Reason Behind Zachary Quinto’s 9-Year Break From American Horror Story

Zachary Quinto
Zachary Quinto

Zachary Quinto participated in two seasons of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s FX horror anthology series “American Horror Story,” first as Chad Warwick in Season 1 and then as the evil Dr. Oliver Thredson in Season 2. Since then, “American Horror Story” has aired eight seasons and counting, with various returning performers, but without any additional involvement from Quinto, who has not been seen on the show since its first two seasons.

If you’ve been wondering why Quinto quit appearing on “American Horror Story” after two excellent performances in the first two seasons, you’re not alone. However, in one interview Quinto gave several years ago, the actor did at least present a clear rationale for his choice to quit participating in “AHS,” even if it may appear a little different in retrospect after over seven years.

Quinto’s Reason To Stop American Horror Drama

In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment published on February 20, 2015, Zachary Quinto primarily promoted his work on the then-new NBC drama “The Slap,” yet he was also questioned if he has any plans to return to the “American Horror Story” franchise.

“No, I don’t believe so,” Quinto replied. “I haven’t talked to anyone about it, but I had a similar excellent experience there, and I’m interested in stepping away from the genre stuff. I enjoy how Harry is the antagonist in [‘The Slap.’] I’ve played a lot of antagonists and noteworthy villains over my career, but I’m keen to move on from that and the genre realm. Other worlds fascinate me. For me, ‘The Slap’ epitomised this. It’s about real people, real environments, and genuine issues; there’s nothing heightened or exaggerated about the settings in which these characters exist, and I enjoy that.”

Quinto, it appears, was no longer interested in tackling horror/sci-fi type roles, preferring to stick to conventional drama. One fascinating aspect of this is that you can check at Quinto’s work since this interview on IMDb to see if he was able to follow through on his aim.

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