Gina Torres will appear on Gossip Girl this fall as Vanessa’s mom, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively.

Gabriela Abrams, mother to home-schooled vid-kid Vanessa, is described as being warm and outgoing, which will certainly be a change of pace for this show, not exactly known as the paragon of parental virtue. She is a free spirit, a former Brooklynite who lives “off the grid” in Vermont and has definite opinions about things, especially concerning her daughter. Ah, that’s more like it.

Torres is best known for her roles on Alias and Firefly, though she also had a recent blink-and-you-miss-it cameo on Pushing Daisies as the wayward mom of Emerson’s daughter. The actress is married to CSI’s Laurence Fishburne.

Gabriela Abrams is currently scheduled to appear in two episodes, but she will recur on the series. Gossip Girl returns for its third season on Monday, Sept. 14 at 9/8c on the CW. [TV Guide]

Is the Upper East Side big enough for Serena, Blair and the Duffster?! We’re about to find out because the onetime tween sensation is joining Gossip Girl for a multi-episode arc, sources confirm to me exclusively.

The actress-designer-pop chanteuse will play Olivia Burke, a movie star who enrolls at NYU in search of a traditional college experience. She ends up rooming with Vanessa (Jessica Szohr) so it’s safe to say she’ll be majoring in Drama!

Duff will debut in this season’s fourth episode, slated to air Oct. 5.

Gossip producers spotted an opening in Duff’s schedule after NBC passed on her comedy pilot Barely Legal.

What say you, Gossip gurus? Do you approve of Duff’s casting? Thoughts on who she’ll be paired with romantically? (My guess: Dan.)