Emmy winner Eden Riegel (ex-Bianca Montgomery) has joined the cast of the upcoming digital series Club 5150, Soap Central has learned.
Riegel will play the role of Seven, a mysterious member of the club.
"We are beyond thrilled to have Eden join the fun," Club 5150's creator Steve Silverman said. "She's someone I've been wanting to work with for years. And I think the audience is really going to enjoy seeing her in a role that's kind of a change-up in pace from what they're used to."
So what might that change-up be?
For 13 years, off and on, Riegel appeared as Bianca Montgomery, often called the "moral compass of Pine Valley." As the daughter of the iconic Erica Kane (played by Emmy winner Susan Lucci), Bianca was a groundbreaking character in daytime. She was the first openly gay character from a core family, Bianca shared in the first same-sex kiss in soap opera history, and Bianca was married in the first legal same-sex wedding ceremony in daytime history. Riegel's work on AMC earned her an Outstanding Younger Actress win at the 2005 Daytime Emmys.
In January 2012, during a special Soap Central podcast celebrating Bianca called "Biancapalooza," Riegel reflected on her time in Pine Valley.
"[I]t's amazing to hear how vital Bianca is in the lives of so many people and how much she's touched their lives as much as she's touched mine," Riegel said at the time. "And I do feel like I'm a part of a really incredible legacy."
Riegel also appeared as legal eagle Heather Stevens on The Young and the Restless from 2010-2011.
Outside of daytime, Riegel has also been a trailblazer. She starred in the Emmy-nominated web series Imaginary Bitches. While digital series are commonplace now, that was not the case when Imaginary Bitches debuted in 2008. The series was one of four nominated for the first-ever "New Approaches" category at the Daytime Emmys.
Riegel has recently guest starred on Criminal Minds, Rizzoli & Isles, and Hawaii Five-0.
Riegel is married to actor/writer Andrew Miller, and they have two sons, Jack and Henry.
Going back to that promised "change-up:" She's played a moral compass, lawyer, wife, mom, and talker-to imaginary people... there's no telling what's in store for Riegel on Club 5150.
Riegel joins previously announced Club 5150 cast members Jennifer Elise Cox, Michael Caruso (creator of the Emmy-nominated series Devanity and the forthcoming digital series Winterthorne), Crystal Carson (ex-Jeulia Barrett, General Hospital), and Ray Proscia. Additional casting announcements will be made on Fridays on the Club 5150 Twitter account, @Club5150series.
Filming of Club 5150 is set to begin in August, and the series is scheduled for release in early fall.
Are you excited by Riegel's new series? What is your all-time favorite Bianca moment? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
