Part of Lady Gaga's appeal is her tendency toward hyperbole, and she didn't disappoint on that front in her new interview with EW, which has unveiled the first official look at her “American Horror Story: Hotel” character the Countess (which, if you consider some of the costumes she's worn previously, actually ranks pretty far down the list of Mother Monster's most terrifying getups.) I've embedded the image below.
“I”ve just been weeping while I”m here because I have returned to something I”ve believed in so much, which is the art of darkness,” Gaga told EW. “It”s not something that everyone understands, but, for the people that do – 'Horror Story' fans, my fans – there is a true connection between us, and it”s a language within itself.”
As EW notes, over the last couple of years Gaga has been putting forth a more subdued image. As opposed to the baroque eccentric we came to know and love early in her career, more recently the mega-talented superstar put out an album of standards alongside Tony Bennett and performed a showstopping “Sound of Music” tribute at this year's Oscars, both of which saw the emergence of a more classically glamorous Mother Monster.
As for her “AHS” character, the Countess is described as “a glamorous socialite who attends art openings and fashion shows and maintains her looks not from a steady diet of kale but from imbibing human blood.” Series creator Ryan Murphy stops short of calling her a vampire, however: “I prefer the term ‘ancient blood virus,'” he told EW. “It”s really a form of hemophilia, in a way.”
The article goes on to note that the character is “insatiable when it comes to love and sex, which sets up a macabre love triangle between her, the similarly blood-hungry Donovan (Matt Bomer) and the newly turned male model Tristan (Finn Wittrock).”
I am weeping. All over my keyboard.
Check out the EW cover and two more images below, as well as some of Gaga's most terrifying pre-“AHS” looks further down the page.
“American Horror Story: Hotel” premieres October 7 on FX.
Photo Credit: Michael Avedon/EW
Photo Credit: Suzanne Tenner/FX
Photo Credit: Suzanne Tenner/FX