'Hospital' Actress Annie Wersching joins '24'

The latest addition to the bulging cast of "24" is "General Hospital" co-star Annie Wersching.

Wersching will play Renee Walker, an FBI agent with an adversarial relationship to never-wrong action hero Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland).

It's reported to be a regular gig, making her one of the season's newest female leads.

After two delays already this summer, the seventh season of "24" is set to begin production next week, still on target for a Jan. 2008 premiere. In addition to Wersching, other fresh faces on "24" next year will include Cherry Jones, Janeane Garofalo, Colm Feore, John Billingsley and Jeffrey Nordling.

The "24" producers didn't have to look far for Wersching, who spent this past development season on FOX's drama pilot "Company Man," which boasted a creative team led by "24" vets David Ehrman, Robert Cochran, Howard Gordon and Joel Surnow.

Before she appears on "24," Wersching will already have appeared this season on NBC's new drama "Journeyman." Amelia Joffe on "General Hospital," Wersching has also done TV stints on shows including "Boston Legal," "Cold Case" and "Angel."