Felicity Huffman Returns to Acting With ABC Comedy Deal Following College Admissions Scandal

Back at it! Felicity Huffman is returning to acting following her involvement in the college admissions scandal.

According to Deadline, the actress, 57, landed a deal with ABC and will star in a single-camera comedy inspired by Susan Savage, the real-life owner of the Triple-A baseball team the Sacramento River Cats. This will be Huffman’s first gig post-prison.

From TV to Jail: Felicity Huffman's Transformation Over the Years

The Desperate Housewives alum was arrested in March 2019, along with 15 other parents, on conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest service fraud. According to court documents obtained by In Touch, Huffman was accused of paying $15,000 to increase daughter Sophia Macy’s SAT scores, and in May 2019, she pleaded guilty. Later that year, she was sentenced to 14 days in federal prison, one year of supervised release, 250 hours of community service and ordered to pay a $30,000 fine.

After the Magnolia star — who shares Sophia and Georgia Macy with husband William H. Macy — was released from jail, she felt “humbled and blessed,” an insider exclusively told In Touch at the time. “Felicity knows she’s going to get a lot of flak for only spending 11 days behind bars, but prison really opened her eyes to a whole new world. It was very isolating, she felt trapped and claustrophobic, but she never complained.”

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For the Golden Globe winner, “prison was a huge wake-up call,” a second source explained. “Felicity is not the same woman. This scandal ripped her life apart and made her look at who she really was as a person. She really strived to be a good parent, neighbor and an upstanding citizen. She made some huge mistakes, but she’s humbled now. It was a reality check.”

While her wrongdoing left a lasting impression, the way in which she handled the situation may have helped her career.

“Felicity has gone through a terrible, really difficult and painful journey. But the difference is, she is going to come out the other side,” reputation and management expert Eric Schiffer told In Touch exclusively prior to her acting news. “It allows for her to play a range of characters. She can play dark characters,” he added. “And so, her career is going to recover. I would imagine that in time, if when we look back, she’ll have a Martha Stewart-like arch or she may even go to a higher level.”