The Latest Casting Scoop: March 21 to March 25

There was a lot of casting news this week so all of those details appear below:

Actor Benjamin Bratt (Law & Order and The Cleaner) will be joining Private Practice as a series regular next season, making his first appearance in the show’s season finale this May.

Former American Idol contestant-turned actress Lisa Tucker has been tapped to play Greta Martin on The Vampire Diaries. As viewers may remember her father Jonas and brother Luka were killed by the Salvatore Brothers; and she has been held captive by Klaus (Joseph Morgan). Like her family, she is a witch and will play a key role in the big showdown between Elena and the brothers.

Actor Dominic Purcell (Prison Break) and Actor Jason George (Off the Map) will both guest star in the same upcoming spring episode of Castle that finds Castle and Beckett heading to LA to investigate a murder. Purcell will play a Hollywood businessman who may have a connection to the killing. Meanwhile, George will play an entrepreneur, who ends up being a key character in solving their new case.  Also, D.B. Sweeney (The Event) will guest star in the same episode, playing  Detective Kyle Seeger, a Los Angeles cop with Robbery Homicide, who questions Castle and Beckett about their rogue investigation.

Actor Jonathan Cake (Six Degrees and Empire) will play a major love interest for Marcia Cross on Desperate Housewives, appearing in this season’s final four episodes. He will then return in the fall as a full-fledged series regular. He will play Aaron, a handsome, sexy, college-educated police detective with strong family values who comes to Wisteria Lane to investigate a case.

Actresses Jennifer Tilly (most recently seen on Caprica) and Romy Rosemont (Finn’s mom on Glee) will guest star on the third episode of the Lifetime drama Drop Dead Diva when it returns with new episodes this summer. Rosemont will play one of Jane’s (Brooke Elliott) clients – the mother of a little person – who is suing the sperm bank that provided the sperm. Meanwhile Tilly will play an actress who Fred (Ben Feldman) hires to play his mother for Stacy (April Bowlby).

It looks like actor Steven Weber (Wings) is joining the cast of Parenthood as a potential love interest for Lauren Graham’s lovelorn single mom. He will play Jack Kraft, a charismatic artistic director of the Berkeley Theater Company who crosses paths with Sarah when her play is submitted to his New Voices reading series.

Actor Judd Hirsch will appear in the new season of Damages when it comes to DirecTV with all new episodes this summer. He will playaa former mentor of Patty’s whose reappearance in her life shows just how much has changed in his.

Actress Connie Nielsen will star opposite Kelsey Grammer in the Starz series called Boss, which is an 8-episode political drama with Grammer starring as Kane, the Mayor of Chicago who is diagnosed with a degenerative mental condition that only he and his doctor know about. Nielsen will play his immaculately groomed wife Meredith who is a pro with the press and tough when she needs to be.

Actress Kristy Swanson (best known as the original Buffy Summers from the 1992 film version of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer) will make a guest appearance on an upcoming episode of Psych when it returns for its sixth season this summer on the USA Network. Swanson will play Marlowe Viccellio, a beautiful and mysterious woman who catches the attention of Lassiter. Despite their love connection, Shawn and Gus begin to suspect Marlowe of killing someone “vampire-style” after the police find a blood-drained body.

Actress Emily Meade (Boardwalk Empire) will appear in the season finale of Fringe that is scheduled to air on May 6 as a new FBI agent who is a wide-eyed and eager rookie who is ready to face all of the challenges in front of her.

Actor Chris Vance (Prison Break) has booked a major recurring role on the TNT breakout hit Rizzoli & Isles. He will play Sgt. Major Charles “Casey” Jones, an old flame of Rizzoli’s (Angie Harmon) who comes back into her life just as she’s [SPOILER ALERT] struggling to recover from being shot and nearly killed in the line of duty.

Actress Natasha Henstridge (Eli Stone) will appear in the season finale of CSI: Miami as Renee Locklear, an undercover agent who is about to cause a stir in more ways than one.

Actor Michael Trucco (Fairly Legal and Battlestar Galactica) will guest star in an April episode of How I Met Your Mother as Robin’s (Colbie Smulders) long-time crush.

Actor Scott Grimes (ER and Party of Five) will guest star in the Tony DiNozzo origins episode of NCIS set for May 3 as Det. Danny Price, an ex-partner of Tony’s. They worked together 10 years ago while serving as cops in Baltimore.

Actors Chi McBride (Human Target) and Dave Foley (Kids in the Hall) will guest star in the season finale of How I Met Your Mother. McBride will play a construction foreman, named Rod, who isn’t exactly pleased with Ted (Josh Radnor) — which is a problem, consider it’s Ted who’s designed the new building. Foley will appear as a potential new boss for Marshall (Jason Segel).

Two familiar faces will be seen in the 2nd season of Covert Affairs when it returns to the USA Network on June 7. Actor Ben Lawson (the short-lived ABC drama The Deep End) will have a recurring role as Dr. Scott Weiss, a charming and handsome Doctors Without Borders-type physician who Annie (Piper Perabo) meets when she takes her niece, Chloe, to the emergency room. Actress Rena Sofer (NCIS) has been cast as Gina, Arthur’s (Peter Gallagher) smart, kind-hearted ex-wife who re-enters his life to offer advice as he deals with the political fallout from Lisa’s (Emmanuelle Vaugier) media assault.

Meanwhile over on White Collar, four familiar faces have been lined up for the 2nd episode of the new season (the show returns June 7). Those include: Danny Masterson (That 70’s Show), his real-life brother Christopher Masterson, Anna Chlumsky (and William Sadler (Roswell). Sadler will play a menacing security consultant who orchestrates a kidnapping with the Masterson brothers actually playing two brothers contesting their fathers will while Chlumsky appears as a new FBI agent recruit who helps the team.

Keep an eye out for these episodes!