Leah Remini is joining the Kevin James sitcom “Kevin Can Wait” as a series regular for Season 2, Variety has learned.
The series stars James as a New York cop who retires after 20 years on the force, only to discover retirement is not as easy as he thought it would be. Remini previously appeared in the Season 1 finale as Vanessa Cellucci, an undercover cop and the former partner of James’ character. She will reprise that role for the show’s second season this fall. James and Remini previously starred together as husband and wife for nine seasons on the hit series “The King of Queens,” which also aired on CBS.
Remini has been in the news frequently the past few years for her very public departure from the Church of Scientology. She has become an outspoken critic of the Church, publishing her memoir “Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology” in 2015. In 2016, her docu-series “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath” debuted on A&E. That series was recently picked up for a second season.
She is repped by APA, Art2perform, and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof & Fishman.
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The CBS sitcom stars James, Erinn Hayes, Taylor Spreitler, Mary-Charles Jones, James DiGiacomo, Ryan Cartwright, Lenny Venito, Gary Valentine, and Leonard Earl Howze. James, Rock Reuben, Rob Long, Jeff Sussman, Andy Fickman, Tony Sheehan, and Steve Mosko are executive producers for CBS Television Studios in association with Sony Pictures Television.
“Kevin Can Wait” ranked as one of the top new shows of the 2016-17 season, averaging a 1.6 rating in adults 18-49 and 7.6 million viewers in Live+Same Day Nielsen ratings. In Live+7, the series averaged a 2.2 and 9.2 million viewers per episode.
