Dylan McDermott to Co-Star Opposite Toni Collette in CBS' 'Hostages'

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Dylan McDermott

Dylan McDermott is going from playing a deranged killer to an FBI agent.

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The American Horror Story alum has been tapped to co-star opposite Toni Collette in CBS' Hostages, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

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The drama pilot follows Ellen (United States of Tara's Collette), a Washington, D.C., surgeon who is thrown into a political conspiracy after being chosen to operate on the president of the United States. Her family is taken hostage, and it's her responsibility to save their lives.

McDermott will play Duncan, a righteous FBI agent who is at the center of a political conspiracy involving the president but whose role will come as a surprise.

The drama, written by Jeffrey Nachmanoff (The Day After Tomorrow), is based on an Israeli format by Alon Aranya, Rotem Shamir and Chayim Sharir that was never produced. Nachmanoff will direct the pilot and executive produce the Warner Bros. Television effort alongside Jerry Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman, Omri Givon, Shamir and Sharir. KristieAnne Reed will co-exec produce alongside Aranya.

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For McDermott, the casting comes after roles in both seasons of FX's horror anthology American Horror Story. The Hostages gig serves as a reunion for Bruckheimer with McDermott, who starred as a cop for two seasons on the Bruckheimer-produced TNT drama Dark Blue. McDermott, whose credits also include The Practice as well as features The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Campaign, is repped by CAA, Schiff Co. and Hansen Jacobson.

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit