Lots of info about the new season released today:
The Countess (Lady Gaga)
The owner of the Hotel Cortez, The Countess is a glamorous but deadly creature who sustains on a healthy diet of sex and blood — she kills with her very sharp chainmail glove. co-creator Ryan Murphy tells EW. “It’s not vampires.” He adds, “It’s really a form of hemophilia in a way. There’s no capes and fangs.” Lady Gaga’s character, The Countess, is afflicted with this virus as are her lovers, Donovan (Matt Bomer) and Tristan (Finn Wittrock), which causes the infected to crave human blood.
Donovan (Matt Bomer)
Gaga’s lover of 20 years finds himself rebuffed when she meets similarly handsome male model Tristan. Says Bomer, “He’s very interested in hunkering down and having her to himself, and that doesn’t go over so well with her limitless hunger.”
John Lowe (Wes Bentley)
This LAPD detective moves into the Cortez in order to investigate a series of murders perpetrated by the Ten Commandments Killer, who arranges vicitms according to the biblical dictates. His family, including pediatrician wife Alex (Chloe Sevigny), get sucked into the Cortez’ darkness. “He has a family he loves very much but that is sort of falling apart,” says Bentley. “He struggles with a lot of things. It’s clear most of what John struggles with is control.”
Ramona Royale (Angela Bassett)
A film star who used to have a romantic relationship with The Countess, Ramona teams up with Donovan to take revenge on The Countess. Says Bassett, “They are powerful women at opposite sides and at odds with one another, each believing that they’re right.”
Claudia (Naomi Campbell)
Campbell plays a Vogue editor who decides to stay at the Cortez and ends up regretting it after crossing The Countess.
Iris (Kathy Bates)
Donovan’s mother works as the hotel desk clerk so she can see her son on a daily basis, even though he deplores her. Says Bates, “Iris is overprotective with a capital O, especially now since her son is ill. She wants to be there every day to make sure he’s all right, and she’s very controlling that way.”
Tristan (Finn Wittrock)
This male model catches the eye of The Countess at a fashion show at the Cortez. “He’s got an addictive personality,” says Wittrock. “I think he’s hypersexual also. It makes him a prime candidate for the Countess’ charms and he is very willingly seduced and then turned by her.”
James March (Evan Peters)
Like other seasons, AHS: Hotel’s time-frame bounces around, including flashbacks to the murderous Mr. March. “He’s the builder and owner of the hotel from the 1930s, and he is unique,” says Peters. “He’s designed a hotel to cater to his specific needs, which tend toward the dark evil.” The beautiful art-deco hotel is, in actuality, a labyrinthine structure built to hide March’s murderous activities (think dead ends, secret rooms, endless shafts).
Gabriel (Max Greenfield)
The New Girl star plays an addict who checks into the Cortez and has an unforgettable experience. “He’s a Hollywood junkie,” says Greenfield.
Hypodermic Sally (Sarah Paulson)
Another junkie who lives at the Cortez, Sally is one of the more tragic figures found in the halls of the hotel. "She's the baddest bad girl of them all", teases Co-Creator Ryan Murphy.
Marcy (Christine Estabrook)
The annoying realtor who sold the Harmons family their haunted home, appears in Hotel! Naturally, she’s the real estate agent for the similarly horrific Hotel Cortez. In the image above from AHS: Hotel, she shows the property to fashion designer Will Drake (Cheyenne Jackson) and his son. “We do go to the Murder House for one episode,” teases co-creator Ryan Murphy of season 1’s ghost-filled abode.
Lily Rabe will play real life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the two-part Halloween episode.
In addition to the Ten Commandments Killer the season will also feature a creature called The Addiction Demon, a faceless entity who murders people with a drillbit dildo, and can be seen below in the teaser for the season.