Helen Hunt to star in new BBC series 'World on Fire'

Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Oscar-winning actress Helen Hunt is joining the new BBC series World on Fire.

Variety confirmed Wednesday the 55-year-old American actress will star in the forthcoming World War II drama from The A Word writer Peter Bowker.

Hunt joins Phantom Thread star Lesley Manville, Jonah Hauer-King and Julia Brown. The cast will also include Zofia Wichlacz, Brian J. Smith, Tomasz Kot and Eugenie Derouand.

World on Fire shows the first year of World War II through the eyes of people in Britain, Poland, France, Germany and the U.S. Filming begins this week in Prague, Poland.

"Pete's funny, human and poignant writing gives us a perspective on those early days of the Second World War which we have never seen before," BBC Drama controller Piers Wenger said.

Deadline said the seven-episode first season will begin with the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 and end with the Battle of Britain.

"World on Fire tells the hidden human stories within the big historical events we think we know," Bowker said in a statement.

"These are the stories of the ordinary people who shaped our world," he added. "Stories of loyalty and brutality, courage and fear, hopes, stories of live and loss, hopes and dreams forged in extraordinary times."

Hunt is slated for a number of other projects, including the movies The Night Clerk and I See You. She said in an interview with The Ellen DeGeneres Show in April that she hopes to reprise Jamie Buchman in a revival of Mad About You.