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Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story never shied away from creating unusual characters and making the viewers terrified of them, but also admired the actors for their phenomenal performances. One such actor from the FX horror series is veteran actress Kathy Bates. From impressing fans with her performance in Titanic, Bates has played numerous strange, sometimes lovable and sometimes terrifying characters in Murphy’s American Horror Story.
Whether a mother figure to a group of vulnerable people, a sadistic historical figure, or simply the ghost of a crazy murderer, Kathy Bates shines in all six roles that she portrayed in the horror show. Here is a list of five of Kathy Bates’s best characters from American Horror Story.
Top 5 characters Kathy Bates played in American Horror Story
5) Ms. Miriam Mead ( American Horror Story: Apocalypse)
Apocalypse premiered in 2018 and is the eighth season of AHS. It depicts the fight between the witches against the antichrist and saves the world from ending. Bates’s character, Miriam Mead, is one of the henchmen of the satanic cooperative and is loyal to them.
Mead is known for her ruthless and inhumane treatment of others. She enjoys torturing and making up new ways to punish the inhabitants of Outpost 3 if they break any rules. She and Venable even manipulate the Geiger counter to punish Chad James Buchanan’s Stu. Bates' character in this series is unhinged when it comes to cruelty against others and greedy to reach the top order of the Cooperative.
Since it was a crossover season with several other previous AHS seasons, Bates’ satan-loving character was still fascinating due to her portrayal of a cruel human being, terrifyingly perfect, and also an android version with the same killing desire.
4) The Butcher (American Horror Story: Roanoke)
AHS: Roanoke is among the scariest and underrated seasons of the horror series. The first half of the series depicts the experiences of a couple living in the Roanoke house, and the second half presents how the production team of the documentary met their ends in the mysterious location of Roanoke.
Bates plays two characters in the series: first one an actress who works in the documentary, and the next one is the Butcher or Thomsan White, the self-made leader of the Roanoke community. The Butcher is one of the most terrifying characters that Bates portrayed in the series.
The crazy murderer that Bates portrayed did not even spare her community members was sadistic and cruel. While it might appear comical at times, her character was so invested in keeping the land to herself that it twisted her up and she became a killer with no humanity. Furthermore, the series also has one of the most popular monologue of Bates is another of the reasons that has made her character one of the popular ones.
3) Iris (American Horror Story: Hotel)
AHS: Hotel is among the most popular seasons of American Horror Story. The series depicts a fictional hotel known for the paranormal or disturbing events that occurred in it. Bates plays Iris, who has been in the hotel to protect his son Donovan from Countess Elizabeth.
Iris might be living among terrifying and murderous ghosts but can also be seen as a killer who knows when to dispose off of someone. However, the most memorable thing about the character is her friendship with Liz Tyler. She gives up on her plan to kill herself and the duo take over the hotel, resulting in Iris becoming the hotel manager.
While no character is purely good in Hotel, the friendship between Liz and Iris was among the best moments in an overly gruesome season, making her one of the best characters.
2) Ethel Darling (American Horror Story: Freak Show)
We have seen many colours of Bates’s acting range in various seasons of AHS. From a murderous butcher to a satanic. However, her character of Ethel Darling stands out when it comes to ranking them based on how humane they were.
In Freak Show, Ethel Darling is a victim of domestic abuse and is part of the freak show just because she has a beard. The headstrong woman is not someone you could trifle with. A recovering alcoholic and someone who has been judged for how she looks, Ethel is protective of her Freak show members, especially Elsa and her son, Jimmy.
Apart from her acting, the Baltimore accent that Bates used in the series also makes her character entertaining and stand out to others.
1) Madame Delphine LaLaurie ( American Horror Story: Coven)
AHS: Coven was Kathy Bates’ debut season in the horror series universe. Her character, Madame Delphine LaLaurie, is from the 1830s, a socialite and a racist Creole woman. She was known for her gruesome torture of her black slaves in her time.
Due to her cruelty, Voodoo queen Marie Laveau gives her a potion that makes her immortal and has her buried alive in an unmarked grave. Jessica Lange’s Fiona Goode digs her up to know about eternal life and to use her as leverage against Laveau. Once a high society woman, in the modern era, Goode turns her into a maid for her school for witches.
While a century later, Delphine might appear to be as stubborn narcissistic, she still manages to befriend Queenie even with all her prejudices. She was despicable but she also showed her vulnerable side and even adapted to teh new world somehow, making her among the best parts of Season 3.
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