NeNe Leakes Lands Another Major Role!

(via ajc) While “Real Housewives of Atlanta” cast member Kim Zolciak landed a reality show spinoff on Bravo, her former friend NeNe Leakes has been making a heavy push into acting.

She’s had a well-received recurring role this season as a tough-talking swim coach on Ryan Murphy’s “Glee.”

Now Murphy has tapped her again for another recurring role on his NBC comedic pilot “The New Normal” about a blended family of a gay couple and their surrogate, according to Deadline.com. She plays a character named Rocky, though the article provides no details of what that entails.

Broadcast networks are shooting pilots across the country for the 2012-13 season (including two in Atlanta: J.J. Abrams’ Revolution” and an untitled Kevin Williamson project starring Kevin Bacon). On average, network pilots have about a one in three shot of making it on air the next season. “The New Normal” has the pedigree of Murphy, who has also created FX’s “Nip/Tuck” and “American Horror Story.” And NBC needs hits – badly.

Style Network last week aired an episode of “The Amandas” featuring Leakes getting her master closet remade. She scared Dionne Warwick and La Toya Jackson last year on “Celebrity Apprentice.” Recently, she made appearances as herself on BET’s “Let’s Stay Together” and “The Game.”

Though there has been no official announcement, it’s clear NeNe’s time with “Real Housewives of Atlanta” is nearing an end after four seasons. She has been increasingly checked out and disengaged from the other cast members, especially Kim. There are two more original episodes and two “reunion” episodes, where NeNe will likely engage in a fair amount of eye rolling and looking bored.

Written on: Atlanta Journal Constitution