Evan Peters says he isn’t returning for American Horror Story season 9

American Horror Story regular Evan Peters will reportedly not return for the ninth season of Ryan Murphy’s horror anthology show. This weekend, at a red carpet event during WonderCon in Anaheim, Peters told a reporter from Extra, “I’m going to sit a season out.”

Peters first appeared in Murder House, the original installment of the series, and has been the only cast member other than Sarah Paulson to be present in every subsequent season. His portrayal of sociopathic serial killer Tate Langdon in the first season was his breakout role, and since then Peters had a main role in every season of the show. His work culminated in the last year’s AHS: Apocalypse, in which he portrayed four different characters — two reprises of previous roles and two totally new characters.

The last season of AHS featured a number of returning cast members, the result of two previous seasons, Murder House and Coven, crossing over. The shared nature of the American Horror Story universe was revealed in the show’s fourth season, with more connections popping up as the show continued. Last year’s eighth season, though, was a full-blown, fan-indulgent crossover, with favorite characters returning and getting satisfying endings.

Previously, FX committed to both a ninth and 10th season of Murphy’s show. Aside from a few casting rumors for the ninth, there have been no updates on the theme, the setting, or which cast members would return to fill out the universe.

Polygon have reached out to Peters’ representatives for further confirmation of the bombshell casting announcement. Meanwhile, Evan Peters will be in this summer’s X-Men sequel Dark Phoenix as Quicksilver.