It’s not easy to be an actress on Supernatural. While some of the female characters on the series have been embraced by the fans, many others have stirred up anger and hatred in loyal viewers. At the beginning of season 3, the addition of Ruby (Katie Cassidy) and Bela (Lauren Cohan) brought about plenty of fan outrage. By the end of the season creator Eric Kripke had sent both actresses packing, though he claimed it was for budgetary and story-related reasons, and not due to fan reaction.

Despite all the controversy that actresses bring to the Supernatural universe, Kripke is bringing one in for the season 4 premiere. TV Guide is reporting that Genevieve Cortese, who was last seen on ABC Family’s Wildfire, will be playing a love interest for Sam in at least one episode.

Cortese will play Kristy, a small-town waitress who has been involved with Sam (Jared Padalecki) for quite some time when the season begins. The premiere episode, “Lazarus Rising,” takes place four months after season 3’s finale, and one of the ongoing mysteries of the year will be what happened to Sam during that time span. It’s possible that Kristy could appear in more than one episode, but nothing has been confirmed.

While I certainly don’t mind Sam having a love interest, my only hope is that Cortese has the chops to pull off her role. I never watched Wildfire, but some who did have less than kind things to say about Cortese’s acting ability. The folks behind Supernatural have often had trouble finding actresses that are both strong and likable, which is one reason many fans can’t relate to the female characters. Then again, if Kristy is only sticking around for one episode, I doubt Cortese will make much of an impact either way.

The CW recently confirmed that Supernatural season 4 will kick off on September 18 at 9pm. We’ll be bringing you more details about the new season when we attend the Supernatural panel at San Diego Comic-Con this Sunday.

SOURCE: BuddyTV