'The Strain' Season 2 News, Update: Executive Producer Carlton Cuse Dishes on A 'Cool New Character'

Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll) will soon be getting a new ally in his quest to clear off the rapidly-spreading evil epidemic in New York City on the upcoming second season of FX's "The Strain."

According to a casting update from TV Line, actress Samantha Mathis will play a "very cool new character."

"She's a city councilwoman in Staten Island who decides, 'I'm going to do something about this vampire plague myself.' She's amazing," showrunner Carlton Cuse told TV Line.

Mathis' TV credits include a number of appearances on "Under the Dome," "Royal Pains," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Lost."

The 45-year-old actress has also co-starred on several films like "The American President," "Broken Arrow," "American Psycho" and "The Punisher."

As for the hit vampire horror drama series, Cuse slips some teasers about the show's big bad villain.

"The Master might have escaped [in the Season 1 finale], but that doesn't mean he was uninjured. Let's just say that," Cuse said.

Earlier this month, the executive producer revealed some details as to what fans should expect when the show returns to the small screens.

"I think that season two is a real evolution. Season one, in a lot of ways, was about people reacting to this epidemiological crisis and coming to realize that there were these vampiric creatures, that they existed, and having to accept the reality of them. Now everybody does accept the reality of them and the question is what can we do about it? Can we fight back? Do we have a chance? What kind of strategies to we employ to basically take these things out?"