Gillian Anderson Joins Season 2 Of Hulu's The Great

Actor Gillian Anderson (The X-Files, The Crown) will be making a guest star appearance in The Great for Season 2, according to a release. In the Hulu series that's an ahistorical, satirical dramedy about Catherine the Great's rise to power, Anderson will play Catherine's mother, Joanna.

In the show, Joanna will be "a glamorous socialite from Germany, sometimes also known as the 'maestro of marriage' for her abilities to arrange high-profile partnerships for her daughters." Anderson will play Joanna for two episodes, in which the character "has heard rumors of her daughter's coup and come[s] to Russia to see it for herself" with "sinister intentions." It's a safe bet that Anderson's recent performance as Margaret Thatcher on The Crown will have come in handy with how to spoof a historical performance based on a real person.

In addition to Anderson as guest star, the series regulars include stars Elle Fanning (20th Century Women) as Catherine, Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class), Phoebe Fox (Black Mirror), Adam Godley (The X-Files: I Want to Believe), Gwilym Lee (Bohemian Rhapsody), Charity Wakefield (Day of the Flowers), Douglas Hodge (Joker), Sacha Dhawan (Line of Duty), and Belinda Bromilow (Packed to the Rafters).

The Great is created, written, and executive produced by Tony McNamara--who is also a co-writer on the upcoming live-action Cruella movie, which is scheduled to be released both theatrically and on Disney+ on May 28. There's no release date yet for Season 2 of The Great, but in the meantime you can check out what's coming this month to both Disney+ and Hulu.