Drea de Matteo to play villain on 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Drea de Matteo has joined the cast of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The 43-year-old actress will portray new villain Karla Faye Gideon on Season 2 of the ABC series. Marvel announced the casting in a press release Thursday, and revealed the character is a Gifted woman who teams up with Skye's (Chloe Bennet) father, Cal (Kyle MacLachlan).

"We're thrilled to have Drea join us as yet another great villain to challenge our cast," executive producer and head of Marvel television Jeph Loeb said. "We relished the opportunity to work with her in such a menacing role."

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. debuted in 2013, and will return from midseason break March 3. The series centers on Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), and co-stars Ming Na-Wen and Brett Dalton. Jaimie Alexander was confirmed to return as Lady Sif earlier this week.

De Matteo is known for playing Adriana La Cerva on HBO series The Sopranos, Angie Bolen on the ABC drama Desperate Housewives and Wendy Case on the FX series Sons of Anarchy. The actress will appear with Christina Hendricks in an adaptation of Gillian Flynn novel Dark Places.