Lady Gaga makes TV debut on American Horror Story: Hotel

Lady Gaga stars as The Countess in American Horror Story: Hotel.

With resident Grand Dame Jessica Lange out of the picture for the first time since the series began, anthology hit American Horror Story had a big diva-shaped hole to fill this year. Enter Lady Gaga, a fan of the show who has stepped up to play a character with a predilection for human blood - just don't call her a vampire.

American Horror Story has always prided itself on becoming something entirely new with every season, and though that's very much the case with this year's temporary accommodation-centric series, co-creator Ryan Murphy says AHS: Hotel will recall the show's beginning.

"The season we're doing this year harks back to the first season, which is much more rooted in honest kinds of fears." Murphy says. "The interesting thing for me about the show is it's almost a personality test when people come up and tell me what their favourite season or character is. And it's always is different and it changes every year."

One thing that doesn't change a lot is the cast. Although certain players come and go, Murphy has been focused on a core company of actors for several years now.

"I feel pressure for this incredibly talented cast to give them something different, something that is challenging to them." says Murphy. "One thing I do with the cast every year is ask them 'What have you always wanted to do? What have you always wanted to play?' So this is a cast that's very involved in a lot of those decisions."

That said, it wasn't Sarah Paulson's idea to play conjoined twins Bette and Dot Tattler in last year's series, Freak Show, but she stepped-up, big time. Could anything top playing a two-headed character?

"This is less intense," says Paulson. "Anything might be a little less intense than that. It was physically very demanding having those two heads. My character this year is quite dark, she's sexy. She's a drug addict and... Not that drug addicts are sexy. This girl just happens to be quite sexy. Not to say that I'm sexy. She's unlike anything I've ever done on the show. She's unlike anything I've ever done anywhere. I'm vile. I'm a nasty gal."

But of course the big talking point for this season has been the involvement of a certain pop star whose bold aesthetic correlates beautifully with the baroque viscera of American Horror Story. What can Gaga's legion of Little Monsters expect to see from her?

"Her character's name is Elizabeth," says Murphy. "She owns the hotel. She's sort of a very wealthy social doyenne who is consumed with art and fashion and people. She has nefarious plans, revealed in the first episode, which play out over the course of the season."

When: 9.30pm, Thursdays
Where: SoHo
What: Going Gaga