Justin Kirk, star of Weeds and the recently cancelled Animal Practice, has been cast in the upcoming FX pilot Tyrant.

Tyrant follows the story of a normal American family who is sucked into the complex workings of a turbulent Middle Eastern country. Kirk’s character, John Tucker, is a sexy and mysterious American diplomat who may not be everything that he seems, TV Guide reports.

Tyrant is a project from Homeland producers Howard Gordon and Gideon Raff, as well as Six Feet Under and Lost writer/producer Craig Wright, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Raff also created and wrote the Israeli series Hatufim, which inspired Showtime’s Emmy winning hit show, Homeland. David Yates, who directed the final four films in the Harry Potter franchise, is set to direct the pilot episode.

Kirk has previously earned a Golden Globe nomination for his work on Weeds, as well as an Emmy nomination for Angels in America, an HBO TV movie about the AIDS crisis of the mid-eighties.

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