Ashlee Simpson-Wentz moves into "Melrose Place"

Singer Ashlee Simpson blows a kiss to photographers, with a ''peace symbol'' tattoo visible on her finger, as she arrives at the Nickelodeon's 2008 Kids' Choice Awards in Los Angeles, California March 29, 2008.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Ashlee Simpson-Wentz is moving into "Melrose Place," returning to series television seven years after landing her breakthrough role on the WB's "7th Heaven."

In the "Melrose" update, the singer-actress will play a bright-eyed but shrewd small-town girl and recent L.A. transplant who has come to town with a secret.

Her character draws parallels to the original series' blond, budding-Southern-belle starlet, Sandy Harling (Amy Locane).

Simpson-Wentz, who joins the previously cast Michael Rady and Katie Cassidy, took a four-year hiatus from acting to focus on her music career. She and her rocker husband Pete Wentz guest-star on the March 18 episode of "CSI: NY," in which they play Bonnie-and-Clyde wannabes.

(Editing by Dean Goodman at Reuters)