Hilary Swank Could Make Starz Prestigious

Another comedy pro's making the move to cable drama — and he's likely doing it alongside an Oscar winner. Ed Helms has signed on to Starz' The One Percent. Hilary Swank's in final talks to star opposite him.

The One Percent, by Babel director Alejandro Iñárritu, follows a farmer who, according to Variety, "encounters a bizarre twist of fate that might save or ruin his family farm." Vague!

Helms, known for many things but chiefly The Office and the Hangover movies, will be playing the farmer at the center of the series. Swank's role so far is just being described as "his wife."

Iñárritu's most recent work is Birdman, which looks weird and cool and promising (Emma Stone! Edward Norton! Zach Galifianakis!), so for now I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt that Swank's character will have more meat to work with than just being onscreen married to Helms. She has, after all, won not one but two Academy Awards (for Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby), so I kinda feel like she can hack it.

The series, which will air on Starz, also marks the network's continued interest in cultivating new dramas — couple this with the recently-premiered Outlander and it's pretty clear they'd love to capture the same kind of buzz networks like AMC and HBO get with their "prestige" dramas. Capturing former Oscar winners and actors looking to branch out from comedy is practically a trademark of that.