August 4, 2011 05:24 PM PST

Exclusive: 90210 Takes a Swig of Brandy

Brandy’s heading for the Hills! 

The actress-singer-reality star is joining 90210 for a major Season 4 arc, TVLine has learned exclusively.

She’ll play Marissa Jackson-Lewis, a charismatic young politician running for congress in California against Teddy’s (Trevor Donovan) conservative uncle. “She’s a cross between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama,” notes a source close to the show. “She’s inspirational but with a drive to get the job done.” To that end, Marissa hires Silver (Jessica Stroup) to create a video campaign to reach the youth vote.

Brandy, who earlier this year guest-starred in four episodes of Lifetime’s Drop Dead Diva, is slated to make her 90210 debut in October.

90210 returns Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 9/8 c.