Pop superstar Lady Gaga will play a wealthy, fashionable hotelier with a "nefarious plan" when she makes her television series debut in a leading role in American Horror Story: Hotel, the show's creator has revealed.
The singer will appear in the fifth season of the award-winning horror anthology, which sees a recurring cast of actors take on different roles in different stories in each season.
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, has made big screen appearances in Machete Kills and Sin City: A Dame To Kill For but this will be her first leading role in such a critically acclaimed series.
Ryan Murphy, the co-creator of the series, told the Television Critics Association in Beverly Hills, California that she will take on the role of hotel owner Elizabeth.
He said: "Elizabeth is a very wealthy social doyenne who is consumed with art and fashion and people and she has a nefarious plan that is revealed in the first episode and plays out over the course of the season."
The series will see the return of Kathy Bates, Sarah Paulson and Angela Bassett, as well as Chloe Sevigny, who appeared in the second season, and Magic Mike star Matt Bomer.
Paulson has been nominated for three Emmys for her various roles in the anthology, which has so far been set in a haunted house, a witch's coven, an asylum and a freak show.
She said: "In the first season I only did three episodes but I didn't know that I was going to get to play all these parts. It has been one of the most thrilling things in the world to come to your trailer every year and have an entirely new wardrobe and a new look."
Bates, who has been nominated for two Emmys and a Golden Globe for the show, said: "I had no idea what to expect but the experience of being on the show was totally new for me and one of the most exciting things is seeing it all put together and realising what other people have been doing.
"We all want to play different characters so to know you will have a wonderful character to play each time is incredible, even if you don't know what it is."
Plot details are closely guarded secrets but actors revealed for the first time details about their characters at the bi-annual event for television critics.
Paulson said: "My character is quite dark and sexy. She's a drug addict, not that drug addicts are sexy but this girl happens to be quite sexy. She's unlike anything I've done on the show or anywhere, which is often the case."
Bassett added that she will play an actress called Ramona Royale, while Bates will plays hotel manager Iris.
Series regular Denis O'Hare is playing a character named Elizabeth Taylor, who is fascinated with the movie icon.
"I'm not actually playing the person but someone inspired by her awesomeness in movies like Cleopatra. I shaved my head, and other body parts, for the part."
:: American Horror Story: Hotel is expected to air on Fox in the UK in November.