Days of our Lives’ Vanessa Williams Joining Showtime’s The L Word: Generation Q

Vanessa A. Williams, who has played cardiologist Valerie Grant on Days of our Lives on and off for the past five years, has booked her next role.

Vanessa Williams’ New Role

According to Variety, the actress will be joining the second season of Showtime’s L Word: Generation Q.

In her recurring role, Williams will play Pippa Pascal, which the show describes as “an incendiary artist who’s been out of the public eye for almost 20 years — until Bette becomes determined to track her down.”

The show, which stars Jennifer Beals as Bette, Katherine Moennig as Shane, and Leisha Hailey as Alice, is a new iteration of The L Word series that aired for five seasons from 2004 to 2009.

Other cast members of the sequel series include Arienne Mandi, Leo Sheng, Jacqueline Toboni, Rosanny Zayas, and Sepideh Moafi. Rosie O’Donnell, Griffin Dunne, and Scrubs star Donald Faison are all expected to make guest appearances in the second season.

Williams can be seen later this year in a follow-up to the classic horror film, Candyman, written by Jordan Peele. The actress will reprise her role as Anne-Marie McCoy from the original 1992 film.

She also recently completed filming on BET’s “A Rich Christmas” late last year.

Valerie Grant is an important character in Days history, as more than 40 years ago, she was part of the show’s first interracial romance, with actress Tina Andrews (and later Rose Fonseca) matched up with Julie Horton’s son, David Banning.

Of course, when Williams brought the character back to Salem, it was revealed that Eli Grant was the result of that love affair, though David had died off-screen without Eli ever getting the chance to meet his father.

Valerie also has had an on-and-off relationship with Abe Carver through the years, and there’s still a spark between them when Williams and James Reynolds pair up on the screen.

Though she’s off in D.C., Eli would love to see his mom return. Fans would as well. Days of our Lives (DOOL) airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes.