Lily Rabe, who has starred on all three previous seasons of American Horror Story, reprised her Asylum character Sister Mary Eunice for an appearance on Wednesday night’s episode of Freak Show.

Lily Rabe On ‘Freak Show’

Following American Horror Story: Coven, Rabe took a lead role on ABC thriller The Whispers, but was more than happy to get the call from Ryan Murphy stating that they’d written her Sister Mary Eunice character into Freak Show. Despite Rabe’s hectic filming schedule, Murphy had the logistics figured out so that she could return. “It’s such an incredible thing,” Rabe gushed to Entertainment Weekly.  “I’ve had that experience time and time again with Ryan and with the show, where with most things it would be impossible to work something out, and they find a way. He really moves mountains.”

During her appearance on Freak Show, Rabe had the chance to work for the first with longtime close personal friend and fellow actress Mare Winningham – an experience that Rabe says made her emotional on set. “It was so wonderful because I respect her so much as an actress, and I love her so much as a human,” Rabe explained. “So leave it to American Horror Story to make that little dream come true.”

In addition to working with Winningham, Rabe was also glad to be getting back into Sister Mary Eunice’s habit and slipping back into the fascinating character Murphy had created.

“All three of the women I’ve been lucky to play on that show, they don’t go far. They are wild and specific creations born out of Ryan’s brain. But they’re all still right near by, and I still do think about them all the time,” the actress said, adding, “That habit was the same one. Lou, the costume designer, was like, ‘It’s the one! The one you wore all the time!’ So that was pretty great.”

Though she’s no longer a regular on American Horror Story, Rabe still closely follows the show. A couple episodes behind on the current season, she’s named Evan Peters and his character Jimmy the “Lobster Boy” as her favorite to watch. And she, like many fans, is hopeful that Murphy will continue to interweave the characters from past seasons – like Sister Mary Eunice – into future seasons of the anthology series. Rabe would also be more than willing to return again to American Horror Story herself.

American Horror Story: Freak Show returns to FX Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 10/9c.