'American Horror Story' Star Naomi Grossman: Pepper Made Ryan Murphy Break His Own Rule

When Naomi Grossman got the call from "American Horror Story" creator Ryan Murphy that she would return for the show's fourth season after a memorable stint on "Asylum" as Pepper, she wasn't too surprised. What did shock her, though, was that she'd be playing Pepper again.

Fans of "AHS" can understand the surprise. The show is an anthology, with many of the main actors returning each season in different roles as the show essentially reboots with a new storyline every year. With the return of Pepper, however, and Murphy's revelation in October that each season is connected, the show basically broke its own rule.

Grossman said in a HuffPost Live interview Thursday that playing the same role again was "the last thing from [her] mind" because she didn't think returning characters were possible. "I knew the rules -- which apparently they broke for me," she said.

The actress speculated that Pepper's popularity could be what caused that change in policy. The character has become a favorite of the "AHS" faithful, even spawning a spoof "Pepper for President" campaign.

"It's so hard to say, but I think that they saw the popularity of this character, they decided to clone her by creating Salty, my sidekick, and realized how popular she was," Grossman told host Ricky Camilleri. "'Let's bring her back. It's a freak show. Perfect place for her.'"

Watch Grossman describe her return in the video above, and catch the full HuffPost Live conversation here.

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