EXCLUSIVE: The Beauty is on pause at FX. The options on the cast of Ryan Murphy and Matthew Hodgson’s series, based on a comic book series by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley, have lapsed, and the actors are moving onto other projects. That includes leads Evan Peters, who is filming Season 13 of American Horror Story for FX and Murphy, and Rebecca Hall, who is in talks for the female lead opposite Morgan Spector in Netflix’s Dan Brown series adaptation The Secret Of Secrets.

*The Beauty* is a global thriller which follows FBI Agents Cooper Madsen (Peters) and Jordan Bennett (Hall) as they investigate a sexually transmitted virus that transforms ordinary people into visions of physical perfection, but with terrifying consequences.

The first season ended with a big cliffhanger, in which Cooper emerged from a cocoon after a transformation to a shocked reaction though his appearance was not revealed.

Because of the nature of the show, releasing the cast does not necessarily mean that it cannot continue. In Season 1, after Hall’s character was infected with the virus, Jordan was played by Jessica Alexander. Cooper at one point transformed into a teen, played by Hudson Barry; what he looks like now is unclear.

While Ryan Murphy series can go dormant for awhile before being revisited, there are no current plans for Season 2 of *The Beauty.* A big-budget extravaganza with top talent, extensive visual effects and pricey shoots in iconic locations across Europe, the sci-fi/body horror series got off to a solid launch in January, especially overseas, but it did not sustain the momentum and was soon overshadowed by the launch of another Ryan Murphy FX series, *Love Story*, which captured the cultural zeitgeist.

Also starring in *The Beauty* are Ashton Kutcher, Anthony Ramos and Jeremy Pope. Season 1 guest cast included Bella Hadid, Isabella Rossellini, Ben Platt, Jessica Alexander and Vincent D’Onofrio.

Created and written by Murphy and Hodgson, the series is executive produced by Murphy, Hodgson, Peters, Ramos, Pope, Eric Kovtun, Scott Robertson, Nissa Diederich, Michael Uppendahl, Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Gitter, Peter Schwerin and Haun, who serves as a consultant. *The Beauty* is produced by 20th Television.