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The Boston Blue cast is ever growing. The newly-released Blue Bloods spin-off rounded out its cast a few months ago, with the likes of Sonequa Martin-Green, Ernie Hudson, Maggie Lawson, Gloria Reuben, Marcus Scribner, and Mika Amonsen, among others, joining Donnie Wahlberg. The long-awaited spin-off finally premiered on October 17, and though it does already have its new leading family, the Silvers, it seems they’re not done adding more cast members to the team.

Xochitl Gómez, best known for starring as the queer Latina superhero America Chávez in the 2022 Marvel movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness starring Benedict Cumberbatch, has been cast in the freshman CBS drama as Penny, a quick-witted, charming young woman with a mysterious past who crashes into Sean’s life; Sean, Donnie’s on-screen son, is played by Mika, who replaced original Sean Andrew Terraciano.

Xochitl — who is also known for her stint on Dancing with the Stars season 32, which she along with her partner Val Chmerkovskiy won — will make her debut on the police procedural on the episode airing Friday, November 21, at 10 p.m. EST.

Ahead of its premiere last month, which featured Blue Bloods original star Bridget Moynahan, Donnie opened up about his decision-making regarding the show, mainly his choice to move forward with it. Speaking on CBS Sunday Mornings on Sunday, October 12, he emphasized: “I love Blue Bloods. I fought tooth and nail to keep it on the air, and here’s an opportunity to keep this character alive,” before noting: “And suddenly when I started to look at it through that lens it was like, ‘How do I not do this?’”

“If all of those millions of Blue Bloods fans don’t show up and love it, then I know we put our best foot forward,” he added.

Also addressing his commitment to keeping busy, Donnie shared: “People say to me, ‘Gosh, when do you sleep?’ You want me to complain? Everything I’ve ever wanted, I’m doing it,” and, tearing up, maintained: “I want to work harder, I want to be worthy of the gift that so many people give me, their time and their love, it’s like, how can I not work my ass off to repay them.”

Donnie’s co-star Sonequa also recently opened up about being a successor to such a beloved show. Speaking alongside Donnie in a video shared by CBS, she first recognized that the new cast is “obviously standing on the shoulders of the Reagan family, the culture that was already established.”

Still, she emphasized: “I love it, because we’re going to get close with another family, the Silvers, which is also another prominent law enforcement family and that’s where Lena Silver is from,” and noted: “It’s very similar to the Reagans. I mean they couldn’t be more different, but they are also so similar.”