Viola Davis to Star in Shonda Rhimes' HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER Pilot for ABC

Shonda Rhimes and ABC are set to bring a two-time Oscar nominee to the small screen.

According to Deadline, Viola Davis has signed to lead the network's upcoming drama pilot HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, written by Peter Nowalk, and produced by Rhimes' Shondaland.

'MURDER' is a "sexy, suspense-driven legal thriller that centers on ambitious law students and their brilliant and mysterious criminal defense professor (Davis) who become entangled in a murder plot that could rock their entire university and change the course of their lives."

Davis won a Tony and a Drama Desk Award for her role in August Wilson's King Hedley II (2001). She won a second Drama Desk Award for Intimate Apparel (2004), followed by a second Tony and a third Drama Desk Award for her role in Fences (2010).

Among her most notable films are Traffic (2000), Antwone Fisher (2002), Solaris (2002) and The Help (2011). Her eleven-minute-long performance in the film adaptation of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt (2008) earned several honors, including anAcademy Award nomination. Her role in the film The Help has garnered two Screen Actors Guild Awards (one for Lead Actress and one for Best Ensemble in a motion picture), a BAFTA Award nomination, another Academy Awardnomination, and a Golden Globe nomination.

Photo Credit: Lisa O'Connor/ZUMAPRESS.com; Walter McBride