'Revenge': Jennifer Jason Leigh to play Emily's mom

Huge casting news on ABC’s Revenge: Acclaimed actress Jennifer Jason Leigh joined season 2.

She’s landed the much-anticipated recurring role of Emily Thorne’s mysterious mom.

Who will play Emily’s not-actually-dead mom has been a big guessing game among fans for months. Back in May, creator Mike Kelley told EW.com: “What we really want to do is find the perfect actor for the role. It would be really great for her to be as formidable as Madeleine [Stowe], but it’s a completely different part.” Stowe once noted, “It’s got to be someone who’s got a little bit of a screw loose and can do that well.”

Looking back, we can’t believe we hadn’t thought of Leigh for our poll on this subject. Marcia Cross got the most votes, followed by Joely Richardson. But Leigh certainly can play a damaged-yet-strong character. The actress first gained national attention in her breakthrough role in 1982’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High and she recently had an arc on Showtime’s Weeds.

Revenge returns Sept. 21. Kelley teased: “What you’re going to discover about the woman who was Emily’s mother is the circumstances under which they were separated and you’re going to find that there’s some deep psychological issues with her, which I think is going to be fun for us to explore. For Emily, she’s going to start seeing some of the psychological damage that her mother has in herself.”