American Horror Story is all set to roll out its fifth incarnation for FX – dubbed American Horror Story: Hotel – on Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 10pm. And although this will be the first AHS season that won’t feature Jessica Lange as a major fixture on the series, there will be a lot of other familiar faces on the show, including newbies Lady Gaga, Cheyenne Jackson, Naomi Campbell and Max Greenfield.
But that’s not all.
This season’s storyline will revolve around murders tied to the mysterious Hotel Cortez. And there will be lots of familiar faces from past seasons showing up again – 13 of them, in fact. They’ll be playing new characters or, in some cases, they’ll be reprising roles from the past. Here’s a quick rundown …
- Christine Estabrook She played Marcy, the real-estate agent who sold the Murder House to the Harmons (Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton) in the first season of AHS. Marcy also sold the house to a new family after the Harmons died. So, guess what? Both Marcy and the Murder House are set to reappear this season.
- Kathy Bates This is the third ride on the AHS merry-go-round for Bates. She played Madame Delphine LaLaurie in American Horror Story: Coven and Ethel Darling in American Horror Story: Freak Show. Now, she’ll take on the role of Iris, the manager of the Hotel Cortez.
- Sarah Paulson Paulson has been in every season of AHS, playing everything from a journalist on AHS: Asylum to conjoined twins on AHS: Freak Show. This time around, Paulson will take on the role of Hypodermic Sally, a drug addict who becomes quite a pain for Iris.
- Evan Peters Another steady fixture of every AHS season, Peters dons the role of James March, who was the founder and original owner of the Hotel Cortez back in the 1930s.
- Lily Rabe Rabe has also been in each season of AHS. This time, she plays Aileen Wuomos, a character based on a real-life serial killer of the same name.
- Wes Bentley He was Edward Mordrake in Freak Show. Now, he’ll take on the core role of John Lowe, the detective investigating a series of horrific murders in Los Angeles that have happened at the hands of someone called the Ten Commandments Killer.
- Denis O’Hare O’Hare was in the first (Murder House) season, as well as in the third (Coven) and fourth (Freak Show) seasons. In this instalment, O’Hare plays a bar worker who is a cross-dresser. His name: Liz Taylor.
- Emma Roberts This will be Roberts’ third go-around on AHS. And no matter what role she dons, she is a welcome contributor. This time, though, she’ll be dividing her time and talents between this show and executive producer Ryan Murphy’s other series, Scream Queens, over on FOX.
- Angela Bassett Bassett’s third crack at AHS (along with Coven and Freak Show) will cast her as Ramona Royale, an actress who, in turns out, was a former lover of The Countess (Lady Gaga), who owns the Hotel Cortez.
- Chloë Sevigny She played Shelley, the inmate who was committed by her husband after being accused of nymphomania, in Asylum. This time around, she plays Dr. Alex Lowe, a pediatrician who is also the wife of detective John Lowe.
- Finn Wittrock This marks Wittrock’s sophomore season on AHS. He played Dandy Mott on Freak Show. This time, he plays Tristan Duffy, a male model who, it turns out, has a hefty sex drive.
- Mare Winningham This will be Winningham’s third stint with AHS. She’ll show up as the woman who was the laundress of the Hotel Cortez back in the 1930s.
- Matt Bomer He had a relatively minor role as Andy, the hustler working in a gay bar, on Freak Show. This time around, Bomer plays Donovan, who lives at the Hotel Cortez and is the son of hotel manager Iris.
I am a big fan of the American Horror Stories!