Season five “American Idol” runner-up Katharine McPhee has joined the cast of NBC pilot “Smash,” reported Deadline on Sunday.
McPhee, who appeared in “The House Bunny” and television pilot “The Pink House” after her time on the reality competition, joins the cast of the musical drama as a “beautiful, struggling” actress vying for the role of Marilyn Monroe in the show’s central musical.
From Steven Spielberg, “Smash,” certainly benefiting from the success of FOX’s “Glee,” follows a cast of characters involved in the production of that aforementioned Marilyn Monroe Broadway musical. Debra Messing has already been cast as the play-within-the-show’s lyricist, while Jack Davenport plays the choreographer. Megan Hilty has also been cast.
Michael Mayer directs from a Theresa Rebeck script.