Anna Khaja Joins ‘The Walking Dead: World Beyond’; David DeSantos Joins ‘S.W.A.T.’

Anna Khaja and David DeSantos
Amanda Edwards/Getty Images; Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Quantico‘s Anna Khaja and Animal Kingdom‘s David DeSantos have landed recurring roles in two established TV franchises.

Khaja is set to star in the second and final season of The Walking Dead: World Beyond, the spinoff series from AMC’s popular zombie drama, The Walking Dead. The series is set in Nebraska, ten years after the zombie apocalypse, and follows four teenagers coming of age in a post-apocalyptic world.

According to Deadline, Khaja will play Indira, “an intelligent, artistic leader and mother who will do whatever it takes to protect her family and her people from harm.”

Khaja has appeared in a number of television roles, including HBO’s vampire drama True Blood and comedy Silicon Valley, CBS political drama Madam Secretary, and NBC sitcom The Good Place. She most recently appeared in an episode of Fox’s medical drama The Resident.

DeSantos, meanwhile, will join the upcoming fifth season of CBS’s action-drama S.W.A.T., where he will play Rodrigo Sanchez, a 20-year L.A.P.D. veteran and former SWAT member. Described as gregarious and confident, Sanchez is a savvy political climber who left SWAT behind to pursue loftier jobs within the L.A.P.D.

S.W.A.T., which is based on the 1975 television show of the same name, debuted on CBS in 2017. It was created by Robert Hamner and shares a universe with Hamner’s previous FX crime drama The Shield. The series centers on Sergeant Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson (Shemar Moore), a born-and-bred Los Angeles native and former Marine who is tapped to lead a new “last stop” Special Weapons and Tactics unit.

DeSantos currently stars in The CW’s Roswell, New Mexico, and TNT drama Animal Kingdom, which is expected to air its sixth and final season next year. He’s had previous experience with CBS, having appeared in several episodes of military drama SEAL Team.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond, Season 2 Premiere, October 3, AMC

S.W.A.T., Season 5 Premiere, October 1, CBS