Mistresses of Reinvention: 5 TV Women Mixing It Up This Fall

The 29-year-old beauty is already much more than her modeling day job. Teigen’s social media quips have stolen our hearts, her upcoming cookbook already has us drooling and she always keeps the party going as co-host of Lip Sync Battle. Now Teigen is setting out on yet another frontier: She’s hosting her first talk show, FABLife, alongside daytime vet Tyra Banks. As the shows culinary expert, Teigen will be showing off her mouth-watering kitchen skills in action for the first time, proving she cooks just as good as she looks.

The songstress has been wowing – and shocking – audiences since her 2008 debut album, The Fame. Her follow-ups Born This Way and ARTPOP cemented her as one of the world’s most famous pop stars. Beginning Oct. 7, the music mogul is stepping off the stage and onto TV screens as homicidal hotel owner The Countess on American Horror Story: Hotel. It may be the first time fans meet Gaga the actress, but the superstar told Entertainment Weekly acting has always been on her mind.
“I always wanted to be an actress,” she said. “I was terrible at auditioning. I would clam up. I was very awkward. I wasn’t particularly pretty in high school. I was sort of … blooming. Now I’m here.”

With 40 films under her belt and the highest salary in the industry, Chopra is the undisputed queen of Bollywood. But this fall she’s taking her career in an entirely new direction. The 33-year-old former Miss World is making her American TV debut in Quantico, a fast-paced action show about FBI recruits. “It always makes me nervous when I try something that I haven’t done before, so I’m a wreck, honestly,” Chopra told Entertainment Weekly about anticipating the show’s Sept 27. premiere. Chopra will be the first Bollywood actress ever to star on an American television series, and she knows the significance of achieving that milestone. “I see this as an opportunity,” she told EW, “When I grew up, I never saw anyone looking like me on [American] TV. I’m so glad to see a lot more of us on television, whether it’s Mindy Kaling or it’s Irrfan Khan or Freida Pinto.”

For seven seasons, Michele raised her voice to the rafters for loyal Glee fans as New Directions soloist Rachel Berry. Now Michele has turned in her microphone and preppy sweaters to play a very different character in Ryan Murphy‘s latest project, Scream Queens. In the new horror-comedy, Michele takes on the role of Hester, a dorky, neckbrace-wearing college student who makes the mistake of joining a sorority that’s targeted by a serial killer. The former a cappella aficionado, 29, has been enjoying the change of pace. “Having no hair and no makeup and getting to show more of my physical comedy has been really fun,” she told Variety “When I read the script I thought this was so insane, some of the things I have to say, some of things that I’m doing. I’ve had the most fun getting to play around with who Hester is. I get to do the weirdest things,” she said.

The 17-year-old Australian is no stranger to television cameras. As a young kid, she appeared in her late father Steve Irwin‘s wildlife shows. Since then, Irwin has continued his legacy at the helm of her own series, including Bindi the Jungle Girl. But competing on Dancing With the Stars will be a new wild adventure for Irwin, who told PEOPLE: “I’ve never danced before in my life.” The conservationist, who is partnering with Derek Hough on the show, admitted some fear comes along with the new endeavor. “This is going to be more terrifying than jumping on top of a crocodile,” she said about hitting the “dance floor in the middle of a concrete jungle.”