Exclusive: Men in Trees Snags Kelli Williams

• Jul 27, 2007 02:20 PM ET
• by Michael Ausiello

Another obstacle is taking root for Marin and Jack on Men in Trees.

Ex- Practice star Kelli Williams is joining the cast as a love interest for James Tupper's conversationally challenged environmentalist. But in a bit of a twist, the two won't connect in Elmo. Far from it, in fact.

"Jack's going off to do a job far, far away and he's going to meet a woman named Julia," Trees creator Jenny Bicks reveals to me exclusively. "She's happily married, but they are going to bond emotionally over something very significant that happens on the high seas."

Williams is on board for at least five or six episodes, beginning with this season's seventh.