Hollywood star Julia Roberts will narrate a new BBC series, the broadcaster has announced.
Roberts, 57, who is best known for starring in Pretty Woman, Notting Hill and the Oscar-award winning biopic Erin Brockovich, has joined the cast for the six-part comedy drama series, Leonard And Hungry Paul.
The series is based on Ronan Hession’s best-selling novel of the same name and will star Departure actor Alex Lawther, Fool Me Once’s Laurie Kynaston and Derry Girls star Jamie-Lee O’Donnell.
Produced for BBC Northern Ireland by the Irish production company Subotica, Leonard And Hungry Paul will be available to watch later this autumn on BBC One Northern Ireland, BBC Two and iPlayer.
The show follows two board-gaming friends in their 30s, Leonard, played by Lawther, and Hungry Paul, played by Kynaston, whose quiet and ordinary lives are disrupted by an unexpected death, family wedding and tentative new romance.
Tristan Orpen Lynch, executive producer for Subotica, said: “It is truly wonderful to have the amazingly talented Julia Roberts join the production, we had heard she was a big fan of Ronan’s beautiful book and she brings a real warmth and genuine compassionate understanding to this important role which guides us through the unique world and special characters.”
Leonard And Hungry Paul has been adapted for television by writers Richie Conroy and Mark Hodkinson, and is directed by Andrew Chaplin.
Eddie Doyle, senior head of content commissioning at BBC Northern Ireland, said: “To have Julia Roberts lend her extraordinary voice and storytelling talent to this series is another ringing endorsement for how special this project is.
“Her narration will add to the magic of this story and we are excited to bring it to audiences very soon.”
The cast is also joined by The Virtues’ Helen Behan, Bloodlands actor Lorcan Cranitch and Harry Wild’s Niamh Branigan.
Sherlock & Daughter actor Paul Reid also appears in the series alongside Say Nothing’s Charlotte McCurry and Doctors actor David O’Reilly.
Leonard And Hungry Paul will be available to watch on BBC One Northern Ireland, BBC Two and iPlayer later this year.
