Which 'Glee' Star Is Joining 'Scream Queens'?

Glee fans, good news: One of your faves from the show is heading to another one of Ryan Murphy's excellent shows. Specifically, Glee star James Earl is joining Scream Queens! His casting will undoubtedly come as a pleasant surprise Glee fans — Earl played Azimio Adams on the show, a member of the Titans whose favorite hobby was bullying the New Directions and other students. In Scream Queens, Earl will be playing one of the male leads, and according to Entertainment Weekly, he "will play a character named Candy Striper." This sounds creepy unless you're aware that the second season of the camp horror show will be set in a hospital owned by the never-not-entertaining Dean Munch.

It also suggests that showrunner Murphy's good at looking out for his friends — having co-created Glee, he's clearly decided to skip the tedium of countless auditions by just casting stars he already knows can tackle the roles.

This marks the third male casting in the last few weeks, with Twilight werewolf Taylor Lautner and resident Full House hunk John Stamos having also been announced as new additions to the show. But let's take a look at the Twitter announcement so far and see what else we can glean about the character:

I don't see any candy-stripes, and I know that his casual attire (Hawaiian shirt! Stained T-shirt!) is going to ensure he's on the receiving end of some knife-sharp one-liners from Emma Robert's character, Queen of Mean Chanel Oberlin. So who is he? I'm guessing he's linked to the hospital by a horrific incident in his past — because that's kind of Scream Queens' jam, right? And given that Ryan Murphy worked with him on Glee and knows what sort of behavior the Glee audience will associate with him, I'd say there's a fair chance he's going to be a villain, especially given his serious, challenging stare into the viewer's eyes.

Compare and contrast with Stamos' announcement (unfortunately, we can't do the same with the Lautner cast announcement, as it was published minus a picture). Stamos is placed in profile and has a not-unattractive half-smirk while he gazes broodingly into the middle distance. I theorize he'll be filling the role Oliver Hudson (who played Wes Gardner) performed last time round — Hot, Older Love Interest.

Obviously it's pure speculation at this point, but it's just fueling my need for Scream Queens Season 2 — it's been way too long since we got to witness Chanel Oberlin reduce someone to tears with her words. I can't wait to see James Earl III and the rest of the Scream Queens VIPs on the small screen come Sept. 20 — mark the date on your calendar.

Images: 20th Century Fox Television