Edie Falco to play defense attorney in NBC's 'The Menendez Murders'

Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Four-time Emmy Award-winner Edie Falco is to play defense attorney Leslie Abramson in the eight-episode anthology series Law & Order: True Crime -- The Menendez Murders, NBC announced.

Falco is best known for playing the title character in Nurse Jackie and mob wife Carmela Soprano on The Sopranos. She also co-starred on Horace and Pete, Oz and Homicide: Life on the Street, and can now be seen on the big screen in The Comedian, opposite Robert De Niro.

"Edie's past, iconic roles cement her place among the highest caliber of actresses working today and we couldn't be happier that someone of her stature will be joining our upcoming Menendez series," Jennifer Salke, president of NBC Entertainment, said in a statement Friday. "We know she will do a remarkable job portraying the complexities of defense attorney Leslie Abramson and the issues that made her such a compelling figure."

"I've known Edie for more than two decades," added executive producer Dick Wolf. "Our working relationship started when she was among an elite group of actors who made multiple appearances as defense attorneys on Law & Order in the early '90s. Edie was at the top of that list. She did a fabulous job on Law & Order and, as Leslie Abramson, will knock the role out of the park."

The Menendez Murders will focus on the notorious case of Lyle and Erik Menendez, wealthy brothers who were convicted in 1996 of murdering their parents and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. No other casting has been announced yet.