American Horror Story: All 4 Jessica Lange characters ranked from worst to best

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - AUGUST 02: (L-R) Actress Jessica Lange speaks onstage during the "American Horror Story: Coven" panel discussion at the FX portion of the 2013 Summer Television Critics Association tour - Day 10 at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on August 2, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) /

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4. Elsa Mars

Season: American Horror Story: Freak Show

Oh Elsa Mars, we fell in love with you as soon as you covered David Bowie’s “Life on Mars” in the premiere episode of American Horror Story: Freak Show. By the time you covered “Gods and Monsters” by Lana Del Ray in the third episode, we were obsessed.

Elsa was the main character of the show’s fourth season. A chanteuse who ran Fräulein Elsa’s Cabinet of Curiosities, she put on a show for the few people who attended each evening. But Elsa longed for more, and was willing to do anything to get it. Anything.

In the end, she became a huge TV star, but with the constant pressure to outdo herself and a past that threatened to come out, she soon realized that she was never happier than she was with her friends in the performing troupe.

Elsa’s character journey was a little patchy, as she could be both warm and frosty, motherly yet murderous depending on what the script needed from her. Nevertheless, it was an exhilarating experience to watch her on-screen and Jessica Lange made it impossible not to fall in love with the character. Her cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes”, which saw Elsa go out in a blaze of glory (and marked Lange’s departure from the show), was absolutely stunning.

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