Virginia Madsen lands recurring role in NBC’s The Event

Virginia Madsen has landed a recurring role in the new NBC TV series The Event. According to Deadline, the Oscar nominated actress will play Catherine Lewis, a former powerhouse attorney and the widow of a U.S. senator from Alaska who has taken over her husband’s post. The Harvard grad is determined to carry out her husband’s legacy at any cost.

Madsen, 49, was most recently in ABC’s summer series Scoundrels.

The role was originally offered to Friday Night Lights actress Connie Britton.

The Event — which is currently on hiatus and is slated to return to the schedule on February 28 — is an emotional, high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter), an everyman who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his would-be fiancée Leila (Sarah Roemer), and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history.