Kathy Bates is joining the American Horror Story cast at the request of Jessica Lange, star of the first two seasons of the Emmy-winning FX show.  

Kathy Bates is making her return to the horror genre with her new role on American Horror Story, after starring in the hit Stephen King movie adaptation Misery with Robert Duvall.

Bates won the Oscar for Best Actress in 1990 for her performance in Misery as nurse Annie.

Kathy Bates will play Jessica Lange's worst enemy and former friend in the third season.

American Horror Story co-creator Ryan Murphy told TVLine that "[Kathy Bates has] never played someone this bad."

Murphy said that Bates's character now will be 5 times as bad as her Misery character. He also mentioned that Bates was shocked when he talked about Season 3, because it featured a real historical event.

Murphy said that he decided on Bates for the role because of the input of series star and screen legend Jessica Lange.

"Jessica told me in Season 1 that Kathy was a huge fan of the show, so I just put that in the back of my mind. When we were crafting this season, I found this character - a true life character - so I called Kathy and said, 'I don't know if you want to do TV again, but I've got this character...'" Murphy explained.

He continued, "She said, 'I love you and I love the show. Lemme think for two weeks'  -- and then she called me in an hour and said, 'I love it! I'll do it!' It was great."

Murphy has previously announced that Jessica Lange has been pitching actors that she wanted to work with for season 3 of American Horror Story.

"I got Jessica to do [season 3] because I did everything she asked, which was the location [and] I told her that she will have complete hair and makeup and the best designer gowns. She said, 'Please don't put me in a wimple again,' so she's going to play a really glamour-cat sort of lady in Season 3," Murphy told reporters in January.

He continued, "I'm just now meeting up with a lot of actors so I don't want to say too much, actors that Jessica wants to work with. So she's become the uncredited producer of Season 3."

Other confirmed actors for American Horror Story Season 3, besides Kathy Bates and Jessica Lange, include Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Frances Conroy, Lily Rabe and Taissa Farmiga.