'American Horror Story: Hotel' Cast: Season 5 May Start Over Fresh Without Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates & More [VIDEO]
FX's American Horror Story might just be starting over fresh with a new cast for season 5, subtitled Hotel.
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For four years now, American Horror Story has used many of the same actors for each of their installments, Murder House, Asylum, Coven and Freak Show. Stars like Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe and Frances Conroy have been in each season, while others like Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett have joined the expanding troupe as well.
But as it stands now, none of these stars have officially been announced as returning for American Horror Story: Hotel, which is slated to air this fall. Lange already announced that she was leaving the franchise, but even Paulson, Peters and Conroy have not confirmed if they are returning.
'American Horror Story' Cast Talks Who They Want To Play In 'Hotel'
Instead, we have five new stars who have not had starring roles before on American Horror Story slated to take on roles in Hotel. These include Lady Gaga, Matt Bomer, Cheyenne Jackson, Wes Bentley and Chloë Sevigny. While Bomer, Bentley and Sevigny have guest starred on the show before, this will be their first leading roles in the series.
This big casting change was actually previewed by FX president John Landgraf at a TV Critics Association panel in January.
"One of the things I love so much about that is that it can be radically, radically reinvented in terms of tone, setting, period, characters, cast." Landgraf said at the time. "I think there's going to be an unusually large reinvention in between Book 4 and Book 5 relative to, say, between Book 3 [Coven] and 4 [Freak Show]."
While some believed he was talking about the show's plot, this also seems reflective in the cast now. Though it is still possible that Paulson, Peters, Bates and other stars will still return, all of this new casting suggests that they may be going for new blood over old favorites for Hotel.
More cast announcements will likely be revealed in the weeks and months to come.
American Horror Story: Hotel is expected to begin in October on FX.