Ryan Murphy says Lady Gaga's character on American Horror Story: Hotel "will give you nightmares." The Emmy-winning writer couldn't stop gushing over the new star of his show during an interview with E! Online, saying that Gaga "the best, most fun, most joyful person." Check out our favorite excerpts from the interview and head over to E! to read the whole story.
On casting Gaga for the next season:
I always want to work with her on everything. I do know what the next season is, and I've started to talk to people. I always have to know by October 1 what the next season is to make it work. It's a very labor intensive thing.
On whether Jessica Lange will return to the show:
I would love for her to come back in any way. We talked about her coming back this season for Hotel. She's getting ready to do that play that I got for her. I'm going to see her this weekend and whisper little, devious things. I love her. But I think that I'll always work with her, so I don't ever worry about that.
On working with Lady Gaga on the set:
I've met and worked with a lot of great people, legends, on and on and on. She was somebody I was very intimidated by and I thought, 'Oh, Lady Gaga. The mystery, the mystique.' I really thought there was a [Greta] Garbo element to her of elusiveness and mystery. What I have found is she is just the best, most fun, most joyful person. Like, you would be stunned. She is so funny and she is down to Earth, and she comes into the set and the crew adores her. The other actors love her. She's funny and she's super professional. If she has a scene to shoot, she's up at the crack of dawn not just working on the look of it, but the acting of it. She's so committed, and yet she's so funny. She's the biggest perfectionist, which I have loved. She's just such a treat and such a joy and she laughs all day long and the people she works with are all so great. She's a true star.
On fans' reaction to Gaga on screen:
When you see that first episode when she comes on the screen, you're like, 'Holy s--t.' She has this incredible, magnetic thing that you can't create. You either have it or you don't. And she has it.
On Gaga's bloody pool party:
Well, that was crazy. Most people have you over for cocktail weenies and maybe a Blue Ribbon. She did all that in one day so we all showed up. It was one of her first weeks of filming and she said, 'Hey, why don't you guys come over to our house?' That was Friday at noon. So Saturday we show up and she has banquets and a rose wall, and it was Angela Basset's birthday weekend and she had a special cake with the Countess killing her character in the cake. The pool was red, it was just so much fun. That's what I mean when I talk about it. She's just a larger than life person and she does everything with so much love and she's in it to win it. She's an extraordinary person. I do think she's one of the world's most talented people. There's always great care and thought into anything and the fact that she could whip that up in two days is a testament to her magical, witchy powers. She's just so fun.
On their dinner with John Travolta and Barbra Streisand:
One day John Travolta said 'I want to meet Lady Gaga,' and I said OK. So I bring him over to her. And she's naked covered in blood. Doing a sex scene. And it was like, 'Oh, maybe it's not the right day for this.' And he was standing behind the monitor like cheering her on, and she was like, so thrilled the first time meeting John Travolta. So I ushered them off into a room. Where I was very proud they got to meet each other. And I said you know Gaga, Barbra Streisand is such a huge fan of yours, because she thinks you're so fearless and that brought tears to her eyes. And he knew about my ongoing obsession with Barbra Streisand so he said we should all get together. So the next day the phone rang and it was John's people saying how's dinner this Saturday at Barbra's house. So Gaga and I said you've got to be kidding me. So we both instantly said yes, and we showed up and it was like like a five-hour fever dream of what you would want at Barbara Streisand's house. We got the tour of the underground mall, and we got to see the costumes and...What I loved about it was their admiration for her and her admiration for them, and I was just watching. I was proud of her. And Gaga dressed up for the dinner. She was wearing a see through crocheted dress for dinner, I believe. Gaga made an entrance at Barbra Streisand's house that was pretty astounding.
American Horror Story: Hotel debuts on October 7th on FX.