‘The Killing’s’ Billy Campbell to Star in Fox’s ‘Delirium’ Adaptation

Billy Campbell is getting political again.

The former star of AMC’s The Killing has been tapped to star in Fox’s adaptation of Lauren Oliver‘s best-selling trilogy Delirium, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

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The books depict a world in which love is deemed illegal and is able to be eradicated with a special procedure. With 95 days to go until her scheduled treatment, Lena  Holoway (Emma Roberts) does the unthinkable: she falls in love.

Campbell, who played a politician in the first two seasons of the AMC drama, is poised to portray Thomas Fineman, a conservative, wealthy political leader and head of a lobbying organization called Deliria Free America. The married father of one son opposes the social chaos caused by “deliria” and supports the use of brain modification that prevents citizens from falling in love and leads to a peaceful, ordered society. When pushed, his friendly facade turns to unbridled rage.

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He joins Scream 4‘s Roberts in the dramatic adaptation from Touch‘s Karyn Usher, who will pen the script and will exec produce the 20th Television pilot alongside Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope, Paula Mazur and Mitchell Kaplan.

Repped by CAA and Kritzer Levine, Campbell next appears in National Geographic Channel’s two-hour TV movie Killing Lincoln, playing the former president. His credits include The 4400 and Once and Again.

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