Emmy Nominee Jillian Bell to Star in Showtime Comedy THE WRONG MANS

SHOWTIME has announced the casting of Jillian Bell (22 Jump Street) in a lead role of the half-hour comedy pilot THE WRONG MANS, also starring and produced by Ben Schwartz (HOUSE OF LIES) andwritten and executive produced by James Corden (The Late Late Show with James Corden), Mathew Baynton (Yonderland)and Ian Maxtone-Graham (The Simpsons). J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), BBC Studios' Angie Stephenson and Bad Robot's Ben Stephenson also serve as executive producers. Jim Field Smith (EPISODES) is also executive producing and directing the pilot, which is based on the BBC series created by Corden and Baynton. The announcement was made today by Gary Levine, President of Programming, Showtime Networks Inc.

THE WRONG MANS is an action-comedy about two ordinary office workers who have their menial existence turned upside-down by a chance phone call and a case of mistaken identity: "If you are not here by 5 o'clock, we will kill your wife." As the only people who can help, these two unlikely characters must find their inner hero in their quest to save not just themselves, but their loved ones and ultimately their whole town.

Bell will play the part of Anna, based on the role (Phil) Corden played in the original. A co-worker of Sam (Schwartz), Anna is a somewhat deluded fantasist who lives with her mother and has such an empty life that she leaps at the opportunity to join Sam in saving the kidnapped woman. Whereas Sam just wants to get on with his quite ordinary life, Anna is desperate for excitement and extremely unrealistic about her capacity as an action hero.

An Emmy nominee for her writing on Saturday Night Live, Bell has appeared in film and television projects that include 22 Jump Street, Rough Night, Workaholics, Eastbound & Down, Fist Fight, The Night Before, IDIOTSITTER (which she co-created), Partners, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Office Christmas Party, Inherent Vice, The Master and Bridesmaids, along with voiceover turns including The Angry Birds Movie, Gravity Falls, AMERICAN DAD! and Bob's Burgers.

THE WRONG MANS is produced by Bad Robot Productions, Fulwell 73 Productions and BBC Studios in association with Warner Bros. Television, and executive produced by J.J. Abrams, Ben Stephenson, James Corden, Mathew Baynton, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Jim Field Smith and Angie Stephenson.

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Photo Credit: Leon Bennett/Getty Images

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