Lorraine Toussaint joins cast of 'Forever'

LOS ANGELES, July 8 (UPI) -- Lorraine Toussaint has landed a regular role in ABC's new drama, Forever.

Toussaint, 54, who played an inmate named Vee in the second season of Netflix's Orange Is the New Black, will step outside the bars for her role as Joanna Reece, a cop, in the ABC series.

Toussaint's character is described as an experienced lieutenant who has "seen it all."

News of the actress' casting could potentially mean that Vee won't be returning to Litchfield in the upcoming third season of OITNB -- her character was last seen getting run over by Miss Rosa (Barbara Rosenblat) after both women escaped the prison. However, Toussaint told BuzzFeed in June that she was "not sure" about Vee's fate.

"She could be dead, she could not be dead," she explained. "That's an open-ended question still. Isn't that a scary proposition? She might need to be dead. I don't know."

Forever, a show about a medical examiner who is studying his mysterious immortality, will air Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on ABC in the fall.