The upcoming "Game of Thrones" prequel series has just added another familiar face to its cast, with British actress Miranda Richardson joining the ensemble.

Richardson -- known to worldwide audiences as Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter in the "Harry Potter" film series -- has been cast in the as-yet-untitled new show in a series regular role. No further details about her character have been disclosed just yet. (Shocking, we know.)

The actress joins fellow Oscar nominee Naomi Watts, who plays the lead role in the prequel, that of "a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret." Other key members of the ensemble include Josh Whitehouse ("Poldark"), Naomi Ackie ("Star Wars: Episode IX"), Denise Gough ("Angels in America"), Jamie Campbell Bower ("Twilight"), Sheila Atim ("Harlots"), Ivanno Jeremiah ("Black Mirror"), Georgie Henley ("The Chronicles of Narnia"), Alex Sharp ("To the Bone"), and Toby Regbo ("Reign").

Author George R.R. Martin, whose "A Song of Ice and Fire" books are the basis for "Thrones," helped develop the concept for the prequel series, alongside showrunner Jane Goldman ("X-Men: First Class"). Martin had previously said that the new show would explore Westeros's ancient past.

That's reflected in the prequel's official synopsis:

“Taking place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend… it’s not the story we think we know.”

No premiere date has been scheduled yet, but it will likely not premiere for at least a year after "Thrones" wraps its eight-season run this spring. Pencil in a tentative 2020 or 2021 debut.

[via: Entertainment Weekly]