EXCLUSIVE: Billie Lourd, a Ryan Murphy universe regular, and Jessica Barden, who appeared on American Horror Stories, are set for recurring roles opposite Ella Beatty in the fourth installment of Murphy and Ian Brennan’s Monster anthology for Netflix.
The new season follows the series’ first female “monster,” Lizzie Borden (Beatty), who was tried and acquitted of the 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, MA. Lourd will play Lizzie’s older sister Emma Borden. Barden will portray Nance O’Neill, a stage actress whose close friendship with Lizzie created a rift between her and her sister Emma.
In addition to Beatty, the season’s main cast includes Vicky Krieps as maid Bridget Sullivan, Rebecca Hall as Lizzie’s stepmother Abby Borden, and Charlie Hunnam as her father, Andrew Borden. All have previously appeared on other Murphy series.
A Murphy go-to director, Max Winkler, who is married to Barden, will helm the first episode. Production begins this fall in Los Angeles.
The first installment, Dahmer: Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, reached 1 billion hours viewed in its first 60 days and ranks #4 on Netflix’s Most Popular Shows list. It garnered 13 Emmy nominations and one win.
The second season, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, received 11 Emmy nominations.
The upcoming third iteration, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, starring Hunnam as the titular monster, launches Oct. 3.
Lourd made her acting debut as a series regular on Murphy’s Screen Queens and went on to appear in six installments of his American Horror Story as well as on spinoff American Horror Stories. She most recently starred in Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl and voiced a role in the animated Smurfs movie. Lourd will next be seen in dark crime thriller Adulthood. She is repped by CAA.
Barden, who appeared in Season 3 of his American Horror Stories, is known for her role as Alyssa in The End of the F***ing World. She recently recurred as Young Valya Harkonnen in Dune: Prophecy. Barden is repped by CAA, Curtis Brown Group and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.
Source: Deadline
