William Hurt to join ‘Damages’

Oscar winner William Hurt will join the cast of FX’s “Damages” when the series returns early next year for its second season.

Hurt will play a new client of attorney Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). Specifics were not disclosed, but insiders hinted that Hurt’s character will have both a professional and personal history with Hewes.

The actor, who won the 1985 Academy Award for best actor for “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” has appeared in television movies and in guest shots, but his “Damages” stint will mark his first regular role on a TV series.

It will also mark a reunion with Close, his costar in 1983’s “The Big Chill.”

-- Greg Braxton