Checking in for a stay at the weary old Hotel Cortez? You’ll need to get past Lady Gaga’s delightfully evil owner, The Countess. In the latest image for FX’s upcoming American Horror Story: Hotel (via Entertainment Weekly), the singer-songstress takes center stage as the seductive bloodsucker, who is essentially a vampire in all but name.
Fresh off yesterday’s TV clip that placed Gaga front and center, today’s image is our best look at the machiavellian character to date, as she lays eyes on what is likely to be her first victim and/or resident. In tandem with the still hitting the interwebs, Gaga touched upon the nature of The Countess ahead of Hotel‘s premiere next month, a persona she describes as a damaged soul.
“The Countess is a very old soul,” Gaga tells EW. “She’s extremely strong. She’s been through so much. It’s kind of impossible for anything to penetrate her. This show in many ways is about her survival and there is an amazing journey that touches on the mythology of viruses and in what way these afflictions change our lives and bring us together and tear us apart.”
It aligns with what series creator and showrunner Ryan Murphy had to say about The Countess, touting that Gaga’s character has succumbed to an “ancient blood curse” that all but cements her fondness for juicy veins. While she’s not strictly speaking the lead antagonist of American Horror Story: Hotel, Gaga’s addition is certainly one to spice up the ensemble cast – one rounded out by Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Wes Bentley, Matt Bomer, Chloë Sevigny, Denis O’Hare, Cheyenne Jackson, Evan Peters and Finn Wittrock.
American Horror Story: Hotel will return for a 13-episode run on October 7.