Tony-winning Cabaret Emcee Alan Cumming has been cast in a new pilot for NBC. Entitled "Zero Effect," Cumming will play Daryl Zero in the upcoming program, which is based on the Jake Kasdan film, also titled "Zero Effect." David Julian Hirsh, who starred on the recent Showtime series "Leap Years," is also among the cast. The 1998 film "Zero Effect" was written and directed by Jake Kasdan and starred Bill Pullman as Daryl Zero with Ben Stiller as Steve Arlo and Ryan O'Neal as Gregory Stark. The plot concerned a private investigator (Pullman) and his assistant (Stiller) who try to solve nearly impossible crimes and puzzles. In his latest case, Zero must determine who is trying to blackmail a wealthy businessman (O'Neal).

Cumming made his Broadway debut in the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of Cabaret — a role he created at London's Donmar Warehouse — and received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He was last on The Great White Way opposite Jennifer Ehle and Dominic West in a revival of Noel Coward's Design for Living. The Scottish actor who trained at the Royal Scottish Academy also has numerous London theatrical credits including a starring role in the Royal National Theatre's production of Accidental Death of an Anarchist for which he won an Olivier Award. In the past few years Cumming has also appeared in several high-profile Hollywood films including Tom Cruise's Eyes Wide Shut, director Julie Taymor's feature-film debut Titus, the blockbuster Spy Kids and the Spice Girls flick, Spice World.

—By Andrew Gans