Kerry Washington Headed for Cracktown

She turned Chris Rock's head in I Think I Love My Wife and got raves for playing a troubled lesbian prostitute in The Dead Girl.

Now Kerry Washington faces another challenging role in Life Is Hot in Cracktown.

Based on short stories by Buddy Giovinazzo (Combat Shock), the drama tells intertwining stories about a neighborhood that has been ravaged by crack cocaine.

Washington plays a transgender character featured prominently in one story; her co-stars include Michael Rapaport (Fox's The War Next Door) and Evan Ross, the son of Diana Ross and co-star of the current swim-team drama, Pride, starring Oscar nominee Terence Howard.

No word on when shooting (or smoking) will start.