Paul Bettany has signed on to portray sex education researcher William Masters in Showtime’s upcoming pilot ‘Masters of Sex,’ Collider is reporting. The drama will be the first U.S. television appearance for the British ‘Margin Call’ actor.

‘Masters of Sex,’ from Sony Pictures Television, chronicles Masters and fellow influential sexual education researcher Virginia Johnson. ‘The Pacific’s Michelle Ashford is writing the series about the human sexual response researchers, which also focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of sexual disorders and functions. Masters and Johnson met in 1957, and later married in 1971. They continued their professional relationship until they divorced in 1992.

‘Masters of Sex’ was one of three pilots Showtime greenlit in August 2011. The deals were made under the network’s new entertainment chief, David Nevins. Ashford will executive produce the drama with Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly.

Written by: Karen Benardello