Matt Bomer Joins Lady Gaga for American Horror Story: Hotel; Jessica Lange Confirms She’s Officially ‘Done’
Matt Bomer is checking into American Horror Story: Hotel, while franchise frontwoman Jessica Lange is officially out.
White Collar alum Bomer has been tapped to star opposite Lady Gaga in the latest installment of the anthology series, it was announced Sunday at the FX hit’s PaleyFest panel.
Additionally, Cheyenne Jackson (30 Rock, Glee) has also joined the Hotel ensemble. There’s no word on the characters Bomer and Jackson will be playing.
Also during the PaleyFest panel, Lange confirmed her decision to not partake in the fifth season, telling the crowd, “Yes, I’m done.” She added: “We’ve had a great run here. I mean, I absolutely loved doing these four characters” in the original/Murder House, Asylum, Coven and Freak Show editions.
Bomer’s Hotel stay brings him back into the Horror Story fold following his guest stint in last season’s Freak Show. It also extends his working relationship with AHS exec producer Ryan Murphy; the pair’s past collaborations also include The Normal Heart, Glee and The New Normal.
AHS: Hotel begins production this summer.
OMG!!!!
damn, now i’ll have to watch
I love this show! Can’t wait!
BEST NEWS EVER!!!!!!!! Really missed him since White Collar ended. Hope it’s for more than one episode this time. Just got that much more excited for the upcoming season. :)
I was hoping the exact same thing! :-D
refreshing to see new faces. i love sarah paulson and jessica lange but I’m starting to get tired of seeing them play characters who pretty much have the same intentions as the ones they played before.
I agree. I think that Jessica Lange is one of the finest actresses out there but it seemed that the only difference between some of her characters was the accent. She actually made some of the characters much more nuanced than they were written because she is such a brilliant actress but a woman can only do so much.
Fresh blood, especially the fresh blood of Bomer, should infuse the show with some needed new energy. I just hope that Lady Gaga doesn’t eff it all up.
Gaga is gonna be terrific.
I’m sorry to hear Matt Bomer has sunk to the depths of AHS, the most disturbing show on television. I’ve never watched the show and I won’t now even with Bomer.
American “HORROR” Story. It’s supposed to be disturbing.
Your loss.
I’ve always thought that Two and a Half Men was the most disturbing show on television.
….and I though it was C-Span
Nope. It has to be that Honey Boo-Boo family. :-p
So, you have never watched the show, and yet you think its the most disturbing show on television?
All rightee, then. That makes sense. Really.
I find it disturbing too? But only because Murphy is a terrible writer with a limited bag of tricks.
This! The actors elevate the mediocre material. If the script were in lesser thespian hands, the seasons would have been far less tolerable. The thing I hate about Ryan Murphy is his ability to suck you in with a great concept and strong initial season or two before it all goes to hell and you are left watching either out of habit or hoping that things will turn around(even though logic and experience tell you things will only get worse).
Whitewuaithe, criticizing a show you’ve never seen – seems like the intelligent adult thing to do. SMDH.
I have never watched this show. Not even a preview of it. BUT, I might have to tune in at least once, just to see how they handle Matt Bomer’s personality in conjunction with a HORROR story…He played Neal Caffrey so perfectly and with such natural good humor that I am curious about what kind of character they will have him portray…unless all that good humor was just really excellent acting…I am curious how adorable dimples fit into a horror story.
I’ve never watched AHS either although my nieces are huge fans. Like you, however, Matt Bomer may be enough of a reason to check it out, especially if it’s a fairly substantial role. While I admit it would be strange seeing the actor I loved as Neal Caffrey play a horror villain, I have no doubt he can pull it off. Of course, Ryan Murphy might cast him as the hero but that usually isn’t how he works. He tends to like to turn certain conceptions on their head. TBH, I’ve never gotten into any of Ryan Murphy’s shows but I appreciate the fact that he seems to have established his own repertory of actors that he works with again and again. The fact that said actors come back to work with him says a lot as well.
Who says Bomer will be playing a villain? There is no word on his character yet.
True, but like I said, Ryan Murphy seems to like to take viewers’ perceptions of actors and turn them on their head so it wouldn’t surprise me if he was cast as the villain. And even if he was cast as the hero, so to speak, he would probably be a somewhat twisted hero. Again, I’ve only seen a handful of his shows but aside from a few exceptions, his characters always seem a little… off to me. Not that there’s anything wrong with that but I’m pretty sure we won’t be getting Matt Bomer as we’ve seen him before. And that can be a good thing, especially for the actor. Either way, I will probably check it out.
Bomer, Jackson, and Gaga!? Is this hotel set in Fire Island?
BRB, imagining this campy scenario.
And CHER will also be in it!!!
I am very excited by this news. I think it’s crucial for the show to switch things up at this point. Even though everyone seemed to hate Freak Show, it was personally my favorite season. However, I did get the feeling that a lot of it felt like fan service from season 3. Essentially the entire cast returned (with the all-star cast they have, that’s not necessarily a bad thing), it was shot very similarly (again, not a bad thing), and had a lot of the same sort of writing style as the third season. This didn’t make the season bad (as I stated before, it was my favorite), but I did feel like it shared too much with season 3 (my least favorite season), which left me with a bad taste in my mouth. For a show like this to work, things need to drastically change each season, and the casting and theming so far indicates that this is very much the case for this season. I am so very excited for one of my favorite shows to come back, and this news just makes me anticipate it even more :)
Crap now I have to find time to watch this show
I really, really hope Finn Wittrock will be in this cast, also. He made Dandy the best part of Freak Show, IMHO.
I couldn’t agree more. Dandy was awesome!!!! Now every time I see Finn Whittcock in anything I always yell “Dandy”, LOL.
Did you ever see Normal Heart on HBO? He gave a heartbreaking performance (actually everyone involved with NH was superb). It was the first time I noticed him and then he showed up on AHS.
Yep, I watched it three times :-)
I am going to miss Jessica! Loved her characters!!
Going to miss Jessica Lang, she was totally AMAZING in all the characters she played, I really liked her in the very first show aired. She was AWESOME!!!!
No!! I’ll miss Lange… Wish she would’ve done a small role at least
So happy about this! Love Matt and Gaga! Really looking forward to this.
Ryan Murphy always takes care of the people he works with and keeps bringing them back for other roles.
I’ll miss Jessica terribly. It just won’t be the same without her. My hope is that they can lure her back when they reach the final season. We know all the seasons are connected, so it wouldn’t be right to end it without her.
Anyone hope Ryan Murphy adds Jessalyn Gilsig to this cast? He used her on both Nip Tuck and Glee. Would love to see her iN AHS.
She’d be fun. I think Anjelica Huston would be an interesting choice as well.
I thought about the following actresses: Glenn Close, Annette Benning or Michelle Pfeiffer. I know Glenn and Annette would knock it out of the park but I thought it would be great to see Michelle out of her comfort zone. I think she would surprise everyone and that is a good thing.
Id enjoy all three of these actresses.
Glenn Close would be amazing. Watching her freakouts in Damages alone were terrifying sometimes.
I’m all for a complete shake-up of the cast. I enjoyed a lot of them, but this type show has the luxury to make large cast changes and they should take advantage of it to keep things fresh. Of course I’d still love to see Sarah Paulson, Frances Conroy and Finn Wittrock and a few others in some capacity but I could do without a lot of them, Emma Roberts and Taissa Farmiga especially.
I would love to see Michelle Pfeiffer!
She’s on The Vikings now, I think.
Spoiler : maybe. She is no longer currently apart of Vikings.
LOL, yeah I was gonna reply but figured I’d just get into trouble :-)
Ryan Murphy should add Linda Gray to the cast. She would be perfect in the AHS series.
That would be very cool.
Best cast ever.
I am very happy that Matt Bomer going to join the cast of American Horror Story! season 5 should be quite interesting. Along with Lady Gaga as well!
what about the rest of the cast? are any of them returning?
Since they started the whole “seasons are connected” thing, I’m guessing they could have Frances Conroy or Alexandra Breckenridge play Moira again as a hotel maid.
I’m good with this news. LOVE the very talented Matt Bomer, and curious to see Lady Gaga. Loved her performance at the Oscars, really showcased her talent. Hopefully Bomer’s character will have a better fate than his character in Freak Show did. Wish Ryan Murphy would have Matt Bomer and LG sing in the series, both being wonderful singers.
Please, no. No more singing on AHS!
I’d be stunned if she wasn’t a lounge singer. Sorry.
I’m perfectly fine with Jessica Lange moving on. Hopefully the new actors will help with the creativity of the new season. I am fully confident in Lady Gaga and Matt Bomer carrying the season.
With ryan murphyit is always jobs for his boys
Like many directors, to be fair.
No Lange + Adding Gaga is reason enough to check out of AHS: Hotel. I might be swayed if Lily Rabe were to return.
I’ll be checking into AHS Hotel.
I think it’s time for a new lead ,love love love what Jessica Lange has brought to the show for 4 season but I’m looking forward to Gaga and Bomer.
I do hope some of the other regular players return like Evan Peters, Denis O’Hare ,Sarah Paulson , Lily Rabe ,Emma Roberts and Taissa Farmiga.