Jennifer Hudson will bring some more drama to “Smash” when the show returns for season 2.
The Academy Award-winning actress has nabbed a role on the series for a muli-episode arc, NBC announced on June 22. Hudson will play a character named Veronica Moore who is described as “a Tony Award-winning Broadway star who impacts the lives of Karen (Katharine McPhee) and Ivy (Megan Hilty).”
The series stars former “American Idol” runner-up Katharine McPhee and Broadway star Megan Hilty as actresses who competed for the role of Marilyn Monroe in a Broadway musical called Bombshell based on her life. The season ended with Karen getting the lead role during the previews in Boston and Ivy contemplating suicide with pills.
“We’re thrilled to have Jennifer Hudson coming to ‘Smash,'” Robert Greenblatt, Chairman of NBC Entertainment, said in a statement. “This series is a showcase for some of the best musical talent in the business and that’s a fitting description for Jennifer Hudson. Her character will represent someone who reached their Broadway dream but also paid a price for it.”
Hudson will make her first appearance on the series during the second season premiere. “Smash” is set to return midseason next year.
“First ‘Dreamgirls,’ now ‘Smash.’ I have no doubt Jennifer will continue to deliver even more inspiration to the audience responsible for giving us a second season on NBC,” Executive producer Steven Spielberg said in a statement. “It’s wonderful to be reunited with her at DreamWorks Television and NBC.”
Hudson has a busy schedule for the summer so far and is set to begin production on two new films, “Lullaby” and “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete.” In addition to her Academy Award for her role in “Dreamgirls,” Hudson has won a Golden Globe and a Grammy.
In May, William Balfour was found guilty of murdering Hudson’s mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew.
Balfour, the 30-year-old ex-husband of Hudson’s sister Julia, shot the family in a jealous rage because Julia Hudson was dating another man. The bodies of Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and brother, Jason Hudson, 29, were found shot to death in the family’s home on Oct. 24, 2008. The body of Hudson’s nephew, Julian King, was found three days later.
On Friday it was also announced that Hudson was named among the celebrities who will be honored with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for 2013.