‘Chasing Life’ Star Italia Ricci To Star In New ABC Drama ‘Designated Survivor’

Italia Ricci might be done “Chasing Life,” but she hasn’t stopped chasing acting gigs. The former ABC Family star will head to ABC for a new drama, “Designated Survivor.”

Kiefer Sutherland stars as Tom, a low-level Cabinet member who is appointed president after a tragic attack kills everyone above him. Ricci will play one of his staff members, Emily. Deadline reports that she is his “no-nonsense chief of staff.” Variety revealed that she was Tom’s chief of staff before the bombing, so it looks like she’ll find out if she’s good enough for the president very quickly.

Ricci seems thrilled about the role. She posted a photo of an announcement for the show on Instagram and told followers to pinch her.

As seen above, Sutherland, the former face of “24,” isn’t the only impressive name on the cast list. Maggie Q is set to play an FBI agent, while Natasha McElhone plays Tom’s wife. Kal Penn plays Tom’s new speechwriter.

Ricci’s “Chasing Life” was canceled after just two seasons in 2015. The drama, which followed April (Ricci) as she dealt with a cancer diagnosis, clearly wasn’t supposed to be over. The finale ended with a cliffhanger when April (Ricci) decided to stop her cancer treatments. Ricci’s fans are hoping “Designated Survivor” doesn’t suffer the same fate.

Those followers don’t have to wait for “Designated Survivor” to premiere to watch Ricci on the small screen again. The actress will guest star on “Supergirl” as Siobhan Smythe, a.k.a. Silver Banshee, but don’t expect her to be helping anyone, especially not someone presidential. She’ll be a villain this month on the CBS hit.

“Designated Survivor” doesn’t have a premiere date yet.