There’s a new guest checking into “Bates Motel.”
On Monday’s episode, “Alias” alum Michael Vartan joins the cast of A&E’s “Psycho” prequel as the divorced, charming George — who becomes a new love interest for Norma Bates (Vera Farmiga).
To say Norma’s been unlucky in love is an understatement — her dead husband was abusive, she’s been a victim of rape and incest, and in Season 1, she dated a man with a penchant for locking women in his basement.
Enter George, who will meet Norma through his sister Christine at a party and serves as a nice-guy foil to the insanity of the “Bates Motel” world. The French-born Vartan will appear in seven episodes of Season 2, which premiered on March 3 to a series-high audience of 3.1 million viewers.
(The show shifts to 10 p.m. this week after A&E pulled Chloe Sevigny’s new drama “Those Who Kill” from its lineup.)
“I think one of the things that is appealing about him to [Norma] is precisely that — he’s one of the nicest people she’s met,” Vartan, 45, tells The Post. “She wants to be able to connect with someone like that because obviously her track record with men has not been great.”
And though she initially rejects his advances, George — who is having a hard time getting back out in the dating pool since his divorce — finds himself immediately attracted to the beautiful Norma.
“He definitely is completely taken by her instantly because she’s smart and mysterious and very un-gettable, if you will,” he says. “In the classic chase scenario, he’s chasing very hard, trying every trick he knows to seduce her.”
Vartan was just as impressed by the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated Farmiga, whom he’d never met prior to “Bates Motel” but was “completely blown away by her insane talent” once arriving on the show’s Vancouver set last fall.
“There were a couple of scenes I shot with Vera where she has mental breakdowns — my God. Getting to see that live, I can’t even explain it,” he says. “I’ve never been a part of an on-set moment where … my mouth was gaping wide open; I could not believe what I was seeing. It was pretty heavy.”
Vartan has made a name for himself the past 15 years in nice-guy roles, playing the romantic lead in “Alias,” “Hawthorne,” “Never Been Kissed” and “Monster-in-Law.” And though George follows that pattern, the actor says he would love to branch out from that typecasting in future parts.
“It’s basically been my struggle my entire career … My dream is to play someone really dark or really bad, because it’s fun,” Vartan says. “I’m a guy — I want to shoot some guns and shave my head and maybe get some tattoos and go on a killing spree, or be a dirty cop or a murderer. I’m not that vanilla.”
He adds, “I’m not going to lie — I wish that my character had become a killer or died an awful death, but maybe he’s not dead because he’s coming back.”
George does eventually get Norma on a few dates, however, including meeting her serial-killer-in-training son, Norman (Freddie Highmore), who has a protective and possessive relationship with his mother.
“Me arriving into his life and into his mother’s life is a big deal for him,” Vartan says. “The scene we shot when I first meet him … I show up to pick up his mom and he opens the door — the look he gives me is chilling, to say the least.” He can’t say whether the budding relationship will have a happy ending, but since emotional upheaval tends to follow Norma wherever she goes, it’s safe to say theirs won’t be a fairy-tale courtship.
“Relationships are hard work in the best of circumstances, but for these two people … it’s ‘Bates Motel,’ so it’s going to be increasingly difficult,” Vartan says.
“She always ends up going off the deep end a little bit, which is startling for poor old George because he doesn’t understand it.
“But hey, that’s pretty much dating in general, isn’t it?”