Michael Pena to Star in Fox Drama Thriller 'The List'

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Michael Pena

Michael Pena is now officially on Fox's list.

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The End of Watch star has booked the leading role in the network's drama thriller pilot The List, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

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The pilot centers on a U.S. Marshal Dan Soto as he leads the hunt for the person who stole "the list" -- a file with the identities of every member of the Federal Witness Security Program -- after people in the program start getting killed.

Pena will play Soto, an intense inspector described as a ruggedly attractive, oddly charismatic and notoriously quirky maverick who frequently gets into trouble with the bureaucracy. Soto fixates on things, valiantly struggling to control his obsessions -- not always successfully. However, when it comes to his job protecting witnesses in the program, his disorder makes him one of the most focused and purposeful investigators in the service.

Paul Zbyszewski (Lost, Hawaii Five-0) will pen the script and executive produce the 20th Television drama alongside Ruben Fleischer (Gangster Squad), who will direct.

Pena joins a cast that includes Richard T. Jones (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) and Charity Wakefield (Mockingbird Lane), who play an FBI agent and an international operator, respectively.

In addition to picking up an Independent Spirit Award for his role in the feature End of Watch, Pena's credits also include The Shield, Eastbound and Down and features Gangster Squad, Battle: Los Angeles, Crash and World Trade Center. Repped by CAA, Management 360 and Stone Meyer, he next stars as Cesar Chavez in Diego Luna's Chavez.

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