Checking in! The cast of American Horror Story: Hotel was finally able to reveal intel on the new characters they’re playing in the fifth season of the hit FX horror anthology.
Creator Ryan Murphy is notoriously tight-lipped about each season of his award-winning series, but allowed the cast — gathered to speak in front of reporters at the show’s Television Critics Association panel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Aug. 7 — to spill select details about who they’re playing and who they’re working with.
Murphy said he was inspired to touch upon the hotel theme after watching a surveillance video two years ago that saw a woman step into a hotel elevator, never to be seen again.
Below, read on for what the actors teased about their brand-new characters.
Finn Wittrock
“I’m playing a male model named Tristan Duffy, who’s always looking for the next high and finds the biggest high in Lady Gaga. We have a lot to do together. She sees all of me.”
Cheyenne Jackson
“I’m playing Will Drake, fashion icon,” the Broadway star revealed. “He’s trying to creatively reestablish himself, so he moves from New York to Los Angeles. [He’s a] little desperate.”
Denis O’Hare
“I’m playing Liz Taylor, movie icon,” O’Hare joked. “I’m not actually playing Elizabeth Taylor, but I’m playing a person who is inspired by the awesomeness of [her films]. I shaved my head for the part — and other body parts.” Elizabeth Taylor — yes, that is the character’s name — works with Kathy Bates’ character at the hotel’s bar, the Blue Parrot Lounge.
Chloe Sevigny
“I play Alex Lowe, I’m the wife of Wes Bentley and a mother and a doctor, dealing with a great loss we suffered in our family, coming to grips with that, among other things.”
Matt Bomer
“I play Donovan, who is a denizen of the Hotel Cortez who is closely associated with Ms. Gaga and Ms. Bates and Mr. Wittrock, amongst others. He has a great association with the ladyfolk in his life, I’ll just leave it at that.”
Wes Bentley
“I play Det. John Lowe, married to Alex. We had a great loss in the family. [I’m] investigating some grisly murders, which somehow leads me to checking into the hotel.”
Kathy Bates
“I play Iris. I run the hotel,” the AHS alum said. “I have relationships with Matt Bomer and with Wes and I can’t stand [Sarah Paulson], I hate [her]. Oh, Liz Taylor and I have a very close relationship and I do crossword puzzles in my spare time.”
Sarah Paulson
“My character this year is quite dark,” Paulson said. “I think she’s sexy. She’s a drug addict — not that drug addicts are sexy, but this girl happens to be quite sexy — not because I’m sexy! She’s got a thing. I should just stop talking!”
More specifically, “I play Sally. I live in the hotel. I hate Iris in a very ancient way,” she said. “I have a budding something with Wes’s character.”
Angela Bassett
“I’m playing Ramona Royale and I’m sexy as well,” she teased. “I have a very strong, real, lasting relationship with Stefani’s [aka Gaga’s] character so I’m sure I’ll be at odds with your character, Donovan,” Bassett told Wittrock. Ramona is a “fabulous actress of the day. I don’t live at the hotel, but I visit very often.”
Lady Gaga
Although Gaga was not present on the panel, Murphy revealed several new tidbits about who she’ll be playing when she arrives to set on Monday, Aug. 10. “Her character name is Elizabeth. She owns the hotel, and she is sort of a very wealthy social doyenne who is consumed with art and fashion and people,” he spilled. “She has a nefarious plan that is revealed in the first episode.”
American Horror Story: Hotel will debut Oct. 7 on FX.
Tell Us: Are you even more intrigued about the newest season of AHS?
