As far as supporting castmembers go, Ryan Murphy’s Scream Queens has been a bit of who’s who in teen dreams trivia from the start. In its first season, pop singer-actress Ariana Grande starred in a brief (but memorable) role as one of the fallen Chanels, while Jonas Brothers alum Nick Jonas was tapped to star in a few episodes as a fratty sidekick named Boone, who turned out to be one of the bevy of Red Devil killers.
Now, the horror-comedy show is adding another squeal-inducing young star to the roster for season 2: Twilight star Taylor Lautner. The former werewolf is now ready to try his hand at silly small screen scare tactics, following a couple of false starts to his career as an action movie lead in Tracers and Abduction.
Deadline reports that Fox has added Lautner to its regular second season line-up as Dr. Cassidy Cascade, a physician at the institution the Chanels are haunting after moving out of the Kappa Kappa Tau house. The character is said to be grappling with his own unusual medical condition (details as yet unknown) and becomes a suspect when the hospital becomes the new HQ for horror. Entertainment Weekly adds that Lautner’s Dr. Cascade will have some kind of relationship with Chanel No. 3, Sadie Swenson (played by Billie Lourd), who alongside Chanel No. 1 (Emma Roberts) and No. 3 (Abigail Breslin) is now an employee of the hospital.
Lautner is the second major newcomer to the show for its sophomore run, following the addition of Grandfathered and Fuller House actor John Stamos, who’ll portray lead surgeon Brock Holt. Taylor Lautner wrote on his social media platforms Thursday that he’s “thrilled” to join the cast of horror-comedy series and that “it’s going to be such a blast” to play his new character.
The 24-year-old actor got his first big break in 2005, when he starred as one of the two title heroes in Robert Rodriguez’s family action-adventure film The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D. There Lautner, who has had his black belt in karate since he was eight years old, proved his muster for stuntwork and went on to use that talent (and became a household name) as Jacob Black in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, which launched a five-part film franchise with a ravenous fanbase. Lautner recently appeared in back-to-back Adam Sander films – Grown ups 2 and The Ridiculous 6, but compared to the subsequent successes of Twilight co-stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, his demand has been but a shadow of what was originally expected.
Scream Queens‘ new season will also feature the return of Season 1 stars Jamie Lee Curtis (Dean Munsch), Lea Michele (Hester a.k.a. Chanel No. 6), Keke Palmer (Zayday Williams), Niecy Nash (Denise Hemphill), and Glen Powell (Chad Radwell). The series’ first season was met with so-so reviews, but with this new setting and a “new battle” at play for all of the KKT sisters and their new friends, the second season could turn things around for the show.
Scream Queens season 2 premieres on Fox Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 9/8c.
