Lady Gaga to play Donatella Versace on TV

Lady Gaga will portray fashion icon Donatella Versace in Ryan Murphy's upcoming TV mini-series Versace/cunanan: American Crime Story.

Murphy confirmed the news on Friday (04Nov16), revealing his American Horror Story: Hotel star was his first choice to play designer Donatella in the project, which will begin filming early in the new year (17).

Gaga won't have to dig too deep to perfect her portrayal of Versace - she has been pals with the designer for years.

Murphy's American Crime Story franchise series kicked off with the acclaimed dramatisation of the 1995 O.J. Simpson murder trial earlier this year (16), and his second season will chronicle 2005's Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath of the storm.

The third run of the show will focus on serial killer Andrew Cunanan's murder of Gianni Versace in 1997.

Murphy's American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson won 10 Emmy Awards in September (16).

Meanwhile, Gaga has a busy few months ahead of her - she'll headline the American Music Awards on 20 November (16), and the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in Paris 10 days later. The Perfect Illusion singer will also hit the stage at the Super Bowl in February (17) to perform during the Half-Time Show.

She's also promoting her new album, Joanne, which was released last month (Oct16), and became her fourth number one on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of over 200,000.

Joanne, which is named in memory of the singer's late aunt, became Gaga's latest project to hit the top spot, following Cheek to Cheek, her 2014 collaboration album with Tony Bennett, 2013's Artpop, and 2011's Born This Way.

The feat also made the New York native the first female to secure four Billboard 200 number ones in the 2010s, surpassing both Beyonce and Taylor Swift, who each have three chart-toppers to date this decade.