AMERICAN HORROR STORY: Ryan Murphy and the Cast Preview HOTEL

The AMERICAN HORROR STORY franchise traditionally has a great amount of secrecy pre-premiere, but at the show’s Television Critics Association panel for HOTEL, co-creator Ryan Murphy shared new details about what to expect from the show’s fifth installment.

“It’s set in a hotel…it’s set in Los Angeles, which the first season was as well,” Murphy told reporters. “And what I’ve loved about this season is the hotel is set in Downtown Los Angeles, so we really deal with a lot of the American horrors, which is addiction…and on and on. And we were really inspired by the idea of a hotel; there was a surveillance video that went around two years ago that just showed a girl getting into an elevator in a downtown hotel that is rumored to be haunted, and she was never seen again. So that was around two years ago we started thinking of this idea.”

Additionally, each cast member shared a tidbit about their character…

Sarah Paulson: “I play Sally. I live at the hotel. I hate Iris in a rather ancient way, for reasons that are revealed quickly. I have a kind of budding something with Wes’s character, sort of dark.

My character is quite dark. I think she’s sexy. She’s a drug addict. And not that drug addicts are sexy…but this girl happens to be quite sexy. Not because I’m sexy. She’s got a thing, you know. I should just stop talking, be quiet. Yeah, she’s unlike anything I’ve ever done on the show, really unlike anything I’ve ever done anywhere, which is often the case when you find yourself on the show.”

Finn Wittrock: “I’m playing a male model named Tristan Duffy, who is sort of always looking for the next high. And I, of course sort of find the biggest high in Lady Gaga. And, yeah and…we have a lot to do together. She sees all of me. ”

Cheyenne Jackson: “I’m playing Will Drake, fashion icon. He needs he’s trying to creatively reestablish himself, so he moves from New York to Los Angeles. [He’s a] father, and a little desperate.”

Denis O’Hare: “I am playing Liz Taylor, movie icon. I’m not actually playing Elizabeth Taylor, but I’m playing a person who is inspired by the awesomeness of things like “BUtterfield 8” and “Cleopatra,” and eye makeup like that. And I shaved my head for the part and other body parts. And I work in the hotel, and I work with Kathy [Bates], and I work in the bar, which is fantastic. It’s called The Blue Parrot Lounge. It’s an extraordinary part of our set. And we even have our own homemade coasters that have the Hotel Cortez emblem on them, and they’re gorgeous, and I’ve already stolen two.”

Chloe Sevigny: “I play Alex Lowe, and I am the wife of Wes Bentley[‘s character, John], and a mother, and a doctor, and I’m dealing with a great loss we had in our family, and coming to grips with that, amongst other things.”

Matt Bomer: “I play Donovan, who is a denizen of the Hotel Cortez, closely associated with Ms. Gaga and Ms. Bates, and Mr. Wittrock, amongst others. And he has very interesting relationships with the lady folk in his life. I’ll just leave it at that.”

Wes Bentley: “I play Detective John Lowe, married to Alex, Chloe’s character. Like she said, we had a great loss in the family. I’m investigating some grizzly murders, which somehow leads me to check into the hotel.”

Angela Bassett: “I play Ramona Royale, and I am sexy as well, yet not in a drug addicty kind of way. And I have a very strong, real lasting relationship with [Lady Gaga]’s character, so I’m sure I’ll be at odds with you down there, Donovan, who gets the girl. And my character is also this fabulous, you know, actress of the day. I don’t live at the hotel, but I visit very often.”

Kathy Bates: “I play Iris. I also am very, very sexy. What else? I run the hotel. I have relationships with Matt Bomer and with Wes. And I can’t stand [Paulson’s character]. I hate you…And I don’t know yet if I get to work with Angela. I hope, I hope, I hope I do…Oh, Liz Taylor and I have a very, very close relationship, and I do crossword puzzles in my spare time.”

And as for Lady Gaga’s character, Murphy teased, “Her character name is Elizabeth. She owns the hotel, and she is sort of a very wealthy social doyen, who is consumed with art and fashion and people, and she has a nefarious plan that is revealed in the first episode that plays out over the course of the season. She starts shooting on Monday.”

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AMERICAN HORROR STORY: HOTEL premieres Wednesday October 7th at 10 PM.

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