Molly Burnett has been promoted to series regular in the upcoming Queen of the South season 5. The actress plays the role of Kelly Anne Van Awken, a recurring player in the previous installments. Now, it looks like the character is set to play a significant part moving forward in the story.
A recent report from Deadline confirmed that Burnett becomes a series regular in Queen of the South season 5. Kelly Anne has been a recurring character since the second installment. Her promotion may have something to do with further fleshing out Teresa Mendoza's (Alice Braga) storyline.
Kelly Ann is an on-and-off member of Teresa's drug operation throughout the series' run. Her drug habits often put her in danger. In season 3, it was discovered that she was a mole but she managed to escape -- thanks to James Valdez (Peter Gadiot).
After what happened, Kelly Anne decided to clean herself up and achieved sobriety in the fourth installment. Now, she's likely coming back in Teresa's life as the latter expanded her operations to New Orleans. The pair could end up forming a partnership to take down Judge Lafayette (David Andrews).
But then, James' presence indicates that the potential return of Camila Vargas (Veronica Falcón). Hence, there is a possibility that Kelly Anne and Teresa's relationship will be, once again, tainted. Since Burnett's character is appearing regularly, she could play a larger role in the queenpin's life.
Following the announcement, Burnett took to Instagram to express her feelings regarding the news. The actress promised big things are coming for Kelly Anne in Queen of the South season 5. Some of her co-stars commented, as well, including Braga who wrote: "YEAH BABY."
Meanwhile, Queen of the South season 5 is set to resume filming soon. Production was shut down earlier this year due to the coronavirus outbreak. The good thing is that everyone is seemingly back, with showrunner Dailyn Rodriguez teasing that they're close to getting back to work.
Rodriguez shared a photo on Twitter featuring script supervisor, Barry Caldwell. The latter showed the script of the upcoming installment in the show's Facebook group. He noted that they're getting the show back and the "circus is back in town."
Before the current global health crisis, Queen of the South season 5 was scheduled for June 2020 premiere. But then, the plan wasn't push through due to the pandemic. No release date has been officially set right now, but the series is slated to return in 2021.
