Calista Flockhart Joins ‘Supergirl’ Pilot

Ally McBeal and Brothers & Sisters star Calista Flockhart is returning to network television with a co-starring role opposite Melissa Benoist in the CBS pilot Supergirl. She will play Kara’s boss Cat Grant in the project, reuniting with Brothers & Sisters executive producer Greg Berlanti.

Based on the DC Comics characters, Supergirl — from Warner Bros. TV, studio-based Berlanti Prods. and writers/executive producers Berlanti and Ali Adler — centers on Kara Zor-El (Benoist). Since arriving on Earth, the Krypton-born Kara has been hiding the powers she shares with her famous cousin, Superman. But now at age 24, she decides to embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she always was meant to be. Kara works as as assistant to Grant, a self-made media magnate and founder of CatCo who started her career as a reporter and has built her company into a global powerhouse.

Flockhart, repped by Gersh, Industry Entertainment and Jackoway Tyerman, has largely stayed away from acting since the end of ABC’s Brothers & Sisters in 2011, passing on a number of pilots. The involvement in Supergirl of Berlanti, with whom Flockhart worked on Brothers & Sisters, played a part in her decision to return to series TV. She next will be seen in the second installment of DirecTV’s anthology drama Full Circle.