Nicole Ari Parker (Almost Christmas) is set for a recurring role opposite Forest Whitaker on Fox's hit hip-hop drama series Empire.

Parker will play Giselle Barker, Eddie Barker's (Whitaker) beautiful trophy ex-wife. Her character will be introduced in Wednesday's mid-season finale.

Season 4 has seen Lucious (Terrence Howard) battling to regain his physical and mental faculties after the explosion and Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) with her own challenges, revisiting her traumatic 17 years in prison in a series of flashbacks.

Parker's recent credits include Universal's Almost Christmas with Danny Glover and Gabrielle Union and TV One's original film Downsized in which she stars opposite husband Boris Kodjoe. She's repped by Gersh and LINK Entertainment.

Empire was created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, who executive produce with Brian Grazer, showrunner Ilene Chaiken, Francie Calfo and Sanaa Hamri.