'American Crime Story' season 2 news: Academy-Award nominee Annette Bening lands lead role as ex-Gov. Kathleen Blanco

The upcoming season of FX's anthology drama "American Crime Story" is exploring Hurricane Katrina, and the series has recently found its female lead character.

According to reports, Academy-Award nominee Annette Bening joins the cast to portray Kathleen Blanco. She was Louisiana's governor during and after Katrina hit the country. A one-term governor, Blanco served from 2004 to 2008. She was in charge of overseeing the evacuation and relief efforts following the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Blanco was also behind the rebuilding efforts in the southern coastline after the hurricanes.

Bening is the first cast member to join the next season, although series creator Ryan Murphy already announced that Sarah Paulson will return for a different role. The show's first installment titled "The People v. O.J. Simpson" won multiple awards, including two Golden Globes and nine Emmy awards. Season 1 stars included Paulson, Sterling K. Brown, Cuba Gooding Jr., David Schwimmer, John Travolta, and Courtney B. Vance.

FX Networks CEO John Landgraf recently spoke with The Hollywood Reporter and explained why the program's sophomore season was delayed. "They're going to have a long hiatus, and then we're going to get back on cycle," he said. "It's not a lurid true-crime series. ... We have really high ambitions for this franchise," the CEO added.

After the program's success, FX wasted no time and immediately renewed "American Crime Story" for two more seasons. The third installment will center on the murder of famed fashion designer Gianni Versace, while the fourth season will explore the highly-publicized President Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Aside from "ACS," Murphy is currently working on the seventh season of "American Horror Story" which will have a plot connected to "Freak Show." His next project is another anthology program called "Feud," which explores popular celebrity conflicts. Its first season will have eight episodes centered on Joan Crawford and Bette Davis' backstage battle while filming their 1962 film "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"

The second season of "American Crime Story" is scheduled to premiere next year on FX.