Julia Louis-Dreyfus has signed up to star in the US version of The Thick Of It.
The 49-year-old Seinfeld star will play Selina Meyer, an ex-senator who becomes US vice president in the pilot episode, Entertainment Weekly reports.
British writer and director Armando Iannucci – who created the BBC political satire – co-wrote and directed the pilot, called Veep, for the HBO network in America.
The US adaptation was picked up following the success of spin-off film In The Loop.
A previous American adaptation of The Thick Of It, focusing on the daily lives of a low-level member of the United States Congress and his staff, was produced by BBC Worldwide and piloted on ABC in 2006.
Iannucci distanced himself from the flop pilot, stating: “It was terrible… they took the idea and chucked out all the style. It was all conventionally shot and there was no improvisation or swearing. It didn’t get picked up, thank God.”
