One of the numerous returning cast members on American Horror Story, Finn Wittrock has been a part of Ryan Murphy’s anthology horror TV show off and on since season 4—here’s every role he’s played.

American Horror Story redefined horror TV in 2011 with the debut of season 1, Murder House. After receiving numerous major award wins and nominations as well as critical acclaim, Murphy continued to up the stakes with ongoing seasons. As of 2020, nine seasons of American Horror Story have aired, and the show has been renewed through season 13 by FX network. It has also reached a level of popularity where a spin-off series, American Horror Stories, has been green-lit to air on Hulu.

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Finn Wittrock was a fresh-faced talent who arrived in season 4. Freak Show reached a high level of viewership and popularity due in part to it being the final season of actress Jessica Lange, who won fans over with her supporting role as Constance Langdon in season 1. Wittrock studied theater at Juilliard, and had a career before American Horror Story on the small screen, with various guest-starring roles on shows like ER and Cold Case. Wittrock was also in several stage plays, including The Illusion off-Broadway in 2011 and Death of a Salesman on Broadway in 2012. He first worked with Ryan Murphy on HBO’s The Normal Heart in 2014, then landed the role of Dandy Mott in Freak Show the same year.

American Horror Story: Freak Show – Dandy Mott

Arguably Wittrock’s best role on American Horror Story, Dandy Mott was an intriguing villain in season 4, Freak Show. Dandy is a rich young man who has been spoiled his entire life by his mother, Gloria (Frances Conroy), who will stop at nothing to ensure her son’s happiness. Despite looking like a normal, handsome young man, Dandy sees the performers at Fräulein Elsa’s Cabinet of Curiosities and is immediately taken aback by them; he is particularly interested in the conjoined twins, Bette and Dot, and tries to purchase them for his own amusement.

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Dandy finds that he relates more to the freaks than other “normal” people, though it could be argued that Dandy’s sociopathic and psychopathic tendencies make him far from normal. His mother spent her entire life walking on eggshells around her son, who has a disturbingly violent temper and takes to harming animals—and eventually humans—when he doesn’t get his way. Eventually, Dandy takes his own mother’s life and murders the majority of the freaks in Elsa’s troupe before he is drowned in Houdini’s water tank by the survivors of his massacre.

American Horror Story: Hotel – Tristan Duffy / Rudolph Valentino

Wittrock played two roles in American Horror Story season 5, Hotel. The main role of the two was Tristan Duffy, a “bad boy” model who is known for his attitude and wild, uninhibited behavior. He’s a bit of a loose cannon, but wins the attention of Elizabeth/The Countess (Lady Gaga), who takes him as a lover and turns him into one of the afflicted. He eventually falls in love with Liz Taylor (Denis O’Hare), who helps bring him out of his childish behaviors, teaching him patience and kindness, showing him real love, and introducing him to classic literature. Though a confrontation with The Countess about his relationship with—and love for—Liz results in her murdering him, he stays as a permanent resident in the Hotel Cortez, which is one of several purgatory locations in American Horror Story. Later, he is reunited with Liz Taylor after her death in 2022.

Upon first meeting Tristan Duffy, Elizabeth remarked that he reminded her of Rudolph Valentino; he was Elizabeth’s first love and a famous actor who Wittrock also played. Valentino was a real actor, but he died in 1926 at the young age of 31 after a series of medical conditions, such as peritonitis and pleuritis. In American Horror Story canon, Valentino became one of the afflicted, and was killed by Donovan (Matt Bomer) via a gunshot wound to the head in 2015.

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American Horror Story: Roanoke – Jether Polk

Jether Polk in season 5, Roanoke, was one of Wittrock’s smaller roles during his tenure on American Horror Story, and he was almost unrecognizable as the character. A drug addict and one of the gentler members of the murderous, presumably inbred Polk family, Jether had aspirations to become famous—a theme with Wittrock’s characters. While he is a little more susceptible to persuasion than his other, loyal family members who are led by Mama Polk (Frances Conroy), he intends to torture and kill Lee (Adina Porter/Angela Bassett), seemingly to prove his worth. Compared to the other more brutal members of his cannibalistic kin, Jether has never actually killed a human, though he seems more than willing to try. However, Lee gets the best of him and ends up stabbing him in the neck, fatally wounding him.

American Horror Story: 1984 – Bobby Richter

Another minor role for Wittrock came in season 9, 1984. However, minor as the role was, he still brought life to a very crucial character despite only appearing in one episode. In season 9, episode 9, “Final Girl”—the season finale—Wittrock appears at Camp Redwood as the grown-up Bobby Richter, son of Benjamin Richter (John Carroll Lynch), aka Mr. Jingles. The Richter family is tethered to Camp Redwood by numerous tragedies, which go all the way back to the untimely death of Bobby’s namesake, his uncle, who was killed by a boat motor while he was swimming in the lake. This led to his mother—Bobby’s grandmother, Lavinia (Lily Rabe)—embarking on a killing spree in the vein of Pamela Voorhees in Friday the 13th. Benjamin was the one who put a stop to his mother’s murderous rage, killing her in self-defense and causing her to become the “Lady in White” who haunts the camp and torments the other ghosts.

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Bobby returns to Camp Redwood, seeking answers about his father, and ends up in a violent confrontation with Margaret Booth (Leslie Grossman), who tries to kill him. He’s ultimately protected by his family members, including his grandmother, and is told not to come back to Camp Redwood, as it’ll always be dangerous for him there. Not only would Margaret likely try to kill him again, but Richard Ramirez remains on constant “death watch” by the other ghosts so he cannot escape the grounds. Season 10 of American Horror Story has been delayed to 2021, but prior to that announcement, Ryan Murphy released a cast trailer which boasted a promising list of names, including Finn Wittrock.

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About The Author


Jack Wilhelmi
(581 Articles Published)

Jack Wilhelmi is the horror features editor at Screen Rant, and has been with the site since 2019. He is a lifelong fan of the horror genre, and loves any excuse to discuss genre-related topics, since none of his friends dare challenge him in horror trivia. He has been published on the independent horror blog Morbidly Beautiful, and has covered major genre film festivals such as Cinepocalypse in Chicago. He has also served as a judge for the Ax Wound Film Festival.

In his free time, he is a devoted dog dad to a high-spirited rescue pup named Peter Quill and enjoys volunteering with various animal rescue organizations. Jack likes to travel and explore dark tourism-related and other various haunted locations. He enjoys studying psychology, the paranormal, and will watch literally any schlocky B-movie on the planet for a laugh.

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