Tony Winner Nikki M. James Tapped for BrainDead Opposite Aaron Tveit

Look who’s teaming up with Aaron Tveit to fight aliens! Tony winner Nikki M. James has joined the cast of BrainDead, the upcoming comic-thriller from CBS. As previously reported, the D.C.-set series about politics and extraterrestrials is scheduled to premiere next summer.

James will play Rochelle, a medical resident who teams up with Laurel (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead) to investigate the death of her father after a mysterious infection, and hopefully prevent it from happening again. Tveit stars as Gareth, a witty Legislative Director to a Republican senator. We’re still not sure how the aliens fit in.

James recently starred as Eponine in the Broadway revival of Les Miserables. In addition to her Tony-winning turn in The Book of Mormon, her credits include All Shook Up, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Preludes on stage and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, Lucky Stiff and The Good Wife on screen.