MUMBAI: US media conglomerate News Corp?s cable network FX has cast ?House of Cards? star Corey Stoll in the lead role in its drama pilot The Strain, based on the vampire novel trilogy from Academy Award winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and author Chuck Hogan.

Del Toro and Hogan will co-write the pilot script, with del Toro attached to direct. Writer and producer Carlton Cuse will be an executive producer and oversee the series with Del Toro. He will serve as showrunner as the pilot goes to series. Hogan and Gary Ungar will also serve as Executive Producers. FX Productions will produce.

?The Strain? is a one-hour thriller that tells the story of Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (Stoll), the head of the center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. He and his team are called upon to investigate a mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism. As the strain spreads, Eph, his team, and an assembly of everyday New Yorkers, wage war for the fate of humanity itself.

del Toro said, "To me, having the right lead for The Strain series was perhaps the most important creative task. To be able to secure the perfect actor in Corey Stoll sets the project on the right track. To embody a character like Ephraim Goodweather - who transitions through every emotion and situation imaginable, and which anchors the narrative of the series - requires amazing talent and craft. Corey has both in spades as he has demonstrated it over and over again."

Stoll had a breakout role in the Netflix series ?House of Cards? and the Sundance Film Festival entry, David Sedaris? adaptation of ?Cog?. Stoll was recently cast in the feature films ?This is Where I Leave You?, where he will portray the brother of Jason Bateman?s character and ?The Good Lie?, which chronicles a young refugee of the Sudanese Civil War who wins a lottery for relocation to the US with three other lost boys. He just wrapped the indie film ?The Glass Chin?.