With Lady Gaga signing on in the new season of ‘American Horror Story: Hotel’, fans may not have been expecting a “nontraditional” decision; however, the cast members of the hit horror anthology were not too surprised.

Last Thursday night, the cast and crew of the series graced the For Your Consideration panel with their presence. When asked why casting had been quite unusual for the next season, Kathy Bates was quick to defend the show’s decisions, saying: “Are you out of your mind? It’s perfect casting for this show!”

Bates was joined by cast members Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Angela Bassett, Finn Wittrock, Denis O’ Hare and John Carroll Lynch alongside executive producer Tim Minear.

When asked about the experiences in coming up with a new character in every season, Lange, who is exiting the series after four season, had nothing but positive words for such approach. The award-winning actress shared her love for the idea of having a wide range of characters.

“It was exciting because you come and you’d be playing with the same actors, actors that you really love and have deep respect for, and you know their rhythm and you know how you work together and everything, but you’re both in different skins,” Lange explained.

Bates also called it an honor to be working with actors who are capable of dealing with the challenge. O’ Hare, who appeared in ‘Murder House’, ‘Coven’ and ‘Freak Show’, also shared how the anthology’s seasons are somehow intertwined with each other.

“It also set up a weird sort of multiseasonal theme,” the former ‘True Blood’ actor said. “…It’s a crazy thing that you can get an echo of a past season because of those sort of relationship themes. That’s a really complicated thing that’s only possible to do in this kind of form.”

As an audience member pointed out that the cast may not exactly know how their characters will end up in the story, Lynch went on to draw attention to the concept of trust.

“There’s another level of trust,” the 51-year-old actor said. “You jump in and go, ‘Okay, I’m just going to trust that you’re going to take me to a place that’s going to make all of this make sense.’”

Aside from Lady Gaga, the new season of ‘American Horror Story’ will also co-star newcomers Matt Bomer, Cheyenne Jackson, and Wes Bentley.

The fifth season, ‘Hotel’, is set for a premiere in October.