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Helena Mattson
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Mädchen Amick
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Seth Gabel
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Darren Criss
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Jessica Lu
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Charles Melton
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Alexandra Daddario
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Henry G. Sanders
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Josh Braaten
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Alanna Ubach
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Charles Malik Whitfield
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Colby French
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Chaz Bono
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | John Pyper-Ferguson
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Doris Kearns Goodwin
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Jon Bass
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Jacob Artist
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Brian Howe
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Danielle Macdonald
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Emma Bell
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | James Morosini
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Colton Haynes
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Jorge-Luis Pallo
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Zack Ward
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Dermot Mulroney
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Laura Allen
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Dot-Marie Jones
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Rick Springfield
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Cameron Cowperthwaite
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Kyle Allen
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Ash Santos
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Erika Ervin
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Jon Jon Briones
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Billy Porter
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | BD Wong
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Wayne Pére
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Carlo Rota
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Harriet Sansom Harris
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Dominic Burgess
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | DeRon Horton
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Orla Brady
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Lou Taylor Pucci
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Tara Karsian
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Mitch Pileggi
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Don Swayze
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Steven Culp
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Dreama Walker
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Yvonne Zima
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Spencer Novich
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Eureka O'Hara
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Christopher Stanley
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Craig Sheffer
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Mike Vogel
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Bryce Johnson
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Vincent Foster
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Briana Lane
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Jeff Hiller
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Kyle Beltran
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Quei Tann
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Clara McGregor
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Kal Penn
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Hale Appleman
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Gideon Glick
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Andy Cohen
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Juliana Canfield
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Tavi Gevinson
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Taylor Richardson
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Ashlie Atkinson
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Debra Monk
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Sophie von Haselberg
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Taylor Schilling
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Reed Birney
! scope="row" style="text-align:left" | Hamish Linklater